Commbank’s latest campaign proves the roadblock isn’t dead
Is the roadblock still a relevant tactic, or just an expensive relic of a linear viewing age? Today The Brave’s head of media, Jacqui Capel, explores the pros and cons of Commbank’s recent 48-hour BVOD roadblock.
Commbank's Doubt Never Did campaign
CommBank’s latest brand platform launch, Doubt Never Did, made headlines for more than just its creative, purportedly becoming the first Australian campaign to execute a full 48-hour BVOD roadblock.
In a media landscape dominated by hyper-personalisation, AI-curated feeds, and binge-on-demand habits, the move raised eyebrows amongst the chattering classes in agency-land, myself included. My first thought was “Is this the single biggest individual media campaign budget of the year?”. It then flipped to “ Is the roadblock still a relevant tactic, or just an expensive relic of a linear viewing age?”
The answer, like most things in media, depends on execution.
Commbank’s Doubt Never Did campaign
The case for the roadblock
At its best, a roadblock is about impact. It condenses reach into a single, high-saturation moment that commands attention, accelerates mental availability, and floods multiple channels at once. IPA research continues to show that high weight compressed bursts of reach can perform well when it comes to immediate brand salience and memorability, providing a sugar hit to the brand in question. Add to this the high attention metrics BVOD commands (up to 2.5x higher active viewing than social platforms, according to ThinkTV), and there’s still a solid rationale behind the blitz.
If your audience is ‘pretty much anyone’, and when paired with emotionally resonant creative, PR, and influencer stories, the road block can transcend pure media weight effects and become a cultural conversation.
The case against the roadblock
Still, there’s no denying the challenges. Media consumption has not been linear for years. Viewers skip, scroll, and stream on their own terms, even with appointment programming and sports. “Owning the moment” means something different in 2025 where fragmented attention is the norm, and few tactics can genuinely cut through to everyone at once – or indeed make a case for needing to. Is your message really that universal? Is context, relevance, and long term availability (mental/physical) going to build more memory?
Then there’s the cost. Roadblocks come with high CPMs and limited targeting sophistication. They don’t allow for creative testing, optimisation, or personalisation, all the things that make long-tail video planning more effective today. Without a smart follow-up strategy, a roadblock risks being a one-hit media flex: big on visibility, low on efficiency.
“Look, a road block”
So… is it a waste of money?
Maybe. But only if it ends there.
Is the roadblock the entire plan, or just your ignition point? A moment to seed a story, spark conversation, and then follow through with targeted, contextual messaging. Done well, the roadblock could become the first chapter in sequenced brand-building, one that retargets, adapts, and deepens engagement over time. It must prompt something deeper, otherwise, it’s just expensive noise.
The ‘spray and pray’ of a roadblock can indeed be a justified investment, if it builds and feeds an ecosystem where you want a broad audience to engage. Just make sure you can actually afford it without stripping out the hardworking, but less splashy, elements of your media plan.
SUBSCRIBE
Sign up to our free daily update to get the latest in media and marketing.
