For Zoom, the challenge was changing what people think the company does. Magnuson said nearly everyone knows the company name, but many still associate it only with video meetings. “The problem is that in the past few years, Zoom became the verb of a very specific industry, which was video conferencing,” Magnuson explained.
But its products now also serve customer service, marketing, sales, and other teams. To change the perception, Zoom partnered with Colin Jost on humor-driven campaigns and released an ad featuring Kate McKinnon as a CEO trying to overthrow Zoom.
Zoom also uses some linear TV placements to build broad reach and buzz, but puts most of its spend into CTV. There, it can target business buyers who choose tools for their organizations, then follow up with messages on other channels.
AT&T faced a different problem. In a mature, competitive category, Ludwig said, it can be difficult to show customers how one provider’s coverage will differ from another’s in their daily lives. “How can you be about more than a price point?” he asked. For AT&T, it’s about building an emotional connection, with CTV helping the brand reach the right people with the right message.
For St. Jude, Payne described the organization’s need to keep reaching longtime donors while introducing itself to a younger audience. While its three-minute patient stories have helped build a loyal donor base, the team is now experimenting with shorter CTV ads, including the spot “Just a Kid,” which shows a young patient playing dress-up.
“How do we grow that new donor base?” Payne asked. One approach, she explained, is to introduce viewers to St. Jude through a shorter ad, then follow with a longer patient story.
Vanderhook added that while CTV is addressable and measurable, there are some signals that are missing. “Each of these brands has very unique problems, and they want to align their message with the right type of content,” he said.
However, with CTV buys, brands purchase at the ad level and don’t necessarily know what content their ads run alongside. To help address this pain point, Viant acquired IRIS.TV, which gathers title-level signals from content editors, helping brands match ads to relevant shows.
