Why Interactive CTV Advertising Is the Future of TV Ads
Television has changed more in the last decade than in the fifty years before it. Viewers have moved from cable boxes to streaming apps on smart TVs, game consoles and streaming sticks. They pick what to watch, when to watch it and on which screen.
The ads, for the most part, have not changed at all. A thirty-second spot on a streaming service is still the same thirty-second spot that ran on broadcast TV: the viewer watches, or looks at their phone, and the advertiser hopes something sticks.
That gap is the opportunity. Connected TV (CTV) runs on internet-connected devices, which means every ad can do more than play. Interactive CTV advertising turns the commercial from something viewers sit through into something they can use, and we believe it is where TV advertising is headed.
The TV commercial has always been a one-way street
Since the dawn of television, TV commercials have been a passive experience. One message goes to everyone watching, with very limited ability to target the right message to the right viewer at the right time.
Advertisers have worked around that with volume and repetition. Viewers have responded by tuning out. Neither side gets what it wants: the viewer sees ads that are not relevant to them, and the advertiser pays for attention it does not get and cannot measure.
Streaming changed what a TV ad can be
A streaming ad is delivered by software, to a device that knows when it is playing and can respond to input. That opens up formats broadcast TV could never support:
- Choice. Instead of one message, an ad can offer a menu: several products, trailers, offers or destinations, and the viewer picks the one they care about.
- Exploration. A viewer who is interested can dig deeper, watching a product demo or seeing more of a lineup, while one who is not can move on.
- Action. Viewers can request information, save an offer or start a purchase from the ad itself.
The industry has been building the standards to make this work at scale. SIMID, the IAB Tech Lab standard for interactive video ads, keeps the publisher's player in control while an interactive layer runs on top. We covered how it works in What Is SIMID?
The phone in every viewer's hand
Not every TV can run an interactive layer, and nobody wants to type an email address with a remote control. But almost everyone watching TV has a smartphone within reach, and pointing a phone camera at a QR code has become second nature for scanning a restaurant menu or a boarding pass.
That makes the TV and the phone a natural pair. The TV gets attention and tells the story. A QR code on screen hands the viewer to their phone, where they can browse, sign up or buy with the payment details and accounts they already have. It works on smart TVs and streaming devices, and even on linear TV, where an interactive layer is impossible.
Interactive ads tell you what viewers actually want
The most underrated benefit of interactivity is what it teaches the advertiser.
A traditional TV campaign is measured by who might have seen it. An interactive ad also records what viewers did: which option they chose from the menu, which product they explored, how long they spent, whether they scanned the code, what they bought. Those are not inferences from a profile; they are viewers declaring their own interests.
As privacy rules and platform changes make it harder to track people across apps and websites, that kind of first-party, self-declared data becomes more valuable, not less. It comes from viewers who chose to engage, inside an ad they chose to interact with.
From awareness to purchase in one ad
TV has always been the best medium for building awareness and the worst for closing the sale. The journey from seeing an ad to buying the product has run through other channels: search, a website visit, a store trip. Every step loses people.
Interactive CTV can shorten that journey to almost nothing. A viewer who sees a product they like can add it to a cart from the ad, or scan a code and finish the purchase on their phone, while the interest is still there. That turns TV from a channel that is measured on reach into one that can be measured on results.
What it takes to get there
The shift will not happen just because the technology exists. A few things have to be true:
- The experience has to respect the viewer. Interactivity should be an option, never an obstacle. Viewers who do not want to engage should be able to watch the ad and move on.
- It has to work across devices. CTV is a fragmented world of TVs, sticks, consoles and apps, plus ads stitched into streams on the server side. Formats need to degrade gracefully: interactive where the device allows it, a QR code where it does not, and a great video everywhere.
- It has to be easy to buy and build. Advertisers should not need a custom engineering project for every campaign. Standards like VAST and SIMID, and creative tools built on them, make that possible.
- Results have to be measurable. Brands will move budget to interactive formats when they can see what those formats deliver, in engagement, data and sales.
Where VideoStorm fits
This is the future VideoStorm is built for. Our patented technology transforms passive video ads into interactive experiences:
- VideoStorm lets viewers preview all the content, products and destinations an advertiser offers, then go directly to the one they want.
- RainMaker lets viewers shop the store and add to their cart right within the ad.
- ScanStorm and ForeCaster use QR codes to bring interactive experiences to any screen, including CTV and linear TV.
- StormTracker turns every choice viewers make into first-party data on their true interests and intentions.
TV viewers already decide what they watch. Interactive CTV advertising lets them decide what they see in the ads, too, and that is better for viewers and brands alike.
Ready to make your TV advertising interactive? Get in touch.