Advanced creative formats drive stronger results in connected TV advertising

Advertisers are increasingly adopting connected TV as the foundation of their media strategies, but many are not fully integrating creative and data-driven approaches, according to a report released this week by LG Ad Solutions.

The report, titled “The Art and Science of the CTV-First Era,” surveyed 45 U.S. buyers who each spend more than $1 million annually on connected TV advertising. It found that most respondents prioritize connected TV for its measurable reach and data-driven precision, using linear TV primarily to extend overall audience exposure.

Campaigns that combined advanced creative formats with deterministic targeting delivered significantly stronger outcomes. According to internal benchmarks cited in the report, these campaigns achieved a 5.9 times higher lift in brand favorability, 2.4 times greater purchase intent, 1.4 times higher brand awareness, and 1.2 times higher ad recall compared to standard CTV campaigns.

Eighty-four percent of buyers using interactive, dynamic or 3D creative formats reported a positive impact on brand perception, website traffic, or sales. The report referenced a campaign from Wells Fargo, which saw a 3.4-point increase in aided brand awareness and a 2.8-point lift in brand favorability after employing creative ad formats.

Despite these results, 63 percent of buyers said creative and data strategies are still managed separately within their organizations. Forty-two percent indicated that creative development is undervalued, citing production costs, complexity, and measurement limitations.

The report found that buyers continue to depend on a combination of first-party, contextual and third-party data, as well as signals from original equipment manufacturers such as automatic content recognition, to improve targeting efficiency and minimize audience duplication.

Brand lift was identified as the most trusted performance metric for connected TV campaigns, followed by website traffic, conversions and attribution.

When it comes to artificial intelligence, 56 percent of buyers expressed openness to using AI tools for creative development, though nearly all said human oversight remains essential to ensure brand alignment.

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Looking ahead, advertisers plan to expand investment in programmatic connected TV, audience data, and direct partnerships with television manufacturers to enhance targeting and cross-screen measurement capabilities.