The challenge
An FMCG brand was launching a new product. Television was already in the plan, but the brand wanted a channel it could measure more closely and that would reach households linear TV reached lightly.
Our approach
We ran addressable CTV and programmatic display as one campaign, with shared audiences, matching creative and household-level frequency limits. Reporting covered both channels together against the plan.
The outcome
Return on ad spend rose 22%, incremental sales rose 12% and cost per acquisition fell 14%.
The Client and Context
The client was a major FMCG brand launching a new product. Traditional television was already part of the plan, but the brand wanted something it could measure more closely and use to reach households that linear TV reached lightly. Brand recall mattered, yet so did sales, and leadership wanted a way to show that connected TV spend was contributing to both rather than simply adding to the reach figure.
A launch is an awkward moment for measurement. There is little history to compare against, and the message has to be consistent wherever shoppers meet it. The brand needed its streaming activity and its display activity to feel like one campaign, with sensible limits on how often any household saw the same ad. Those limits protect both the audience's patience and the efficiency of the budget.
How the Work Was Organized
The work was organized as a single omnichannel plan rather than two separate buys. Addressable CTV carried the main story into living rooms, and programmatic display followed the same households on their other devices with matching creative. Audience definitions were shared across both so the brand was not paying twice to reach the same people without knowing it. Our CTV and streaming retail media service covers this style of setup.
Frequency management was treated as a core setting, not an afterthought. Audience targeting and exposure limits were reviewed regularly so the media stayed efficient and viewers were not worn out by repetition. Reporting looked at the campaign as one program, which let the team compare return on ad spend, incremental sales and acquisition cost against the plan instead of reading each channel in isolation.
What Changed for the Team
The brand's team gained a clearer story about what connected TV was doing for the business. Rather than treating streaming as an experimental line, they could point to ROAS, incremental sales and cost per acquisition, and explain how the combined CTV and display plan produced them. They could use those figures when discussing continued investment with finance and brand leadership.
The approach also gave the team a reusable template. Shared audiences, a frequency policy and one reporting view can be carried into the next product launch with little change. For teams planning something similar, our guide to offsite retail media across CTV, social and DOOH explains how these channels fit together, and the CTV and BVOD trafficking checklist covers launch preparation.
Key takeaways
- Treat connected TV and programmatic display as one campaign with shared audiences, so the same household sees a coherent message.
- Set frequency limits deliberately at launch, because repetition wastes budget and wears down the audience at the same time.
- Report on ROAS, incremental sales and acquisition cost together, so streaming earns its place beside traditional television.
- A launch plan that works once, with shared audiences and one report, becomes a template for later product releases.
An FMCG brand ran addressable CTV and programmatic display as one campaign, with shared audiences and frequency limits.