Connected TV as a Performance Channel

Executive Summary

CTV is no longer just an awareness channel. Streaming now accounts for nearly half of US ad-supported TV viewing (Nielsen, 2026), interactive formats let viewers act on what they see, and household identity connects TV exposure to site visits, purchases, and store visits. CTV can now be measured against real business outcomes, bringing it closer to the accountability brands expect from search and social.

Transparency is the problem the wider market hasn't solved. Inconsistent supply-chain data, resold inventory, and platforms that grade their own results make it hard to know what CTV actually delivers.

AI Digital's Open Garden Framework closes that gap. As an agnostic partner, we choose the DSP, supply path, and verification partners for each campaign and measure results against the client's own business data. That foundation powers three pillars: transparent supply, audiences built on real data, and creative built for action, driving measurable foot traffic, leads, and conversions.

The Evolution: Beyond Passive Upper-Funnel Video

CTV has historically been confined to the upper funnel for four reasons: limited addressable scale, no way to act on an ad, no path from the TV to the devices where conversions happen, and no way to prove impact. That era is over.

• Scale: Streaming now captures nearly half of all US ad-supported TV viewing (Nielsen, 2026), unlocking massive, addressable living room inventory across on-demand services and free streaming channels.
• Action: Remote-enabled add-to-cart, lead-gen, and QR overlays turn passive impressions into measurable action. Interactive CTV ads drive 13% more foot traffic and 36% higher unaided recall than standard video (BrightLine, 2025).
• Cross-Screen Journeys: Three in four US TV viewers regularly use their phones while watching (Omdia, 2026). Privacy-safe household identity graphs link the TV to the phones, tablets, and laptops in the same home, so a single viewer can be recognized and reached across every screen they use.
• Proof: Outcome measurement now tracks the full path from exposure to result, including engagement, site visits, online purchases, store visits, and completed conversions, so CTV's impact can be quantified rather than assumed.

With these barriers removed, CTV can be planned and measured with more of the rigor brands already apply to search and social. But being measurable is not the same as being trustworthy, and that is where transparency comes in.

Overcoming CTV’s Transparency Challenge

The root cause of CTV's transparency problem is structural. Publishers, SSPs, and DSPs pass inconsistent data, ranging from full show-level metadata down to a bare bundle ID. Aggregator packages can obscure placements, slip in non-TV inventory, and layer on markups with every reseller in the chain. A single-DSP buy inherits that platform's blind spots, and a walled-garden buy lets the seller act as buyer, seller, and judge, often relying on wide, unvalidated view-through windows that over-credit baseline organic traffic.

AI Digital's Open Garden Framework is built for this reality. Premium streamers increasingly limit which DSPs can access their inventory, so no single DSP reaches it all. As an agnostic partner, we make every decision based strictly on business outcomes, not the limits or interests of any single platform.

• Agnostic Multi-DSP Activation: We activate through whichever DSP offers the best access, data, and pricing for each campaign, reaching premium inventory single-DSP buyers can't and never relying on one platform's self-reported results.
• Third-Party Verification (Peer39, iSpot, Nielsen): Peer39 screens inventory for brand suitability before bids are placed, while iSpot and Nielsen independently validate incremental reach, co-viewing, and cross-device outcomes.
• Independent Measurement in Elevate: Path to Conversion (P2C) reporting maps multi-touch paths to show how CTV assists display, search, social, and direct site conversions. Marketing Mix Modeling (MMM) uses the client's historical sales and media data to measure every channel side by side, walled gardens included, isolating CTV's incremental contribution to revenue with no reliance on user-level tracking or platform-reported attribution.

The result: CTV performance is judged by the client's business data, not by the platform that sold the media.

Putting CTV Strategy Into Practice: Three Pillars for Success

With that foundation in place, the Open Garden Framework comes to life through three pillars.

Pillar 1: Transparent Supply
Every campaign starts with a custom supply plan built around the brand's KPIs. Smart Supply, powered by Elevate AI, pushes spend down the most direct, fraud-filtered routes to premium publishers, cutting CPMs by 20% on average across our campaigns, with full visibility into every AI decision. Direct PMPs across 1,000+ premium streaming publishers unlock reporting by network, genre, and show, and our programmatic specialists use those signals daily to shift spend toward the placements that drive the strongest outcomes.

Pillar 2: Audiences Built on Real Data
Audiences are built from partner data, including LiveRamp identity and Resonate survey insights across 15,000+ audience profiles, so campaigns reach households based on real behavior and motivations, not broad demographics. Household matching then carries each exposure to the other devices in the home, keeping the audience connected from TV to conversion.

Pillar 3: Creative Built for Action
AI Digital's in-house AI Creative Studio adapts existing brand or social video into interactive CTV units, adding QR overlays, persistent CTAs, and market-level Dynamic Creative Optimization without expensive or time-consuming reshoots.

Proof Points: Case Studies Across Industries

Across verticals, these pillars translate into outcomes brands can see and verify.

Foot Traffic Movement

• Multi-Market Quick-Service Dessert Franchise: CTV delivered 6,600+ verified foot-traffic visits in top metro markets and 6,300+ visits in regional markets. In competitive head-to-head market tests, CTV outperformed Digital Audio foot-traffic volume by up to 10x across high-density retail corridors.
• Commercial & Retail Bank: A 3.3M impression CTV flight generated 402 incremental visits at a $6.51 Cost Per Visit and 13,800 projected visits.

Interactive Scans & On-Screen Action

• Regional Fine Arts & Cultural Museum: Achieved a 99.2% Video Completion Rate (VCR) vs. the 86% benchmark, generating 279 interactive QR code scans, 37 ticket purchases, and 18 verified physical visits.

Downstream Digital Action & Lead Generation

• Local Credit Union: CTV generated 8,161 view-through website conversions (at a 97.8% VCR), driving 298 Borrow page visits, 119 Bank page visits, and 69 completed account applications.
• Multi-Tier Home Services Company: CTV generated 995 downstream lead actions across "Find Location," "Contact Us," and "Lease a System" form fills.

The Bottom Line

CTV has earned its place in the performance plan, and the question now is whether brands can see, verify, and prove what it delivers. That comes down to transparent supply, real audience data, and creative built for action, all measured independently of the platform that sold the media. AI Digital's Open Garden Framework brings these together, turning living room scale into accountable growth. Brands that start measuring CTV with the same outcome focus they bring to search and social will be best positioned to get the most out of it.