Play as you go: how gaming is redefining CTV advertising

TV ads have always been about storytelling, and they tell their stories in many creative and subtle ways. Think about some of the great ads down the years, from P&G’s brilliant Thank You Mom campaign, to Thai Life Insurance’s Unsung Hero, to John Lewis’s Monty the Penguin Christmas ad. All were brilliant in their own way, yet they were still obliged to conform to the relatively prescriptive advertising norms of the day: a linear storyline leading to a not-always-expected conclusion.

And if you look at most TV ads today, perhaps understandably, the majority still follow the same rules. As the old adage goes: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” With a few exceptions, broadcasters are largely content to offer advertisers a window in which to sell their products, though there has been some innovation in the length of ad slots available, with shorter ad units developed to fill a brief gap in proceedings, such as when a wicket falls in a T20 cricket match, for example.

New ad formats break the mould

So when you consider the pace of change and innovation in the TV world, with the massive growth of streaming TV platforms as an alternative to the incumbent linear broadcasters, it seems odd that ad formats are, for the most part, still stuck firmly in the past.

But things are finally starting to change, and CTV advertising platforms are leading the charge, with new formats that break the mould of what a TV ad is supposed to look like and how it should behave.

Take GameBreaks, an ad format introduced earlier this year by Samsung Ads on the Samsung TV Plus service in the US, Canada and the UK. Built natively for Samsung Smart TVs, GameBreaks ads take the form of short, remote control-powered games that run in the first ad slot of premium commercial ad pods, offering viewers a frictionless way to engage, while giving advertisers a new medium through which to earn attention. Advertisers can customise trivia questions, themes, and design elements within GameBreaks ads to align with campaign goals.

GameBreaks was launched in response to the incredible popularity of games as a pastime for people of all ages. According to Exploding Topics, there are 3.32 billion active videogame players worldwide – that’s over 40% of the world’s total population. We know, too, that in the UK, gaming now accounts for 10% or more of the daily time viewers spend on Samsung smart TVs [source: Samsung, H2 2024].

The fact is, humans are hard-wired to enjoy playing games, whether that’s on a phone, PC, games console, connected TV, or the kitchen table, and they are doing so already. New ad formats like GameBreaks are simply catering to an innate human desire for fun and friendly competition.

Viewers respond well to new ad formats

Viewer reaction to gamified ad units has been extremely positive. Independent research from MediaScience in the US found that the ads delivered a 53% lift in unaided brand recall, outperforming standard video ads by 1.5x. It also found that 89% of viewers preferred GameBreaks over traditional commercial breaks.

It’s exciting to see this new wave of innovation in CTV advertising, and the positive viewer and advertiser reaction to it. I’m intrigued to see the moves that other CTV ad platforms make to push the envelope of TV advertising.

Also published in: Martech Series