Streamers are taking the ad-supported formula global. Are advertisers feeling the love too?
Illustration by Robyn Phelps / Shutterstock / The Current
Recent blowout financial results confirm that ad-supported streaming is now a key growth driver for platforms. But as they expand their ad-supported plans beyond the U.S., are the advertisers who are fueling the boom reaping the rewards?
In Netflix’s latest earnings call, co-CEO Greg Peters said that “2025 is the year we transition from the ‘crawl’ to ‘walk’ phase” of the company’s ad business, predicting that ad revenue will double for a second year in a row. Disney, meanwhile, announced that its ad-supported tier boasts an estimated 157 million globally, with CEO Bob Iger revealing that 37% of U.S. subscribers and 30% worldwide are on the ad plan.
Earlier this year, Amazon Prime Video revealed that about 275 million U.S. subscribers are now on its ad-supported plan, with limited ads rolling out in India and, soon, Japan.
But how is this ad-supported streaming bonanza impacting the advertisers investing in it — particularly in international markets? Recent campaigns show that advertisers are seeing tangible benefits, with notable boosts in brand awareness and engagement.
The advertiser perspective
“CTV advertising has been effective in driving brand awareness and engagement,” said Abu Bakr, director of partnerships and advertising at foodpanda, a global food delivery platform. “The ability to reach high-intent audiences in a premium, non-skippable environment has been a key advantage.”
In a recent foodpanda campaign in Thailand, the company leveraged connected TV (CTV) and mobile other-the-top (OTT) to boost brand presence and maximize clicks. The results garnered more than 5 million impressions, 4.2 million views and over 3,100 website visits. While Bakr didn’t share figures of other foodpanda digital campaigns, studies indicate that interactive streaming ads can enhance brand recall by up to 36%.
Something similar is happening in India. Anil Suryavamshi, vice president, digital at Carat India, a media agency under dentsu, points to how JioCinema’s Indian Premier League (IPL) campaign delivered solid results last year. One of Carat India’s retail clients experimented with a mix of mobile, CTV and traditional TV ads during the IPL, which led to an 8% to 10% increase in app installs.
Increasing CTV investments
CTV’s strength in building brand awareness is likely the reason why 69% of advertisers surveyed believe it is a “must buy” for media plans, according to an IAB study. The same study found that ad dollars flowing into CTV are primarily from reallocations, from linear TV and other traditional media (40%).
The study also found that 75% of CTV transactions now occur programmatically, with the top three reasons being easier campaign optimization (34%), better ROI (30%) and greater scalability (28%).
Streamers like Netflix are aligning with the trend by expanding their programmatic capabilities, which are now available in the U.S., Brazil, Canada, Mexico and across some countries in Europe, with plans to expand to Australia, Japan and Korea later this year.
Shoppable ads and beyond
Global marketers are equally excited about innovations in CTV ad formats, with foodpanda’s Bakr looking forward to QR codes and shoppable TV ads. Inevitably, the possibilities of artificial intelligence loom large.
“AI is stepping in to make targeting even more precise,” Carat India’s Suryavamshi said. “It’s all about using AI to adjust ad content based on who’s watching, their behavior and what they’re interested in. This could make ads not just more relevant, but also more cost-effective.”
These continued advancements in CTV could also solve a common pain point: issues with measurement and attribution.
“Marketers are excited about the push for unified measurement across CTV,” Suryavamshi said. “Innovations like data clean rooms and outcome-based metrics tied to conversions are helping create a clearer picture of campaign performance.”