How GenAI is revolutionising CTV advertising by enhancing personalisation capabilities

Amidst the rapid technological advancements in digital advertising, the application of generative AI within the CTV landscape is not just a trend, but a fundamental shift in how advertising strategies are formulated and executed. With GenAI at the helm, advertisers now have the tools to delve deeper into data-driven insights, allowing for a granular level of audience targeting that was previously unattainable. This capability to customize content in real-time to match the viewers’ preferences, location, and even current weather conditions, presents a unique opportunity to elevate the consumer experience.

As advertisers leverage these tools to create highly personalized and contextually relevant ads, the bridge between digital content and consumer interaction grows stronger, setting the stage for a discussion on how these innovations are being implemented and the impact they are creating in the CTV advertising arena.

Industry leaders are increasingly recognizing the transformative impact of GenAI, utilizing its capabilities to enhance viewer engagement through dynamic ad insertion, contextual targeting, and improved brand safety measures.

Utilization of GenAI in the current CTV advertising landscape

Nikhil Kumar, Chief Growth Officer, mediasmart, explained, “By using GenAI advertisers can create different versions of the same ad to target different audiences. Another potential use case is around contextual ad targeting as GenAI can analyze the context of any content, viewer behavior, and environmental factors to deliver contextually relevant ads. For example, ads for outdoor gear may be shown during nature documentaries or travel shows, enhancing ad effectiveness and viewer engagement. Another area to benefit from GenAI is around Dynamic Ad Insertion (DAI) technology which enables real-time insertion of targeted ads based on viewer demographics, behaviour, and real-time data. This can maximize ad relevance, and thereby ROI. Finally, another great use case for GenAI on CTV is to increase the level of brand safety. At mediasmart, for instance, we have developed a feature called AI CTVSafe, which can enable advertising platforms to automatically discard certain types of content without requiring pre-defined categorization, for example, not showing ads on entertainment content intended for kids or shows that a brand considers too violent.”

Salil Shanker, SVP - Sales, Lemma, noted, “GenAI is at the forefront of reshaping CTV advertising by enabling brands to create ads that resonate deeply with viewers. Unlike traditional advertising methods, GenAI empowers advertisers to tailor ads based on individual preferences, locations, and even weather conditions. Generative AI revolutionizes CTV advertising by parsing unstructured data, enabling more cost-effective creatives, and streamlining data interpretation. This results in targeted, engaging campaigns that dynamically adapt to diverse demographics and contexts, maximizing relevance and effectiveness. For advertisers and content providers, this translates to increased revenue and enhanced value proposition in a rapidly evolving media landscape.”

“Generative AI is revolutionizing advertisers and agencies to deliver more personalized, relevant and engaging ad experiences,” said, Shobhit Gaur, Vice President and National Buying Head, Madison Digital, adding, “The AI also helps them to deliver more efficiencies to the campaigns. I also believe that AI will have a much bigger role to play and we can have defined characteristics to demonstrate the strength of AI in CTV. GenAI will eventually help us create more personalized content, will help us to do contextual targeting and can bring a lot of creative efficiency which will effectively help you to deliver ROI to your campaigns.”

Siddharth Dabhade, Global Commercial Board Member & Managing Director, MiQ, said, "AI technology is being used by advertisers to make ads more personalized and creative on CTV and other channels. This means viewers get ads that are less of an interruption and more of a value add to their viewing experience. AI generated content can be used to tailor ad creatives to different audience segments to deliver more contextually relevant ads. A recent example of AI’s use in sports advertising campaigns is Zomato’s latest IPL campaign which personalized ads during IPL for Zomato’s restaurant partners. Dynamic Creative Optimization (DCO): generative AI can also assist in the creative process by generating multiple variations of ad content, testing them in different segments, and learning which versions perform best."

Challenges and limitations on adoption of GenAI in CTV advertising

Salil Shanker pointed out that the adoption of GenAI in CTV advertising is not without its challenges. According to him, one major concern is the source identification and reproducibility of GenAI outcomes, which raises questions about the reliability and legality of decision-making processes. Plus, there are no clear governance frameworks and a shortage of skilled professionals proficient in GenAI.

“By addressing these challenges, advertisers can win consumers’ trust, which make sure that GenAI is utilized ethically and effectively by the advertisers via real actions and investments to bring some structures around the GenAI roadblocks,” he added.

While lamenting that currently nobody is addressing the seriousness of GenAI, Shobhit Gaur foresaw a series of challenges coming in the future. For instance, data privacy concerns – GenAIis highly dependent on the data you are capturing and how accurately data is being captured to process AI, he said.

Another limitation is creative control for the advertisers. While generative AI offers automation and efficiency, it can also limit creative control over ad content. Advertisers need to strike a balance between leveraging AI for automation and retaining human oversight to ensure that ad creative aligns with brand guidelines and objectives.

Siddharth Dabhade noted , "Currently, brands are at the stage of evaluating how to use gen AI in their marketing function and advertising agencies are looking at from a creative perspective, how can AI help in making their campaign more effectively and creatively. The biggest hurdle is the creative results produced by generative AI are not satisfactory for most brands. For brands, integrating dispersed data sets across platforms & walled gardens to create a unified view of the customer across touchpoints is another challenge.The second biggest hurdle is creative challenges advertisers face owing to the cost when planning and executing a CTV campaign. According to MiQ’s global research advanced TV report, only 15% of the 1000 people we surveyed across brands and agencies who have executed CTV ad campaigns consider themselves a CTV ‘expert’."

GenAI & personalization of CTV advertising campaigns

“With GenAI, there’s a greater possibility to make CTV advertising more impactful, relevant, and seamless between connected devices,” said Nikhil Kumar. By leveraging machine learning algorithms, GenAI can predict viewer preferences and behaviours. This predictive capability enables advertisers to anticipate what content or products viewers are likely to be interested in, optimizing ad targeting and increasing relevance. GenAI also enables real-time insertion of targeted ads based on individual viewer profiles. This dynamic ad serving ensures that each viewer receives ads tailored to their interests, increasing engagement and ad effectiveness. By offering greater tailored content through GenAI, advertisers can dynamically adjust ad content in real-time, ensuring relevance to each viewer. This adaptive approach optimizes campaign performance by delivering the right message to the right person at the right time.

Salil Shanker noted, “GenAI’s ability to analyze vast amounts of data enables advertisers to deliver highly personalized and targeted ads on CTV platforms. By understanding viewer preferences and behaviors, brands can create ads that resonate on a deeper level, leading to increased engagement and conversion rates. Moreover, GenAI-driven campaigns foster a sense of connection and understanding between brands and consumers, driving long-term loyalty and advocacy.”

Shobhit Gaur added here, “GenAI allows you to personalize the content in real time on our defined key metrics. For instance, with the DCO integration, you can segment your communications on interests, location or even past viewing history which is layered with multiple ad formats like images, text and other CTAs.”

Siddharth Dabhade pointed," GenAI uses deep learning models to analyze vast amounts of data quickly, and data analytics allows marketers to gain valuable insights into audience demographics, behaviors, and preferences across different channels, including CTV. By analyzing viewership data from CTV, marketers can segment audiences more effectively and tailor their messages to specific consumer segments, ensuring relevance and engagement. For targeting, data analytics and AI algorithms can recommend optimal time and frequncy to display an ad and alos help advertisers decide the best programmatic supply paths for maximum effectiveness."

Emerging trends

According to Nikhil Kumar, “GenAI will continue to drive hyper-personalization in CTV advertising, with ads tailored to individual viewer preferences, behaviors, and demographics. This trend will involve more granular audience segmentation and highly targeted ad campaigns to maximize engagement and conversion rates.I also expect that as GenAI evolves, advertisers will increasingly rely on GenAI to optimize ad creatives in real-time based on viewer feedback and performance data. This trend will involve dynamic adjustments to ad elements such as visuals, messaging, and calls-to-action to maximize effectiveness. Specifically, within the CTV ecosystem, GenAI has the potential to not only transform the advertising experience, but also elevate the way viewers experience CTV. With the intersection of technology, creativity, and innovation, we are looking at a brighter future for digital advertising.”

Salil Shanker said, “Advertisers will adopt and invest on technology that works on Large Language Models (LLMs). This will help the brand or advertiser to better analyze the consumers viewing behaviour and target them with an ad that resonates with their viewing pattern which drives certain engagements. We foresee a shift towards even more tailored ads that adapt in real-time to viewers’ changing preferences and environments. Additionally, GenAI will help in streamlining the content production processes, allowing advertisers to focus on creativity and innovation rather than repetitive tasks.”

Shobhit Gaur noted, “The key trend that will create a differentiating factor for the format is the ability to do personalisation at scale, communications that can be disseminated through the possibility of running Interactive ads. GenAI also helps advertisers to optimize campaigns in real-time.”

Siddharth Dabhade concluded by saying, " Driving viewership with AI - With thousands of CTV FAST channels & OTT apps, content publishers need innovative ways to reach new audiences. Growing viewership with AI will be the answer as AI can recommend what content viewers might enjoy, even if they're unaware of it.  AI can identify patterns invisible to humans, like using mood or recency to suggest content.  For example, if a viewer is switching channels, they might be receptive to a new recommendation, or if they're watching a comedy show, AI can suggest similar content.

Cross-device retargeting: CTV advertising's transformation includes cross-device targeting, particularly between CTV and mobile. Imagine targeting viewers on their phones while they watch TV – those viewers are likely less engaged with the TV program. This high-impact approach, especially when combined with viewing history on mobile devices, can be incredibly effective.

As consumer adoption of ad-supported CTV increases, publishers gain valuable viewing data.  This data allows them to predict preferences, build audiences more effectively, and attract more viewers."