Hot Takes: CTV’s Contextual Revolution
To coincide with next week’s release of our latest Special Report on Contextual Targeting on CTV, we asked our TVREV Thought Leaders Circle members to weigh in on the topic—what were the benefits of contextual targeting and was all the interest it’s been generating justified?
Tony Marlow, CMO at LG Ad Solutions, focused on “marketing by mindset,” emphasizing how contextual targeting improves engagement by aligning ad messaging with viewer mindset and context.
Contextual targeting is reemerging as a powerful strategy that enables brands to deliver highly relevant ads by analyzing content in real time, unlocking the concept of 'marketing by mindset.' This approach allows advertisers to connect with consumers precisely when their mindset and environment align with the message, creating a natural and respectful experience.
Not all ads perform equally in every context. Dynamic ads that adapt to their surrounding content can make stronger connections by matching tone and style to the environment. For instance, a humorous tone might be misplaced near tragic content, while a sensitive message could resonate better. Aligning ad messaging with surrounding content sentiment enhances consumer engagement and brand perception.
For brands, contextual targeting can significantly improve engagement through the entire funnel, driving both stronger brand associations and conversion rates. It’s a future-proof approach designed for a world where relevance and privacy are paramount, enabling advertisers to build authentic connections without compromising consumer trust.
Grant Parker, President at Flashtalking by Mediaocean highlighted the importance of creative personalization to context and moment, leveraging AI and real-time triggers for more effective advertising.
As identity signals have deprecated, contextual targeting has risen. Against that backdrop, creative is emerging as a critical success factor. The key is personalizing creative to the context, not only of the content, but the moment. This includes time of day, weather, location, etc.
At Flashtalking, we're focused on enabling creative relevance and orchestration at scale. This allows brands to meet consumers in the moment with creative that drives action. We use AI and automation to reflect contextual taxonomies and incorporate real-time triggers for creative personalization across channels."
Gavin Douglas, CEO at Drawbridge Labs emphasized crafting immersive experiences through AI-powered metadata and 3D mobile engagement to align with TV content.
Contextual targeting is like a backstage pass to the real action. We need to be aligning TV shows and intent with precision, so we’re not just boosting engagement; we’re building a smarter, more immersive ecosystem that makes every interaction a hit.
At Drawbridge Labs, we’re expanding the TV show universe by serving up 3D mobile experiences that don’t just engage—they resonate with the content. Better metadata, powered by AI, lets us craft experiences around the TV show that hit the mark for users and keep them coming back. Think of it as the ultimate cheat code for brand activations, without all the creepy tracking vibes.
Evan Shapīro, Media Cartographer at ESHAP, critiqued the lack of personalization in CTV ads, highlighting inefficiencies and the industry’s failure to match ads to consumer behavior.
The biggest problem in CTV advertising is the ABSENCE of personalization and contextualization - the same ad runs countless times in the same show; consumers who don't drive see countless car ads; childless cat people get infinite ads for baby and dog food - and the lack of universal source of truth for who's watching what. The TV ad industry lags far behind consumer behavior, which is why so much money continues to be diverted to Google, Meta, and Amazon.
Raf Bagdasarian, CEO at Paket TV discussed making traditional media more accessible and relevant through personalized, social media-like experiences.
While it seems as though traditional media will continue shifting toward irrelevancy – particularly among younger viewers – its problem as we see it is less “what” it is; and more about “how” it is accessed. Social media is largely ephemeral, but is typically served up passively within a context that makes sense for its consumers… ‘Traditional’ media, however, despite its permanence still largely expects its consumers to proactively seek it out on large, often overbearing platforms. As traditional media begins to think differently about how it is accessed, we can look forward to smaller, more personalized experiences that more closely resemble social media in terms of its contextual relevance. By delivering tv as a service and freeing up programming from the constraints of the programming grid, Paket is working toward making that future a reality.
Raghu Kodige, CEO at Anoki advocated for scene-level targeting using multimodal AI to deliver highly relevant ads during pivotal content moments.
The future of CTV advertising lies in scene-level targeting powered by multimodal AI. By analyzing dialogue, visuals, and emotions, marketers can place ads in high-impact moments—whether during an emotional scene, a sports highlight, or a pivotal narrative arc—delivering precise, relevant experiences while preserving privacy.
Pete Crofut, VP, Business Development – Agencies & Brands at Wurl stressed the need for improved metadata and use of emotion-based targeting to enhance CTV advertising effectiveness, particularly on FAST platforms.
To date, inconsistent metadata has made advertising on Connected TV challenging for advertisers. As an example, one movie or show could be labeled as multiple genres depending on who you ask (is 'The Office' a comedy or a romance?). Scene-level contextual targeting stands to help with this by considering the mood and emotion of the content on screen.
Next year, I think we'll see CTV advertising continue to move beyond broad genre-based targeting to more sophisticated strategies like emotion-based contextual targeting. This will especially help in driving growth on FAST (free ad-supported streaming TV), where massive opportunity remains for advertisers: As more viewers seek out free streaming options amid rising subscription costs, and premium publishers continue to spin up free ad-supported channels, FAST has the ability to drive incremental value and performance for brands with the help of innovative new approaches to contextual.
Heading into 2025, as advertisers test and learn with new forms of contextual targeting to determine what drives outcomes, we’ll see more creative campaigns developed with a broad range of emotions in mind, ultimately accelerating CTV ad effectiveness and strengthening performance on FAST.
Mike Woods, CEO at OrkaTV pointed out the underutilization of rich contextual signals in CTV and the potential of AI-driven scene-level data for better targeting.
We’re still seeing the vast majority of CTV buyers target by device or bundle alone, despite a rich content object that provides channel, genre, network, and more. So my hot take is: there is a lot of under-used value in current contextual targeting signals. New developments, such as AI-based tone, mood, and other scene-level events, are making their way into the programmatic data flow, and it’s exciting. But it’s worth repeating that programmatic targeting on audience, behavior, and intent are already available, and far more capable on FAST and AVOD than on any other system.
Jes Santoro, Chief Revenue Officer at Cadent highlighted AI’s role in enhancing contextual targeting, enabling smarter content recommendations, and improving ROI without relying on cookies or first-party data.
Contextual targeting has redefined the way advertisers connect with audiences, and it’s only becoming more powerful with advancements in AI. By leveraging AI and ML technology, we’re not just enhancing ad placement – we’re unlocking smarter, more relevant content recommendations and seamless discovery experiences. For advertisers, this means aligning with content that resonates, ensuring brand messages land in environments where audiences are already engaged in relevant content. However, the impact goes beyond advertising; publishers and platforms can use AI-powered audience solutions to deliver hyper-relevant content recommendations, keeping viewers captivated while respecting their privacy. At Cadent and AdTheorent, we see this as a game-changer, enabling brands to create meaningful connections without the need for first-party data or cookies. It’s a win-win: improved relevance for consumers and better ROI for marketers.
Rose McGovern, Head of Programmatic & Digital Ad Sales at DIRECTV Advertising advocated for contextual targeting as a nuanced strategy to optimize CTV inventory, build deeper audience connections and combat ad fatigue.
It’s no secret that content is what keeps our viewers engaged so contextual targeting and content metadata are essential tools for advertisers navigating today’s complex media landscape.
Amid increasing fragmentation and shifting viewership habits, contextual targeting on CTV increases audience reach, optimizes inventory, and strengthens brand safety by ensuring ads run in the right environment.
At DIRECTV, we provide contextual signals for brands and advertisers—whether through programmatic or direct IO—enabling them to use program, series, rating, and genre-level data to connect with viewers watching specific content.
But contextual targeting is more than just matching ads to content. It’s a nuanced, data-driven strategy that helps CTV reach its full potential, empowers brands to build deeper and more meaningful audience connections, that drive campaign reach and performance. In an environment, where viewers are experiencing ad-fatigue, contextual metadata can unlock opportunities for brands and advertisers to create ads that feel endemic to the content.
Rohan Castelino, CMO at IRIS.TV emphasized mindset as the most reliable signal for CTV targeting, citing by research that showed improved ad effectiveness through contextual relevance.
While consumers stream video on all devices, they typically use their laptops to search and their phones to shop and scroll. That’s why advertising such as search, retargeting, and sponsored posts work well on phones and laptops, because they complement the active, engaged consumer journey. When we watch CTV, even if we begin the journey on-demand, we are passively engaged. We are likely co-viewing with a companion while scrolling on our phones. With all these distractions, the one signal that has the greatest fidelity is our mindset. Eye-tracking research has shown that CTV viewers are four times more likely to watch, remember, and have a favorable opinion of a brand when ads are relevant to the topics, themes, and emotions of the specific program they are watching.
Kristen Williams, Senior Vice President of Strategic Partnerships at Magnite highlighted the resurgence of contextual advertising driven by privacy concerns and AI advancements, while calling for industry standardization to address challenges in CTV.
Contextual advertising is again growing in popularity, as concerns around user privacy increase, enhancements in AI technology, and a growing need for content relevance in CTV drive interest from advertisers. With degrading signal fidelity top of mind, advertisers are looking for future-proof targeting that performs and aligns with the content their target audience consumes. Another benefit of contextual data is the ability to unlock a better viewer experience for the consumer. Using metadata like mood helps to ensure the ad is a match for the content which promotes a more positive user experience which in turn is a positive for marketers. It’s a win-win.
While CTV advertising is continuing to see double-digit growth year over year, layering on contextual data is not a simple feat. The vast and fractured CTV publisher ecosystem that exists today makes contextual difficult to navigate. Inconsistent categorization reduces accuracy and a large number of contextual solutions entering the market are all competing for a limited number of contextual signals. The industry is in need of standardization or, at the very least, consolidation.
Natalie Bastian, Global CMO at Teads discussed using omnichannel insights and contextual tools to strategically reach diverse audiences across platforms for more relevant advertising.
Consumers are spoiled with choice when it comes to content entertainment today — between streaming, social media, network TV, and web browsing, how does an advertiser reach the right audience on the right platform at the right time?
What was once an incredible feat can now be addressed across brands with the help of omnichannel insight and contextual targeting tools. Leveraging these tools is a key factor in understanding what target audiences are consuming and how advertisers can best reach them. By tapping into household consumption and targeting diverse audience demographics within households, advertisers can make more informed decisions about what to buy on CTV and the Open Web to increase their chances of reaching the right demographic in the most relevant way, at the right time, on the right platform.
Travis Scott Howe, Vice President, Global Head of New Product Solutions at Samsung Ads emphasized the importance of using contextual targeting to transform passive viewing into active engagement, amplifying brand narratives and driving higher ROI.
In today's fragmented media landscape, it's no longer enough to simply reach an audience—we must engage them in moments of genuine relevance with timely ads. We can transform passive viewing into an active connection by precisely aligning advertising messages with specific content environments.
The power of contextual targeting lies in its precision: imagine delivering a message not just to a demographic, but to a viewer deeply immersed in content that naturally amplifies your brand's narrative. Contextual ads are more memorable, drive higher engagement rates, improve brand safety, and are privacy-friendly as they don't rely on personal data. Our data shows that contextually aligned ads aren't just seen—they can boost brand awareness up to 4x.
You must own the moment and amplify the message. Keeping the ads relevant and connecting to the consumer's experience builds deeper levels of trust and connection. At Samsung Ads, we are committed to innovating and building those consumer connection experiences for any type of advertiser to deliver the best experience and generate the highest ROAS making it a valuable tool for advertisers looking to reach the right audience at the right time without compromising on user privacy. Our Content Collectives offering provides that relevance and connection, enabling advertisers to reach highly engaged audiences at scale using innovative ad formats designed to drive action.
Jarred Wilichinsky, SVP, Digital Advertising Operations at Paramount Advertising highlighted how stricter privacy laws are driving the need for contextual advertising, which boosts relevance and engagement
As privacy laws become stricter and more diverse, contextual options for advertising are increasingly important. Diverse endpoints target various audiences, making contextual strategies vital. By aligning ads with the viewer's context, we increase relevance and engagement.
Our TVREV take: When TV was digitized, metadata was largely left out of the equation, making it all but impossible to target ads based on context…or find the shows you wanted to watch. The introduction of generative AI, which is particularly adept at doing relatively simple tasks it would take thousands of humans thousands of hours to accomplish, ameliorated that, allowing advertisers and operating systems the ability to better target programs based on context.
This has been a boon for advertisers, for, as you will see in our report, contextual targeting can solve a world of hurt, everything from privacy to transparency to fragmentation to overfrequency to measurement to brand safety. (It can’t make consumers buy your product though. At least not yet.)
Better still, it can be used in conjunction with audience-based targeting, so it’s not an either/or proposition. It can also be used on the content side, to create everything from better recommendations to better programming slates. A win for the entire ecosystem.
