How brands can sharpen their ad strategies for sports broadcasting with rise of CTV

In the rapidly evolving world of digital media, Connected TV (CTV) has emerged as a pivotal platform, reshaping how advertisers approach and engage with sports broadcasting audiences. With its ability to offer granular targeting, real-time data analytics, and interactive ad formats, CTV has not only extended the reach of sports advertisements but has also enhanced their effectiveness and recall.

As per a VDO.AI report, India’s anticipated rise as the third-largest market by 2024 underscores the pivotal role of CTV advertising in shaping the country’s media landscape. This shift is exemplified by CTV’s significant presence in the top six metros, with Delhi leading with 3.5 million users, followed closely by Mumbai and Bengaluru with 2.2 and 1.6 million users, respectively.

Connected TV has revolutionized advertising during sports events, offering advertisers unparalleled reach and recall. The sports category has consistently drawn significant interest from advertisers, both on traditional television and early digital streaming platforms.

According to a report from The Trade Desk, nine in 10 (90%) advertisers plan to maintain or increase their programmatic live sports budgets in 2024. Nearly half of the advertisers (49%) report that they have increased live sports allocations on CTV, per that same report.

Ad Strategies in Sports Broadcasting with the rise of CTV

Speaking on this Siddharth Dabhade, Global Commercial Board Member & Managing Director, MiQ, elaborated, “CTV allows advertisers to target audiences based on the content they’re watching using ACR data and geo-localize their ad creatives and messaging of their campaigns, control and optimize reach and frequency to make an impact on the biggest screen in the household. Our Advanced TV research report also unveiled that over 55% viewers use a second-screen while streaming and watching TV, which means that viewer attention is split across devices and viewers regularly hop across OTT apps. So, strategies like cross-device retargeting, or retargeting consumers who have already shown interest in a brand on any device and delivering tailored ads on CTV, you have the chance to make a lasting impression.”

Continuing further, Dabhade said, “Another strategy brands can activate on CTV is sports moments synced ads. Brands can also activate ads synced with in-game moments, for example: after a bowler takes two wickets in an over or a batsman hits a half-century. These ads are served programmatically to create maximum impact and engagement.”

Nikhil Kumar, Chief Growth Officer, mediasmart, noted, “Today, sports broadcasting is not limited to one channel or medium. While advertising on CTV has given an impetus to brands to improve their brand impact, recall, and made the space for television advertising more measurable, advertisers have had to also evolve to cater to the consumption patterns across multiple screens. Advertisers need to innovate and optimize ad targeting to unify the multiple consumer journeys across screens and get more out of the CTV advertising. The focus needs to shift to how to reach the right audience, instead of where the ad is shown. This means an advertiser is able to cut across mediums and even genres to programmatically cater to these audiences and have a unifying reach.”

CTV & personalization of sports content

Dabhade explained that personalization in the CTV landscape is possible with device and advertising IDs based on proprietary, or first-party data. He pointed out that data clean-rooms allow first-party data to be shared without compromising user privacy, creating value for both brands and consumers. “Contextual targeting is possible on CTV with ACR technology by analyzing content playing on TV as per topic and genre to inform advertising strategies. MiQ has the most advanced CTV solution in India, which is backed by the most diverse global TV data set in the world, built with our partnerships with all the major OTT & CTV platforms across the TV ecosystem. Advertisers must engage their audience with dynamic creatives that can have personalized messaging or creatives that change with the game. Using dynamic creatives can catch the attention of users across devices and induce an action,” he added.

Nikhil Kumar elaborated that leveraging advanced technology and data insights, CTV platforms offer tailored experiences through user profiles, recommendation algorithms, and interactive features. Within the CTV ecosystem, a viewer has different platforms to watch or engage in sports. While a large majority of viewing happens on OTTs, FAST channels are also growing. On mediasmart, an advertiser can access 60+ sports channels on FAST. The advent of gaming on CTV has also made sports related content more accessible - play store apps, or via external devices connected like XBox or PlayStation. “This personalization enhances viewer engagement and satisfaction while providing advertisers with targeted advertising opportunities. CTV's multi-screen capabilities further enhance flexibility, allowing advertisers to prompt action on mobile apps or in-store,” Kumar added.

Challenges in tailoring ads for CTV’s varied sports audience

Citing a MiQ Advanced TV report, Dabhade said that 74% of CTV advertisers measure the success of their campaigns through reach/ frequency towards the intended target audience. The biggest challenge is with data and awareness of CTV capabilities. Advertisers tend to ignore the fact that CTV is that it can provide more data-driven precise targeting for ads. Advertisers must use demographic, location, and interest data to create ads that are more relevant to CTV viewers.

He added, “Finding the target sports enthusiast who are searching for festive deals in their cars, on their phone, during flights or at hotels. Utilizing data analytics and audience segmentation to identify cricket enthusiasts among your target demographic. By identifying these moments and locations, you can strategically place your advertisements where they are most likely to catch the attention of your target audience.”

Nikhil Kumar noted, “While programmatic-driven targeting techniques on CTV offer advertisers a more precise way to reach their audiences, it is not enough to drive engagement.Due to the fragmented nature of audiences, it’s important to have a multi-screen approach that can be tailored to the specific user journeys. Advertisers can leverage household sync technology to unify the advertising journey across multiple devices within the same household. Our Household Sync technology, for instance, allows advertisers to target multiple devices within the same household and drive action. Furthermore, our Engagement Sync technology enhances targeting capabilities by utilizing data from user engagement on one device to retarget them with relevant content on other devices. This unified approach ensures consistency and coherence in the advertising journey, regardless of the device used, thereby maximizing engagement and conversion opportunities.”

Emerging trends in CTV sports broadcasting

CTV advertising offers access to affluent audiences that are hard to reach on linear TV. During big-ticket events like IPL, World Cup and more, advertisers want to boost brand awareness, reach and recall among cricket fans and their target group of customers. Dabhade listed the following trends in CTV sports broadcasting:

• Data-driven audience targeting - find and reach your target customers among cricket fans. One of the benefits of CTV is that it can provide more data-driven precise targeting for ads. Advertisers can use demographic, location, and interest data to create ads that are more relevant to CTV viewers.
• Dynamically activate ads - when a wicket falls, a batsman hits a six or a team scores a century. MiQ’s innovative cricket sync solution triggers your ad at crucial moments or milestones during the game.
• Retargeting viewers across devices - by seamlessly retargeting consumers who have already shown interest in your brand across any device and delivering tailored ads on CTV, you have the chance to make a lasting impression.
• Competitors conquesting on CTV - automatic Content Recognition (ACR) technology can be leveraged to reach audiences who have engaged with your key competitors' advertising. Advertisers can target viewers who have been exposed to their competitors' linear TV ad and retarget them across devices to drive return on their own ROI.

CTV has brought together the creative storytelling associated with linear television advertising with the benefits & measurability of programmatic advertising. As a result, it offers a highly engaging format for advertisers.CTV ads provide better media planning, targeting, activation, and measurability than linear TV ads,said Siddharth Dabhade.

“There’s a great focus on interactive ads which are highly attractive for brands to generate improved brand engagement. The integration of QR code scanning technology in ads is also enabling more seamless interaction, allowing viewers to access additional content or make purchases directly from the ad on their mobile devices. Then there’s the promise of GenAI on CTV that would encourage more brands to advertise with greater confidence. mediasmart’s feature on AI CTVSafe, for instance, automatically filters out risk categories and allows advertisers to ensure alignment between advertising and CTV content, thereby preventing any discrepancies that could adversely impact brand perception,” Kumar concluded.