CTV is by far the most premium device for OTT viewing: Prabhvir Sahmey

Launched in India in March 2021, Samsung Ads India, the advertising division of Samsung Electronics, has been strengthening its base in the Indian market. In a span of over a year, Samsung Ads has become a leading provider of advanced TV advertising inventory powered by the largest global source of TV data. It offers an internet-based TV experience to consumers with instant access to a wide range of exciting and premium content across news, sports, music, movies, entertainment and more. Users in India can now access 45 free live TV channels, including 38 global and 7 Indian channels such as 9XM, FashionTV, Tennis Channel, 9X Jalwa, The Pet Collective, with the channel list growing monthly. Advertisers in India now have programmatic access to exclusive Samsung connected TV (CTV) inventory on Samsung’s premium ad-supported video on demand (AVOD) service.

In February 2022, Samsung Ads selected Magnite to power programmatic OTT and CTV inventory for Samsung TV Plus in India.

In April this year, Samsung Ads brought its ts proprietary automatic content recognition (ACR) technology to India. The ACR technology captures everything happening on the glass and enables consumers a more customised content discovery experience across millions of Samsung Smart TVs.

In September 2022, Samsung Ads expanded the team with three hires. Abhinav Dhimam joined as Analytics and Insights Manager; Sahil Nanda joined as Client Solutions Manager; while Bushra Ansari joined as Finance and Business Operation Manager.

In conversation with Adgully, Prabhvir Sahmey, Senior Director India and South East Asia, Samsung Ads, speaks about the growing adoption of connected TV in India and how advertisers can tap into this growing opportunity, how the advent of 5G can change the connected TV advertising space, and more.

What kind of advertising solutions does Samsung Ads offer to advertisers in India?

Since launching in 2021, we have increased the number of addressable Samsung Smart TVs in the region by millions and expanded our offering in the market to Automatic Content Recognition (ACR), which is our own proprietary technology. ACR data – which is completely de-identified – helps us understand the type of content being consumed on our devices, which in turn helps us deliver “smart” recommendations to users to find more content that’s most relevant to them. It is also valuable for advertisers to understand CTV viewership insights for planning, and enabling better targeting and measurement.

What are the benefits of advertising on connected TV?

Audiences are looking for the best content on offer, and Samsung Ads offers advertisers the ability to reach highly engaged viewers and drive big impact from their ad spend. Advertisers and D2C brands within all sectors, including automotive, BFSI, beauty and media entertainment can unlock the opportunity to provide the perfect environment for brands to marry the big screen, high quality experience of TV ads with the accuracy of targeting and measurability seen already in digital advertising.

How important is connected TV in the media mix for advertisers?

CTV offers advertisers the ability to reach highly engaged viewers and drive big impact from their ad spends. Much like in the rest of our lives, there’s a balance that needs to be struck. Marketers are drawn to TV for its device size, scale and reach, and also because it is a trusted ‘brand safe’ environment. And now, for the first time, there is the potential for measuring the impact of a campaign on connected devices. And thanks to audience insights, we can see what audiences have potentially been missed by only being targeted on linear or other platforms alone, and design a strategy, whereby incremental reach can be achieved for brands. In India, we have partnered with Kantar to provide Brand insights for campaigns running across the Samsung TV Network; making TV more measurable like digital for upper funnel metrics. We also offer ‘incremental reach’ over linear ads. Making the TV investment work harder in reaching the right household.

Telecom operators have started announcing the launch of 5G in the country. How do you see it changing the connected TV advertising space?

5G will enable a more premium Internet service – and, therefore, streaming experience – for mobile phone users in India. But CTV is by far the most premium device for OTT viewing, because audiences prefer the bigger screen and quality content. Mobile might be good for a quick snack, but for the whole ‘meal’, TV is the preferred option. 

How big is the CTV market in India, and how do you see it grow in the coming year?

The CTV market in India is growing exponentially, as more people have stronger internet access and are upgrading the television sets to Smart, Connected TVs. While the Indian CTV market is still relatively young compared to other markets, the current growth rate means it is hard for advertisers and brands to ignore. Access to audience insights will be key to accelerating CTV growth, and will require partnership with manufacturers like Samsung, who can provide first-party data to advertisers.

There are millions of Samsung CTVs installed in Indian households and they will become a fantastic source of audience data. What this means is that we can collaborate with advertisers to position content and brands within the organic TV viewing experience, based on data-driven insights. Planning against real behaviours will enable advertisers to achieve better cost effectiveness and manage fragmentation across CTV. 

What are the challenges that Samsung Ads faces in the Indian market currently?

With change comes opportunity, and a common question that we get is where to start and how to validate results. One of the easiest use cases for CTV is the potential for incremental reach – because of the fragmented audience landscape of CTV, there will always be hard-to-reach audiences. So, having those insights is crucial. There is also still some confusion around OTT vs OEMs, but I think this can easily be solved through education and as the market matures. The main thing is that audiences are ready for CTV – and the opportunity is there, ready for those who want to take it.