How Samsung Ads helped OCS stand out in the French CTV market

Competition in the French Connected TV (CTV) market is heating up. Consumers are spoiled for choice thanks to increasing content saturation. There are more than 1,000 apps available on the Samsung TV app store – the second half of 2022 saw more than 750 million app launches alone.

Streaming services are vying for every last viewer. And a run-of-the-mill advertising campaign isn’t the most effective call to arms.

OCS, the French broadcaster, wanted to build an army of streaming app users. It identified House of the Dragon (HotD), the highly anticipated Game of Thrones prequel, as the perfect hook to capture audiences’ attention.

An effective media battle plan is multifaceted. OCS needed to cut through the noise and gain a foothold in the market. Enter Samsung Ads.

Samsung accounts for more than a third of the TV market share in France; this includes 4.6 million addressable Smart TVs. With unrivalled first-party data and premium, native Smart TV placements, Samsung Ads was well-equipped for the battle to come.

Data is in the prime time slot

Samsung Ads’ first-party data, powered by Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) technology, was the perfect foundation for OCS’ CTV campaign. Leveraging Samsung Ads’ proprietary data enabled the streaming service to exclude existing heavy OCS app users, a move which allowed for greater incremental reach potential.

Understanding user’s viewing habits and preferences was only the start of Samsung Ads’ blueprint for success. As the hardware provider, Samsung Ads could offer impactful native ad placements – 1st Screen Plus and Discovery Masthead – to ensure OCS content stood out in key moments of discovery.

1st Screen Plus ads’ prominent placement on the home screen provides TV viewers with an immediate opportunity to engage with the ad, regardless of their intentions for watching linear or streamed content. OCS could also engage audiences through the Discovery Masthead ad unit within the Universal Guide, a key content discovery platform on Samsung TVs, as they actively searched for new content to watch.

Reaching all of Westeros

Samsung Ads’ high-impact ad formats, coupled with the existing TV market share and extensive first-party data, all played a crucial role in securing uplift in app engagement for OCS.

The campaign reached an impressive 1.7 million unique households in France. Total app usage increased by 96% amongst TVs that saw the advertising – a healthy addition to the broadcasters’ streaming army. The 1st Screen ad placements achieved a 60% video completion rate, a remarkably high rate compared to industry averages.

The lone wolf dies but the pack survives

Just as Game of Thrones’ Littlefinger knew the value of alliances, so too did OCS.

Strong partnerships are decisive in winning CTV market share. Samsung Ads’ unique status as both hardware provider and media owner ensured OCS could win over new streaming users.

Samsung Ads’ proprietary first-party data was the catalyst for finessed targeting, keeping wasted impressions to a minimum. The native ad placements delivered the killer blow, providing OCS the opportunity to engage with the right audiences at the moment of content discovery.

This is sponsored content.