The New Era of Television Advertising: Formats and Strategies for Brands in a MarTech Ecosystem

For decades, linear TV was the undisputed king of mass awareness, but it was also a rigid channel: high budgets, limited segmentation, and measurement based on estimates. Today, the television still presides over the living room, but what happens inside the screen has changed completely. With more than 76% of Spanish households consuming content through Smart TVs, the convergence between the audiovisual impact of the big screen and the precision of advertising technology (AdTech) has given rise to programmatic, interactive, and measurable television.

At Inprofit, where we understand marketing and digital transformation as a transversal ecosystem, we approach today’s television not as an isolated branding channel, but as a full-funnel touchpoint capable of integrating with your CRM, your data strategy, and your performance campaigns.

We analyze the new advertising formats available on Connected TV (CTV), OTT platforms, and hybrid television (HbbTV), and what strategies each brand should activate to make its investment profitable.

The 6 advertising formats redefining television

The current ecosystem allows for reaching users both while they browse their TV menu and during the consumption of FAST channels (free ad-supported streaming channels), on-demand platforms (SVOD/AVOD), or traditional internet-connected television.

1. Programmatic In-Stream Video (Pre-roll and Mid-roll on CTV)

These are audiovisual spots played before or during content on streaming platforms (such as Pluto TV, Rakuten TV, Atresplayer, Mitele, Netflix, or Prime Video). Unlike social media video, they are consumed in full screen, with sound on, and for the most part, are non-skippable, reaching video completion rates (VCR) of over 90%.

• Recommended Strategy — Incremental coverage and affinity targeting: Ideal for reaching cord-cutters (users who no longer watch traditional linear TV). Instead of buying time slots blindly, the strategy involves programmatic buying by applying data layers: geolocation by zip code, household interests, and content context.

2. L-Shape Formats and Overlays on HbbTV

Thanks to HbbTV (Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV) technology, it is possible to overlay interactive graphic creatives on linear TV broadcasts without interrupting the program the viewer is watching. The screen slightly reduces in size for a few seconds to make room for an “L-shaped” creative that surrounds the live content.

• Recommended Strategy — Contextual sponsorship and Moment Marketing: By not cutting the broadcast, it avoids advertising fatigue. It is the perfect format for associating a brand with live broadcasts (sports, prime time shows, or news) and launching tactical messages during moments of maximum attention in front of the TV.

3. Pause Ads

When a user pauses a series or movie on their streaming platform, the screen does not go black: after a few seconds of inactivity, a static or subtly animated high-resolution piece appears, occupying the screen until the content resumes.

• Recommended Strategy — Non-intrusive presence and high recall: It takes advantage of a natural pause moment without interrupting the narrative. It works extraordinarily well for sectors such as food, delivery, beverages, or retail, using very clean visual messages, direct value propositions, and promotional codes that are easy to capture with a mobile phone.

4. Home Screen Ads (Native formats on the Smart TV menu)

Before opening any application, the user spends several minutes on their TV’s home screen (Samsung Tizen, LG webOS, Google TV, Amazon Fire TV) deciding what to watch. Home Screen Ads place the brand on the main banner of the TV’s operating system.

• Recommended Strategy — Dominating Share of Voice during launches: It is, literally, the largest billboard in the living room. It is unbeatable for product launches, seasonal campaigns (such as Black Friday or Christmas), or rebrandings that need to generate a massive and immediate impact from the second the screen is turned on.

5. Shoppable TV and Interactive Formats (Dynamic QRs)

Television has ceased to be a passive medium. Through ads that integrate dynamic QR codes on the screen or creatives navigable with the remote control itself, the viewer can scan the screen to access a landing page, download an app, claim an exclusive discount, or buy a product instantly.

• Recommended Strategy — Shortening the funnel from the living room to conversion (Drive-to-Web): For D2C (Direct-to-Consumer) brands, e-commerce, or lead generation (automotive, insurance, education). The key to success lies in not sending the user to a generic home page, but to a mobile landing page specifically optimized for that campaign, with an exclusive offer or incentive that justifies taking the phone out of their pocket.

6. Addressable TV with Dynamic Ad Insertion (DAI)

Through Dynamic Ad Insertion technology, two neighbors watching exactly the same live channel can receive completely different ads during the commercial break, depending on their household type, geographic location, or consumption behavior.

• Recommended Strategy — Creative hyper-personalization (DCO): Allows brands with a regional presence (dealerships, clinics, franchises, or supermarket chains) to use the power of large national networks by showing the ad only in areas where they have commercial coverage, adapting prices, languages, or local promotions for each impact.

Strategic Matrix: Which format to choose based on your business objective

To facilitate media planning, this table summarizes how to align each format with conversion funnel objectives:

The MarTech Approach: How to connect the big screen with your digital ecosystem

The true qualitative leap of these formats lies not only in their aesthetics, but in the technological infrastructure that supports them. Activating connected TV as an independent island is wasting half of its potential. Within an advanced MarTech strategy, television is integrated at three levels:

1. Multi-screen Synchronization and Omnichannel Retargeting: More than 80% of viewers watch TV with a smartphone in hand. Through the Household Graph, we can identify which households have been impacted by an ad on Smart TV and sequence, hours or days later, retargeting impacts on the mobile devices of that same household through programmatic display, social media, or online video to close the conversion.
2. First-Party Data Activation: Through Data Clean Rooms and audience management platforms, brands can cross-reference their customer database (CRM) with CTV ecosystems. This allows for excluding current customers from the TV campaign, reaching inactive customers, or creating high-value lookalikes.
3. Attribution and Real Measurement: Beyond CPM and VCR, current platforms allow for measuring the real-time web traffic *uplift* after the spot airs, tracking cross-device conversions (users who saw the ad on TV and purchased from a computer), and evaluating the real increase in organic brand searches.

The barrier to entry for television has been democratized: today it is not necessary to have million-dollar budgets to be present on the home’s main screen, but rather the right technology, data, and creativity to impact only those who truly interest your business. At Inprofit, we design, connect, and optimize CTV and programmatic buying campaigns integrated end-to-end with your digital architecture to transform living room attention into measurable business results.

Miriam Agulló

Especialista en SEO y Paid Media | Google Ads, Meta Ads, LinkedIn Ads & Search Console en vena Optimizo visibilidad orgánica + escalo adquisición pagada con ROAS obsesivo y estrategias data-driven.

Especialista en Performance Digital, Core Web Vitals, E-E-A-T, algoritmos de subasta, attribution multi-touch y maximizar LTV/CAC.