Repeat CTV Ads: A Recipe for Attention or Risk for Wear Out?

Balancing frequency & attention

Consistency and repetition are both critical for brands to stay top of mind with consumers—especially when it comes to TV advertising. But oversaturation of ads in CTV platforms poses continued challenges for both viewers and advertisers.

In our new report, The Impact of Repeat Ads on CTV Performance, TVision sheds light on the value advertisers are actually getting from these repeat ad exposures and when they risk losing CTV attention.

Here’s a preview of the first two trends from our new report, which details what happens when viewers see the same CTV ad creative more than once within a short period.

Playing it too close?

As was recently covered in The Wall Street Journal’s article, “Streaming TV Is Surging, but the Ads Remain on Repeat,” ad buyer buyers intuitively know repeat ads are not a sustainable path forward:

“Connected TV usage has gone up significantly—and everyone is dumping money into it—but you can see how it’s breaking at the seams... You get the same ad over and over—it’s worse than ever.”

TVision's analysis proves that this concern is well-founded - viewers pay less attention to repeat CTV ads that air closer together. We found that when the same creative aired multiple times within a five-minute period, viewers kept their eyes on the screen only 25% of the time—paying attention to just 8 seconds of the total ad.

8 seconds repeat CTV ad attention

By contrast, they spent 14% more time with their eyes on the screen when repeat ads were spaced more than five minutes apart. This suggests marketers may have a bigger opportunity to engage viewers if their ads don’t target the same audiences in rapid succession.

Marketer Tip: Mix in more creatives

Consider adding a wider variety of creatives to your rotation to reduce the risk of repeat ad wear out.

Longer repeat creatives risk greater wear out

In an increasingly fast-paced world where customers are constantly surrounded by bite-sized content, each second of ad attention counts more than ever. Traditionally, longer ads have given marketers a greater opportunity to reach their audience; however, quickly repeated ads shown in CTV are breaking this norm.

CTV wear-out by ad length

Wear out from seeing the same ad proves to be especially challenging for longer creative. Shorter :15-second ads maintained viewer attention through nearly half the ad-regardless of how quickly the creatives were repeated. In contrast, longer :30 and :60 second ads were 5-6 times less likely to keep CTV viewers’ eyes on the screen when the same creative is repeated within five minutes of airing.

Marketer Tip: Experiment with shorter ad lengths

Viewers are less likely to tune out when shorter ads air repeatedly in a short period of time. Try adding some 15-second ads to your mix.

Want more CTV insights?

For more details and additional insights on repeat CTV ads, download your copy of the full report here. And with 85% of US households now CTV enabled, don’t miss TVision’s new CTV Advertising Report for must-know insights to engage this connected audience.

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