CTV to drive the next wave of brand advertising in India: Tarun Ummat, Teads

In India, connected TV (CTV) is no longer a new trend; it is now a key component of brand strategy. Advertisers are being forced to reconsider how they engage audiences who are increasingly streaming, eschewing traditional cable, and anticipating more relevant ad experiences due to the availability of inexpensive smart TVs, faster broadband, and the rise of OTT-first households. In light of this, Teads is establishing itself as a pioneer in producing high-impact, brand-safe campaigns that function on multiple devices.

Teads India's Managing Director, Tarun Ummat, discussed the company's approach to this change in the most recent episode of Tech Talks with e4m. He cited interactive films, in-read experiences, and CTV placements as important attention and action-getters. "At Teads, our mission is to empower brands to create connected consumer experiences, using high-impact formats delivered within premium editorial space," he stated.

Even as the use of streaming services grows, Ummat emphasised India's distinct media environment, where "TV viewership is very high… people want to sit together in the evening and watch TV." Advertisers must develop tactics that reconcile traditional watching habits with digital-first consumption in light of this dual behaviour, he said.

By "prioritising user experience over their ad dollars" and concentrating on mobile-friendly, vernacular content, he observed that publishers are rapidly changing. Top-tier news, entertainment, business, and sports publishers are part of Teads' growing network, which places an increasing focus on regional content and "smart scale" reach without sacrificing audience retention.

The core of this strategy is AI. Real-time bidding modifications, creative customisation, and predictive targeting are made possible by Teads' engine, which processes "nearly 4 billion signals every minute". This helps industries like e-commerce, finance, and telecom by enabling advertisers to use intent-based and context-driven targeting instead of just basic demographics in India's diversified market.

Ummat emphasised that brand safety cannot be compromised. In order to guarantee that campaigns meet KPIs while preserving brand image, Teads exclusively collaborates with top journalistic partners and employs both internal and third-party verification. He asserted, “Brand safety doesn’t have to come at the cost of performance.”

With tier 2 cities developing as growth engines, Ummat views CTV as "the biggest opportunity in digital entertainment right now". He also noted that one important audience that can only be reached by CTV is "cord cutters" or cable-less households that only stream. Teads is providing "100% attention, completely brand safe" exposure at the moment of switch-on with innovations like home-screen advertisements made possible by collaborations with LG and Hisense.

"CTV will be an integral part of advertising for most brands going forward in 2025 and beyond," Ummat asserted.