Do you remember the "Golden Hour" of television? That time in the evening when the whole family would squeeze onto the sofa, arguing over the remote before settling on a prime-time show, collectively glued to the screen?
Okay, the “Golden Hour” of television hasn’t existed for some time. But I’m sure you yourself have experienced it, or know someone who finds themselves in front of the TV to watch their show at the same time each week, commercials and all.
And speaking of commercials, that living room ritual was the holy grail for advertisers for the longest time. If you wanted to reach a German audience, you bought a TV spot. It was simple. It was expensive. But it worked… for a while, at least. But now, with all the methods modern TV viewers have to skip over advertisements, and with lack of measurements when compared to other marketing channels, it can feel like you don’t know which half of your marketing spend you’re wasting.
So if you’ve been feeling like your TV ad spend isn’t punching as hard as it used to, you aren’t imagining things. The landscape has shifted under our feet. And for brands looking to make a real impact in 2024 and beyond, the answer isn’t to shout louder on a dying channel. It’s to start a conversation where the eyes actually are.
Let’s dive into what is happening in the German media landscape, why the "TV era" is fading, and why influencer marketing is the agile, high-performing successor you’ve been waiting for.
Recently, Nielsen released a major study on media consumption in Germany that confirmed what many of us suspected: Streaming has officially taken center stage.
According to the report, 77% of Germans now use video streaming services weekly. That is a massive number, but the real story is in the 7% year-on-year growth and a jump of 13% over the last three years. For the first time, streaming usage is higher than linear TV channels.
Now, you might be thinking, "Sure, the kids are on TikTok, but my buyers are older. They’re still watching TV."
Well, I have something for you. The biggest yearly growth didn’t come from Gen Z. It came from the 35-54 age group (yes, the demographic that often holds the household purse strings). This group saw a significant rise of 10%, with 83% now streaming weekly. Even the 55-69 age group is hopping on the bandwagon, with an 8% increase.
Meanwhile, daily viewership of public broadcasters like ARD and ZDF has dropped to 39%. The dominance of linear television is dissolving. The captive audience of the past has been set free, and they have migrated to Netflix, Amazon Prime, and YouTube.
Fredman advertised their kitchen paper via influencer marketing and racked up over 2.5 million views. Read the full story here.
In the past, TV advertising was a spray and pray game. Nowadays there are better ways to measure effectiveness, but for a long time, you bought a slot during Tatort or the news, and you hoped that within that massive, undefined blob of viewers, your ideal customer was watching.
Unfortunately, that model is bleeding efficiency in the modern day. Not only are fewer people watching TV, but the ones who are watching are often doing so with a second screen (their phone) in hand. So when your ad is rolling, they’re scrolling through their Instagram, potentially seeing your competitors’ ads instead.
If you stick strictly to traditional TV, you are paying a premium for a shrinking slice of the pie. But the good news? The money you save by moving away from TV can do so much more elsewhere.
So, if the living room TV is no longer the town square, what is?
It’s the smartphone screen. And more specifically, it’s the creators who live on it.
Influencer marketing isn't just a nice-to-have anymore. It is the modern equivalent of the prime time TV spot, but with better targeting, better engagement, and better economics.
Here is why swapping your TV budget for your creator budget is the smartest move you can make right now (at least, if you’re marketing in Germany).
Pretty simple. On TV, you’re talking at people. But influencers talk with people.
When a TV commercial runs, it’s an interruption. It breaks the flow of the content the viewer actually wants to see. That is opposite to influencer marketing. When a creator integrates your brand into their content, your product (and your brand) becomes the content.
This distinction is massive. Influencers spend years building trust and rapport with their audiences. When they recommend a product, it doesn't feel like a faceless corporation trying to sell something; it feels like a recommendation from a friend.
In a market like Germany, where skepticism toward advertising can be high (the Nielsen report noted that 74% of respondents have concerns about fake news), authenticity is your most valuable currency. While social media platforms generally have trust issues regarding news, individual creators who have built niche communities operate on a different level. Their personal reputation is everything. If they vouch for you, that trust transfers to your brand.
TV advertising has a lot of benefits, but it also comes with a lot of wasted views. You might be selling high-end hiking gear, but your TV ad is being watched by everyone from toddlers to people who hate the outdoors. You are paying for every single set of eyes, regardless of relevance.
Influencer marketing flips this script.
Do you need to reach eco-conscious mothers in Berlin? There are creators for that. Do you need to target tech-savvy Gen Z gamers in Hamburg? There are creators for that, too.
By shifting budget to influencers, you can curate a lineup of partners whose audience demographics match your buyer persona perfectly. You aren’t paying for millions of indifferent viewers; you are paying to reach thousands of highly interested potential customers.
This targeted approach often results in a significantly lower cost per acquisition (CPA). You can run multiple campaigns with different creators, testing different angles and hooks, for a fraction of the cost of producing and airing a single high-quality TV commercial.
Butternut Box hopped into new markets with their amazing creator content. Read the full story here.
Producing a TV spot takes a lot of time. Scripts, casting, shooting, editing, legal clearance, media buying… all of these things add up. You definitely aren’t going to hop on any (relevant) trends by the time your ad airs.
In contrast, influencer marketing moves at the speed of culture, and requires magnitudes of less work from you and your team.
If a new trend hits TikTok or Instagram reels tomorrow, you can have creators briefing, shooting, and posting content about it within days. Platforms like Boksi streamline this even further, allowing you to source creators, manage campaigns, and get content live without the administrative headache.
In a world where relevance can change every post, this agility is a competitive advantage that traditional TV simply cannot match.
Here is the part where the "ROI" conversation gets really exciting.
One of the biggest misconceptions about influencer marketing is that it’s just about the post. You pay the influencer, they post the video, their followers see it, and then the feed moves on.
But that is the old way of thinking. The modern, smart brand strategy is to view influencer campaigns as content production engines.
Think about how much it costs to produce professional digital assets. You need a studio, a photographer, models, lighting, and retouching. It’s expensive, and often, the ad looks like... well, an ad. And we know that on social platforms, users scroll past ads that look like ads.
Influencer-generated content (or user-generated content) is different. It’s raw, it’s real, and it fits the native look of the platform.
Here is the playbook we see winning brands use time and time again:
Run a campaign: Engage a group of influencers to create content about your product. Let them use their own voice and style.
Review the data: See which posts performed the best organically. Which ones got the most saves? The most comments? The highest engagement rate?
Purchase the rights: This is crucial. Instead of letting that high-performing content disappear into the feed, buy the rights to it (something we make super easy at Boksi).
Amplify via paid ads: Take that authentic, creator-made video and run it as a paid ad on Instagram, TikTok, or even YouTube Shorts.
Why does this work? Because you are running ads using creative that has already been market-tested by the audience. You know it engages people! So by putting paid budget behind it, you drastically extend its lifespan and reach.
You are effectively getting two wins for one budget:
Win 1: The initial organic reach and trust from the influencer’s audience.
Win 2: A library of high-performing creative assets for your digital marketing team, often at a drastically lower cost than a traditional photoshoot.
This closes the loop between brand awareness (typically TV's job) and performance marketing. You get the emotional connection of the creator plus the conversion power of paid targeting.
It’s clear to see: The days of gathering around one big screen are behind us. Or if we do, we’re not watching something with ads. Our viewing habits have become personal, on-demand, and increasingly fragmented.
For brands, this isn't something to fear—it's an opportunity. It is a chance to stop shouting at the masses and start talking to individuals. It is a chance to move budget away from a declining medium and into a channel that offers engagement, trust, and incredible creative versatility.
At Boksi, we see this shift happening every day. We work with hundreds of German brands moving from stiff, scripted TV spots to vibrant, authentic creator campaigns. We see them saving money, moving faster, and building deeper connections with their customers.
Your audience has moved. The question is...
Will your budget move with them?