Premium, Safe, Scalable: The future of brand safety in contextual advertising

The 9th edition of the DIGIXX Summit and Awards 2025, held in Delhi on March 20, brought together industry leaders to discuss the evolution of digital marketing in India. One of the key sessions at the event was a Fireside Chat, titled Premium, Safe, and Scalable: The Future of Brand Safety in Contextual Advertising. The session was moderated by Nabajit Nath, Sales Director, India, Kargo, and featured panelists – Girish Menon, Associate Director, dentsu Programmatic, Amplifi, and Neha Khullar, Head of Marketing, Kenstar.

Opening the discussion, Nabajit Nath highlighted the rapid growth of digital ad expenditure in India. He noted, “At a rapid scale, with 15-20% growth year on year, digital ad expense crossed 50-55% last year. This year, it is predicted to cross 55-60%, which is huge.” At the same time, he also acknowledged the challenges that accompany this growth, including issues related to brand safety, measurability, transparency, and ad fraud

He further stressed the need for collective action within the industry, saying, “There is a lot of MFA sites which are kind of siphoning of revenues from clients and brands. Now these are the issues which are not unique to India, but very much prevalent in India. Therefore, I think as a fraternity we should come together and discuss these points, especially in forums like this to understand what brands think and what agencies are trying to do.”

Addressing the growing challenges in advertising, Girish Menon highlighted the significance of contextual advertising, stating, “In today’s crowded advertising landscape, a user is being exposed to more than thousands of ads in a day, which is creating ad fatigue and panel blindness. This is the time when relevancy and context of an ad make more sense than ever.”

He also pointed out the shift in the industry due to stricter privacy regulations, such as GDPR, and the phasing out of third-party cookies. He emphasized that contextual advertising provides a viable alternative for targeting audiences without relying on personal data. “In contextual advertising, how it works is we see ads when we are browsing content, and the ads are placed in line with the content. That makes it more relevant and interests the user's current interest,” he added.

Menon also cited research from DoubleVerify, highlighting that “contextual advertising gives 3x more brand engagement than a normal or non-contextual advertising”. He further explained how contextual advertising contributes to brand safety, “Brand safety is not only about targeting the right placement but also avoiding the wrong placement. While doing contextual, brands have more control over what to talk about and what context they want to place their ad in.”

Providing a brand’s perspective, Neha Khullar supported the relevance of contextual advertising in overcoming advertising clutter. She explained, “There’s a lot of clutter. We see ads from brands, from OTTs, throwing ads on new series, new movies, etc. Contextual advertising really helps in this case and for me, it is based on basic human psychology. The customer is already deeply engaged in the kind of content he or she is consuming. So, if you show them a relevant ad that speaks the same language, it will be absolutely beneficial for the brand.”

She shared a real-world example of how contextual advertising delivered exceptional results for Kenstar. “In the last summer season, we at Kenstar sell coolers as well. The main campaign, for instance, was ‘AC Vali Thunder Ken Star Cooler’. But on the day of the national election results, which was a very important day, we had to be present across news channels. That really worked for me because my engagement rate was 4x to 5x more than my regular display ads.”

Khullar also acknowledged that while contextual advertising is highly effective, it may not always be feasible due to higher costs. “It is obviously not possible for us as marketing professionals to have contextual ads everywhere. We understand that the CPMs are also at times higher. But where we can, we should.”

Watch the entire discussion here:

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