CTV’s (Connected TV) popularity has surged in the recent years pushing the AdEx (advertising expenditure) on the medium significantly higher. The key reason driving this growth is brands upping their investments. According to experts, in the last two years brands have surged their CTV ad budgets by 30- 40 percent. The boom is fueled by rising popularity of smart TVs and streaming services that allow brand to target specific audiences effectively.
Interestingly it’s not just the new age brands who are taking to CTV, legacy brands are also spending generously on the medium.
According to Russhabh R Thakkar, Founder and CEO at ad tech firm specialising in Connected TV Frodoh World the brands that have been quickest to embrace CTV advertising are the digital-first and direct-to-consumer (D2C) companies.
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“They understand that their target audiences, especially younger demographics, are increasingly shifting towards streaming and connected TV viewing. Notable examples include D2C brands like Nykaa, boAt, Mamaearth and Lenskart, which have significantly ramped up their CTV ad spends to directly engage with consumers in an interactive and personalized manner that drives sales. Other digital-native companies like Cred, Zomato, and PayTM have also been leveraging CTV’s immersive capabilities to build brand awareness and affinity among the digital consumer base,” said Thakkar.
“Even marquee brands across verticals like automobiles that include Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Tata Motors are leveraging CTV’s immersive capabilities to showcase products interactively, as well as consumer goods giants like Hindustan Unilever, ITC are utilising localised CTV messaging to resonate with regional audiences, are among those prominently increasing their CTV ad investment,” Thakkar added.
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As per a recent Madison report, advertising on Connected TV has increased from Rs 450 crores to around Rs 1000 crore in 2023. A combination of increased digital penetration, sports content, OTT Content, targeted advertising capabilities, interactive formats have all contributed to this increase.
Ajay Macaden, chief evangelist at digital agency mFilterIt said that dominated by search and social, CTV ad spends in digital are expected to grow exponentially to 7-8% percent of total advertising expenditure over the medium to long term—a growth of 40 percent year-on-year.
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“Brands has substantially increased CTV ad budget driven by primary factors like improved internet infrastructure and smart TV penetration, consumer Preferences to streaming services, availability of varied content appealing to different audience segments, higher ROI with CTV offers better targeting and measurement capabilities, and ad effectiveness with real-time measurement and higher engagement rates,” Macaden added.
Free streaming of IPL on CTV has been a contributing factor in the growth of AdEx on the platform. According to experts, IPL has onboarded a host of BFSI, FMCG, service provider apps’ and household products’ brands as advertisers on CTV and having tasted the ROI of the platform, most of these categories are expected to linger and spend more.
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