Survey: CTV Is the Channel to Watch for Advertising Dollars

The shift of advertising budgets from linear TV to CTV reflects the most significant consumer behavior this year, according to a report by Mediaocean, released on August 19.

The omnichannel ad-media platform just released its 2024 H2 Market Report that looks at emerging consumer, media, and media-technology trends for the rest of the year, the results of a survey of 1,200 marketing professionals in July.

Besides increased spending and re-allocation to CTV, respondents said they expect search and social platforms to attract more brand-advertiser spending in H2. Marketers are also shifting some spending out of AI.

Most industry leaders said they have discovered that AI, the biggest buzzword and shiny new toy of 2024, is best used for data analysis and market research rather than content creation. Indeed, issues with content-generated by AI have included copyright infringement, plagiarism, and even hallucinations by the technology.

In the introduction to the report, Karsten Weide, Principal and Chief Analyst at W Media research, wrote that marketers and their tech and media partners have had “a more sober experience of applying [AI] in the real world in 2024.” Brands’ preference for CTV stems from its ability to combine “TV’s large canvas with the amenities of digital advertising, making it an ideal platform for brand campaigns.” Weide will host a webinar to go deeper into the report on Aug. 28, followed by a Q&A with Deborah Wahl, Forbes Hall of Fame CMO, former CMO of General Motors, and current Mediaocean board member.

In response to the question, how are you using AI in your marketing, 45% of respondents said they were using it for data analysis. Market research was second (40%), followed by copywriting (27%), and 22% for image generation.

The education vertical used AI the most (69%) for copywriting. Here is a breakdown of how respondents in various verticals said they are using AI:

• Data Analysis
  • Direct to consumer (55%)
  • Technology (53%)
  • Telecommunications (48%)
  • Entertainment (47%)
  • Travel (44%)
  • Auto (43%)
  • Retail (42%)
  • CPG (41%)
• Market Research
  • QSR (49%)
  • Pharma/health (44%)
  • Financial services (39%)

While respondents cited CTV and AI as the most important consumer trends they are watching for H2, TikTok and social video was third, with 47% of respondents pointing to its importance. E-commerce everywhere, consumer privacy, gaming, political and advocacy trends were all in descending order of importance with the Metaverse dead last—only 13 percent of industry executives considered it an important trend.

Overall, respondents indicated their intentions to increase advertising spending in total over what they spent last year and more still in 2025. “The increase in ad spending reflects a market that’s keenly attuned to growth drivers and the ability for media to move the needle on corporate objectives,” the report said.

Even with or perhaps because of Google Chrome’s third-party cookie sticking around, marketers are doubling down on mastering first-party data, the fastest-growing area of investment.

Compared to Mediaocean’s last survey in November 2023, 25% more respondents identified mastering first-party data as a critical capability for their organizations. The report recommended that marketers embrace a multi-ID approach to consumer data and targeting. This approach should include “cookies along with other identities to ensure that consumers can receive the personalized brand experiences they have come to expect.”

Mediaocean included a new question in this H2 survey against the backdrop of Oracle discontinuing Moat and the rise of made-for-advertising web sites: What aspects of verification are most important to marketers when selecting partners and evaluating ROI? The majority of respondents (33%) said measurement and MRC accreditation were most important, followed by the ability to use data in real-time decision making.

Respondents overwhelmingly (69%) said performance-driven media was the ad capability and media investment deemed most critical among respondents. Surprisingly, only 13% said identity was a critical capability.