Spaceback Introduces CTV Launchpad Platform
Spaceback, which bills itself as a pioneer of social CTV, has released a new platform called CTV Launchpad that enables advertisers to produce hundreds of creative options that include local elements like business addresses for some multilocation brands or a QR code that can scan to a local office or store.
“It used to be very cost prohibitive to do this so TV was a lot harder for local advertisers,” said Joe Hall, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer Spaceback. “We offer many different ways to design unique ads in a very cost-effective way.”
Spaceback has worked with Section 119, a small retailer, and workwear brand Dickie’s to help them use the new platform to create CTV campaigns affordably and quickly.
Hall sat down with StreetFight to explain in more detail how CTV Launchpad works.
What exactly is “social CTV?”
Social CTV brings the social experience to TV advertising. We were the company that first put social posts in digital ad units. Social CTV is a natural extension of what we’ve always done. Our approach purposely blurs the lines between advertising and content, creating an experience that is more engaging and powerful than traditional advertising experiences. Turning an ad into content captures more attention and engagement and helps advertisers be more relevant.
Does CTV Launchpad have similar capabilities to the CTV ad formats Amazon just launched? For example, if viewers hit “pause” a relevant ad will be served on screen.
We are part of the same TV advertising revolution as Amazon but have a slightly different approach. Amazon is adding interactivity to their CTV ad formats that they sell through their own streaming app. Spaceback provides that opportunity across the open web, working with partners to deliver unique CTV ads to a wide variety of content across different streamers and programmatic companies. We’ve worked with our partners to enhance their own offering including working Roku on Action Ads which has been a big success. Amazon, Spaceback, and our partners are all part of an important transition that TV ads are making – moving from a passive lean-back experience to one that combines lean-back and lean-forward opportunities. These new ads make the most of the linear and digital side of CTV.
How is this new ad format useful in hyperlocal advertising?
CTV Launchpad is super relevant for hyperlocal advertising. CTV Launchpad is part of a larger movement to bring automation and low-cost/high-value production that unlocks a massive opportunity for more brands to bring locality into their creative. Not just targeting your creative to a local audience, but actually designing relevant local creative for many locations in a cost effective and efficient way. National brands might want hyperlocal messaging for specific promotions or to drive people to a many individual locations across the country. Small businesses like restaurants, law firms or car dealerships might just want to target a single location. By removing production costs we bring opportunities to both of these groups.
How does CTV Launchpad turbo-charge their advertising?
The entire process is designed to be instant and seamless. Advertisers can build incredible CTV ads starting with only a social post URL. Spaceback is also integrated with all of the leading platforms, so brands can easily access social content directly; no need to track down a file. We’ve also updated our Social CTV offering within CTV Launchpad to have more design features including AI asset collection and optimization across branded content and other owned assets. While social is our starting point, brands can easily import any video files, not just social content, and add interactivity, product info, overlays, location content, QR codes, and more for a premium ad creative. In addition to all of this automation, we’re also premium. CTV Launchpad is built for advertisers to create beautiful 4K CTV-ready ads that really look like they belong on TV.
How are the creative assets created for these ads? Are they AI-generated or put together by an ad agency?
This is not just an AI generator – it’s a platform with a specific design philosophy that helps brands take authentic content from one place and repurpose it to work in another place. We consider all of the brand’s content assets on social and on their website and anything else they share with us feed into the design. We use intelligence to build ads within these very specific design parameters.
The output is ready to run on any media buying platform including The Trade Desk, Roku, etc. This makes it easier for brands of all sizes to activate their creative and understand what works, update designs etc.
What are your top three predictions for CTV ads in the second half of 2025?
TV will be more dramatically more digital and interactive, and all of these trends are part of that.
QR codes have been the main mode of engagement on CTV ads, but we will start to see a lot more ways where they can engage with CTV ads like Roku Action ads and Amazon’s new ads. Younger audiences in particular are used to engaging with ads on their phones and should be open to embracing engagement on TV as well.
More hyperlocal and small advertisers will take advantage of social CTV as it becomes easier to build creative and target. Many of the big streaming players are trying to open CTV up to the mid tail and long tail and bring them to this growing channel. We’re excited to smash the barrier of entry on the creative side and partner with many of these streamers.
Finally, TV will have a lot more ads that are showing things on the TV screen that don’t look anything like 15-second video commercials. Interactive shopping carts, virtual try-on fashion ads, camera-enabled ads, mirroring from a mobile app. Even if it’s just repurposing beautiful engaging content from a high-quality website like a test drive experience from a car website. There’s no reason to be stuck in the 15-second box.
