Mumbai: mediasmart, an Affle Company, is a unified programmatic platform that provides advertisers, trading desks, and agencies ways to integrate consumer journeys across screens.
Recently, Affle has made significant advancements in programmatic advertising by leveraging Gen AI. Through mediasmart, this technology has been implemented in CTV advertising, enhancing the user journey and creating a seamless experience.
Noelia Amoedo has extensive experience in the mobile, internet and social media, with a proven track record of success in developing profitable business from scratch in international markets. Before becoming CEO at mediasmart, she held multiple executive positions such as VP of Marketing and Business Development for EMEA at Palm (acquired by HP), VP of Mobile for the social network Hi5 and managing director for Buongiorno USA (acquired by NTT DOCOMO).
Similarly, Nikhil Kumar currently is the chief growth officer for mediasmart, an Affle company. He is a Consumer Marketing professional with over a decade of experience working in FMCG, Retail, F&B & Ad-Tech set-ups with global brands like Puma, L'Oreal, Cafe Coffee Day and recently Bytedance & InMobi. He was voted & awarded as one of India's Most innovative Mar-Tech leaders in 2019 by World Marketing Congress. With a career spanning over 14+ years - Nikhil has worked across multiple functions with his domain expertise primarily being Brand Marketing (digital & offline), Business strategy/ Sales & Go-To Market plan/ execution across consumer goods, retail & startup ecosystem.
Indiantelevision.com had the opportunity to connect with both Amoedo and Kumar, where they discussed the latest trends in CTV advertising, the innovative strides made in programmatic advertising through the utilisation of Gen AI, and a plethora of other insightful topics…
Edited excerpts
On specific advancements has Affle made in programmatic advertising through the integration of Gen AI technology within mediasmart's platform
[Noelia] - At Affle and mediasmart, we have a strong focus on R&D to drive innovation for the future of advertising. To strengthen these efforts and vision, we recently filed 15 new patents in India that cover futuristic applications in interaction, training, and integration of GenAI agents. The patents span advanced AI areas such as personalization, recommendation systems, predictive analysis, privacy, and enhanced fraud detection. Our GenAI-powered innovations differentiate us from the rest of the industry, to go beyond cost efficiencies to enable long-term revenue growth and competitive advantages.
We are also working to enhance the learning and application of GenAI across connected devices. One of the steps in this direction is on our AI CTV Safe feature that assesses ad suitability of CTV traffic to automatically filter out risk categories. This ensures that advertisers benefit from a secure and brand-appropriate environment. Imagine tools based on Gen AI that automatically discard showing ads on entertainment content intended for kids or shows that a brand considers too violent. With GenAI being a fairly new technology, we’re continuing to innovate more use cases around vernacular creatives, interpretation of campaign data, and how to improve the context and relevance of ads
On elaborating Gen AI technology enhancing the user journey and creating a seamless experience in Connected TV (CTV) advertising, particularly through the mediasmart platform
[Noelia] - Programmatic technology on CTV, utilizing AI, has powered measurement, targeting, and optimization on a format like television advertising for years. While AI-driven programmatic advertising has made the medium efficient by using sophisticated algorithms that can predict and make their own decisions using a set of rules/predefined goals, GenAI is based on LLMs and, in addition to the capabilities of AI, it can also create new content. This makes it more trans-formative to allow advertisers to create contextual ads depending on the audiences. For instance, a sports apparel brand can easily create multiple ads featuring visually captivating video of runners in different settings: rural, urban, with friends, in different seasons, etc, depending on where the ad is shown and what kind of household it is targeting. Making sense of unstructured language based information is another area where GenAI can make an impact to offer a seamless experience. For instance, GenAI can identify contexts and create new ones by analyzing the transcript of any given show, which in turn can reduce the dependency on pre-defined content categorization for campaign targeting. While some of this will take time, the personalization possibilities represent a leap in CTV advertising experience.
On GenAI contributing to optimising ad campaigns
[ Noelia ] - I think Gen AI could be quite disruptive in the area of campaign optimization mainly in two ways. On one hand, by becoming a tool that can empower media traders to set up their campaigns for optimum performance: imagine an assistant that is guiding you along the way while you configure your advertising campaign based on how other similar campaigns with good results have been set up. On the other hand, Gen AI could dramatically change how campaign intelligence is presented and analyzed: imagine being able to ask questions like “how is my campaign performing across cities?” “or “which is the audience that most engages with my video ads during weekends?”. The more time you invest analyzing versus configuring or manipulating data, the more you will learn and the more you can do for the success of your campaign. All this, combined with content generated by AI to make your ads most relevant to the audience, can have a dramatic impact on campaign performance.
On the recent GroupM’s TYNY 2024 report on CTV’s growth to reach 45 million homes with a YoY growth of 21 per cent in India
[Nikhil] - It’s undeniable that CTV has cemented its status as a primary source for content consumption for the Indian television viewers across cities and towns. We’re already looking at an accelerated growth rate of CTV’s adoption among Indian households having surpassed previous indications. Interestingly, while CTV viewing is a cord-cutting phenomenon among the millennial's, for many younger audiences who were cord-nevers, CTV is their primary preferred screen for content consumption. The explosive growth of OTT platforms - 46 and growing - and the appeal of a wide variety of content have also contributed to CTV’s wider adoption. So, CTV is not the future, it is the present!
This has also reflected in the speed at which advertisers have adopted CTV advertising. With its broad reach, diverse user base, and dynamic content consumption patterns, CTV is an essential component for any planning exercise for an advertiser. Advertisers across industry verticals like FMCG, retail, automotive, electronics, as well as high-end luxury brands are using CTV advertising to deliver targeted, contextual messages. More brand verticals are likely to confidently invest in CTV as ROAS-driven advertising becomes a key focus area and draw efficiency from CTV advertising’s innovative features like Household Sync that offer more synchronized and immersive experiences to integrate consumer journeys.
On the current global and local implementations of Gen AI in Connected TV and shaping the future outlook for CTV and multi-screen journeys
[Nikhil] - Globally, major streaming platforms and advertisers are likely to harness the power of GenAI to deliver personalized content recommendations and dynamically insert ads based on user preferences. This not only enhances the user experience but also allows for real-time optimization of ad campaigns, improving efficiency and engagement. On a local level, broadcasters and advertisers are customizing their approaches, leveraging GenAI to adapt to regional preferences and cultural nuances. This localization ensures that campaigns resonate with diverse audiences, establishing a deeper connection between brands and viewers. Looking forward, the future outlook for CTV and multi-screen journeys appears to be shaped by the continued advancement of Gen AI. This includes the promise of even more personalized and targeted experiences, seamless multi-screen interactions, and the integration of interactive elements that make ads not just viewable, but truly engaging and memorable. As Gen AI continues to evolve, it is poised to play a pivotal role in creating a dynamic and data-driven advertising landscape that responds to the ever-changing expectations of viewers.
On envisioning the role of Gen AI evolving in the future of programmatic advertising, and further opportunities you foresee for further innovation and growth in this space
Noelia: GenAI is going to play a key role in programmatic advertising. GenAI can be expected to have a significant impact around increasing productivity across many functions, including creatives, media buying, and extracting campaign insights. It can also reduce production costs for creatives and maximize ad relevance, not only through custom creatives but also by segmenting contexts in a much more granular way. I expect a lot of innovation around these areas in the future.
Nikhil: The possibilities of GenAI’s impact in programmatic advertising is of course exciting and the industry is looking forward to the innovations in this space. We’ve come a long way from the manual RFPs for placing ads on specific publishers. Programmatic has made the media buying process automated, real-time and measurable. With GenAI, we are looking at further efficiency and impact on media buying through dynamic bidding and AI agents will be trained to interact and integrate to improve how media is bought, ads are placed, and data is stored. 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.
