Contextual targeting drives ad optimization: EDO's Matt Ulrich shares insights at CIMM Summit XV. The AI era is unlocking greater capabilities for brands to optimize ad performance through contextual targeting. Rather than merely focusing on audience attributes, brands can now leverage scene-level targeting, based on the emotional context of a scene or moment. During a recent panel at the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) Summit XV in New York, our VP of Media Analytics, Matt Ulrich, shared EDO's findings around how pairing content's context with TV outcomes data can deliver more value for brands, particularly in a zero-click search world that's limiting the first-party data marketers use to target particular consumer identities. Contextual targeting delivers engagement lift During the panel, Ulrich pointed to EDO's research with Wurl, which found that when an automotive brand targeted scenes that evoke intense feelings of surprise, its ads were 124% more effective than the benchmark. That could be because buying a vehicle is a high-consideration purchase, so if consumers are emotionally moved by a scene, they could be in the right mindset to respond as the advertiser intends, explained Ulrich. Similarly, EDO found that sports betting ads that aired during pregame NFL coverage outperformed in-game or post-game airings. That's "because of context," said Ulrich. When a sports betting ad reaches a viewer while getting ready to watch a game, the creative has a unique contextual opportunity to drive engagement with consumers who might have already placed a bet by the time an in-game ad airs. Now, AI-enabled scene coding is enabling brands to measure ad performance related to emotions, even within live sports. If a team's star quarterback gets hurt, for example, that creates an emotional moment for fans, which could then affect ad engagement. While you can't necessarily plan ad buys around these unscripted moments, understanding how this type of emotion impacts ad performance can help brands optimize. "In the past, advertisers or agency teams have thought about this as kind of an either/or - you're doing audience targeting or you're doing contextual targeting," said Megan Halscheid, VP, Marketplace Intelligence at Publicis, during the panel. Yet with scene-level targeting and emotional coding technology, you can do both, especially as real-time optimization becomes possible, she added. In a zero-click world, context is key The demand for contextual advertising is accelerating as zero-click search reduces the percentage of consumers who click on search links and makes it harder for brands to identify individual consumers. Without these signals, brands are looking for new ways to target their media buys and measure whether they're successfully driving consideration. By pairing contextual targeting with measurement rooted in the highly durable search query - a data source that's becoming more plentiful even as click-through rates wane - marketers can effectively drive outcomes, measure success, and grow market share with limited first-party data. To see how EDO can deliver these insights to support your ad optimization, connect with our team. You can also sign up for our newsletter to get broader media insights delivered straight to your inbox.

EDO, a TV outcomes measurement company, has partnered with Roblox to bring investment-grade advertising measurement to gaming for the first time. Brands can now measure Roblox campaigns against the same engagement benchmarks EDO applies across linear and streaming television. EDO uses two methodologies: ad campaign measurement for video ads, and event-driven engagement analysis for branded virtual events. Both frameworks are adapted from EDO's AI-powered system that has tracked over a decade of TV outcomes data. The pilot programme measured campaigns across beauty, entertainment, streaming and gaming, finding strong performance. Brands can now benchmark immersive gaming advertising against traditional media channels using consistent metrics. The partnership represents EDO's first expansion beyond convergent TV measurement, with additional platforms planned.