What the upcoming comScore study means for CTV growth in India

New Delhi: Advertisers have long been urging for a better measurement for CTV to be released, which would allow them to leverage the medium better.

In May, Comscore, the global media measurement and analytics firm, announced plans to launch a CTV study in India aimed at providing comprehensive audience measurement for broadcasters and publishers. The company is currently conducting surveys in the country to develop the study.

A person aware of the development told BestMediaInfo.com that Comscore is exploring panel-based measurement, as they used to do in the US market.

Navin Kathuria, Executive Vice-President at Mudramax said that with authenticated data available, there will be a lot more science and data rigour in media planning and buying. “In the absence of data, planners and buyers have to depend on claimed numbers and secondary reports. Comscore data can aid in validating all the secondary data available. With the availability of common third-party media analytical data, discussions with media vendors will be more quantitative and scientific. There will be a more robust estimation of CTV deliveries for the campaign.”

Until now, advertisers have been using CTV in their media plans based on claimed numbers, secondary reports and qualitative gut feel. Kathuria stated, “Comscore data will provide validation for the growth of CTV. It will give a realistic picture of the extent/magnitude of CTV adoption in India. The trends these numbers indicate will decide the future course of action. 

If the numbers are indicating northwards, it will validate the existing reports, and CTV adoption might accelerate. If the numbers point southwards vis-à-vis existing reports, adoption might slow down a bit. As of now, it’s a wait-and-watch game. Clarity of the scenario will occur only after the data is released.

If the Comscore’s CTV study is sample-based, it may take time one year for the data to stabilise as platform and consumption formats are challenging to create a few trends.  

A media platform professional added that the existing customers of Comscore will try to use reports as there is no one else providing the CTV measurements and we all know that CTV is a priority for brands, agencies and broadcasters. Here one more thing is important and expected from the data, which is Scale. As of now, there is no one clear source on CTV's active base in India.”

To have better CTV measurement, experts from the media industry stated that the technology in the CTV realm needs to improve for better targeting. “CTV tech still needs to improve in India, as almost half of the targeting parameters are subject to device capabilities. Many low-cost CTV devices do not support parameters,” quoted an industry expert who prefers being anonymous.

With the availability of better CTV measurement, not just the advertisers but even publishers will benefit and planning the content the audience likes. Media industry experts stated that if the data becomes acceptable to the industry, new content consumption channels will be competitive and the total industry will see an impact like advertisements from the brand side and content providers. 

“With the best available CTV data, content consumption patterns will be innovations in the CTV ecosystem. Such as minute spend per session and ad viewability report will help content creators to build the most engaged content along with ad integrations like native, branded and sponsored,” said an expert. 

In addition, ad delivery channels will see innovations like ad formats, display and video, also direct or programmatic. Experts further added that the channel that owns the maximum viewership will have an edge.

Speaking of innovation in the CTV ecosystem, Dabhade said, “There will be a lot of innovation in how advertisers will do the audience planning as well as the format in which creatives are done. Beyond demographics, advertisers now consider contextual factors like time and place. For instance, during critical moments in a cricket match or in specific geographies with notable events, localised and time-bound campaigns can capture audience interest effectively.

Even if Comscore develops a more accurate measurement for CTV advertising, Deepak Netram, an independent media consultant, believes there won't be a dramatic shift in the current CTV spends allocation methods. Instead, with the availability of better CTV measurement, the focus will likely shift towards more precise audience segmentation and targeting.

He explained, “We have continued to exist without the availability of strong single-source syndicated industry measurements for a while. Each client and strategy team has developed their tools and processes that are usually facilitated and revalidated via published industry or partner reports. Beyond this, there are internal measurement parameters that impact client business. Hence one cannot expect a drastic shift in current allocation methodology in favour or against CTV but perhaps the move towards sharper audience segmentation and targeting.

“The change in budget allocation phenomenon has already started, and it will not make any further striking difference,” added Kumar Awanish, chief growth officer, of Cheil India. “Notably, the impact and decision of budget allocation have been driven by audience behaviour and inclination towards CTV.”

He further added that currently, a major hindrance in CTV advertising dollars is the performance insights, not the planning insights. 

“The growth of CTV is audience behaviour enabled by tech and OEM partners, so in that regard an insight tool will impact a zilch. Now if it is about the adoption of CTV advertising, then it will certainly improve a bit. The major hindrance in CTV advertising money is not the planning insights but the performance insights. The outcome metrics,” said Awanish.

Moreover, industry experts mentioned that while the metrics would remain the same, the introduction of a better measurement system would have a more realistic estimation of the metrics on an individual brand campaign level. 

The key metrics that marketers will be on the lookout for include demographic profiles and psychographic profiles of consumers, with a focus on the size of the TV and the price of the TV sets.

Providing an insight on the metrics that will remain relevant, Siddharth Dabhade, former Managing Director at MiQ, said, “CPM might remain the main mode of buying because CTV is still not an interactive medium. Unlike your laptop where you are searching for something, and a Google Ad pops and then you click on it. 

People may look at QR codes on Connected TV, but generally, when consumers are watching Connected TV, they want to watch it at a leisurely pace to get entertained. Thus, CPM will remain as the relevant metric for advertisers, but with more and more data coming in, there will be different CPM rates for different audiences.”

Industry experts expect the planning principles to not change. However, they expect the weightage CTV gets in the overall media mix based on what numbers and trends are being shown by the newer measurement data. Additionally, they added that there will be a more robust quantitative justification for including CTV in the overall plan and threshold level of budgets required to achieve the relevant threshold level of metrics.

Integrating CTV data into the existing framework will change the anticipated media mix for multiple advertisers. Sharing his thoughts on how CTV data will impact media planning, Kathuria said, “CTV will be planned more or less in a similar manner as it is now. What will change is the weightage CTV gets in the overall media mix based on what numbers and trends are being shown by Comscore.”