Better Reach, Impact: Ad News from Innovid, iSpot and Magnite

Image courtesy of Innovid

In a new report, Innovid notes that CTV continues to grow and suggests that marketers should be spending more of their ad dollars on streaming.

Innovid says CTV ad impressions rose 18% in 2024 but says spending trails behind the amount of time consumers spend on streaming. Of course not all streaming viewing is ad supported, but that percentage is rising as well.

The average CTV ad campaign in 2024 reached just 19.64 of the 95 million CTV households measured by Innovid. To increase reach, Innovid prescribes buying more impressions.

Of course, buying more impressions runs the risk of increasing frequency. In its report, Innovid says the average campaign frequency was 7.09, but the frequency for some campaigns was over 10.

“Finding the ideal reach and frequency is a reality with new technology,” the report says.

Source: Innovid

An advantage of CTV is the proliferation of interactive formats, which drive engagement with viewers. According to the report, interactive formats see an average of 71 seconds of additional time earned over standard pre-roll spots. With that in mind, advertisers boosted their use of interactive ads with QR codes by 3.25x. Other interactive formats saw similar boosts.

The report presents several case studies designed to back the proposition that CTV is not just an awareness channel, but one that has the ability to drive outcome-based goals.

A campaign executed by Davis Elen Advertising used Innovid’s Harmony Reach & Frequency tools to increase the efficiency of campaigns for McDonald’s of Southern California and the Southern California Toyota Dealers Association. The campaigns generated 28% incremental reach for the brands, while producing average savings on a cost-per-thousand viewers (CPM) basis of 35%.

Innovid said that outcomes such as sales, app activity, QR scans and web registrations can be measured amd attributed because of CTV’s digital delivery

Media agency PMG worked with Innovid and Affinity group to measure outcomes for a quick service restaurant client and found that adding CTV to its brand campaign raised incremental sales by 4.3% Transactions attributed to the campaign increased 55 times and revenue rose 25 times.

Healthcare marketing agency CMI Media Group used interactive creative as part of its CTV campaign for a big pharmaceutical company and saw an increase in average time earned of 147 seconds compared to standard pre-roll ads. There was also a 33% increase in QR codes being scanned vs. benchmarks.

CTV commercials can be shoppable as well. Enfamil worked with Roundel, Targets’s retail media network, on a campaign that used commercials with QR codes that enabled viewers to scan to shop or scan to add to cart. The campaign generated two-times higher sales per thousand impressions and three-times higher return on ad spend, according to the report.

“With the rise of live-streamed events and shoppable formats, CTV has reached a new era of scale and sophistication,” said Jackie Vanover, senior VP, Measurement at Innovid. “The opportunity is massive – and it’s here now. Advertisers have powerful tools at their fingertips: smarter frequency control, immersive interactivity, and real-time optimization. Publishers can also tap into this momentum to prove the value of their inventory through better outcomes and viewing experiences. This is a definite moment for TV.”

In 2025, Innovid and Flashtalking merged. As part of Mediaocean, Innovid is tied into the industry’s ad infrastructure for omnichannel planning, buying, and billing.

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Measurement company iSpot says that it takes a combination of creative that sparks thirst, humor and value using strong product visuals along with smart media placement to build traffic at quick-service restaurants.

In a new report, iSpot names the campaigns that were most effective at driving consumers into stores during Q1. At the top of the list was Starbucks’ “We’re on Summertime: Shake It” spot which created a 340.57% lift in foot traffic. The spot focused on thirst and scored brand recognition of 92%.

The other top spots in the category were from Chick-fil-A, Subway, Wandy’s, Burger King, Chipotle, Taco Bell, Popeyes, Taco Bell and Cilopte.

According to iSpot, which worked with PlaceIQ to measure store traffic, most of the top performing ads were tried and true. Just two of the ads in the top 10 were new.

Sports is the genre of programming that drives the most foot traffic. Other categories that drove consumer response including DIY programming, miniseries, music and aminal/nature/outdoor shows.

QSR marketers got the biggest bang for their buck early in the morning. Other strong dayparts were overnight and primetime.

“As consumers and brands are faced with economic uncertainty, it’s more important than ever for QSR brands to ensure that their media investment is driving measurable outcomes,” said Mark Myers, Chief Commercial Officer, iSpot. “iSpot’s QSR Outcomes Ranker shows brands the winning media strategy to drive foot traffic and help drive ROI.”

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Magnite said that it is beta testing a new version of its SpringServe unit that combines its ad server with the programmatic capabilities of its streaming supply-side platform.

Initial clients of the new SpringServe include Disney Advertising, LG Ad Solutions, Paramount, Roku Samsung and Warner Bros. Discovery.

Magnite said the new SpringServe will streamline the connection between buyers and the supply of connected TV advertising.

“As the CTV space matures, there's a significant opportunity to enhance the advertising process for media owners and buyers,” said Sean Buckley, President, Revenue at Magnite. “We’re building this next generation of SpringServe specifically to help our clients and partners stay ahead of these emerging opportunities. By unifying the programmatic layer as a complementary step in the buying process, not only does it give buyers greater transparency, predictability, and control over their ad placements, but it lays the foundation for more effective monetization and yield management for media owners.”

The updated SpringServe platform provides intelligent ad decisioning and dynamic mediation, automated ad routing that dynamically directs ad traffic to the highest-performing channels to ensure efficient ad delivery, centralized deal management to facilitate better visibility across direct and programmatic demand, including ClearLine deals and integration of Magnite Access for easy access to first- and third-party data.

Magnite provides statements from clients and customers that will use the new system.

Among the sellers:

“Disney continues to expand our global streaming footprint in collaboration with Magnite—unlocking more premium inventory and making it even easier for advertisers to access our portfolio at scale,” said Jamie Power, SVP, Addressable Sales at Disney. “Together, we’re advancing a shared vision for innovation—one that prioritizes automation, flexibility, and smarter tools to help our partners drive meaningful impact in the live streaming space.”

Among the buyers:

"At OMG, we believe it's a core right for advertisers to control and know where their ads deliver," said Ryan Eusanio, SVP of Video and Programmatic at Omnicom Media Group. "Magnite's SpringServe video platform helps us give our clients more control of their premium video strategy and enables better curation and targeting for campaigns."

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Artificial intelligence is seeping into all aspects of the advertising business. The latest example comes from interactive ad company Brightline, which is introducing DynamicAI, which uses machine learning to optimize the performance of ads consumers can engage with in real time.

DynamicAI will be available in the fall, starting with Brightline.s retail carousel format.

Image courtesy of Brightline

Brightline says the DynamicAI engine continuously re-sequences product combinations, keeping the best-performing items front and center throughout the campaign. This means retailers can UI AI to supercharge ad effectiveness by automating the delivery of the right ad to the right people at the correct moment.

“We already know interactive ads prove their value, as they deliver nearly 40% lift in brand recall. DynamicAI is our latest step in taking performance to the next level to better understand and engage with audiences,” said Rob Aksman, President and Co-Founder of BrightLine. “In an industry where AI is often more of a buzzword than a proven tool, we are focused on delivering real, meaningful outcomes. We’re committed to building a future where each of our engageable formats becomes smarter with every impression, delivering enhanced experiences for viewers and better results for brands.”