How to grab a gamer’s attention, the moment they turn on their Smart TV

Sean Smith, EMEA Gaming Sales Lead from Samsung Ads, explains why Smart TVs and Automatic Content Recognition data are essential for gaming advertising this autumn.

The month of September usually means busy ‘Back to School’ routines, the beginnings of autumn weather and the start of ‘release season’ for hotly anticipated gaming titles. Call of Duty Black Ops 6, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Mario & Luigi: Brothership and Legends of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom are all set to be released before Christmas. A coincidence as gamers start to spend even more time on indoor entertainment through autumn? We think not. 

Discoverability of new games will be at their highest at key moments like Black Friday through to Christmas. Moreover, as winter rolls in, households will spend more time indoors actively searching for entertainment on their screens. 
With all of this in mind, September is the opportune moment for gaming & esports brands to ‘sharpen their pencils’ and plan impactful ad campaigns to reach those engaged console-connected Smart TV users…and there are millions of them.

Of the nine million Samsung devices in the UK, 25% have an active console attached to them. In every one of these gaming households, there are 1.5x devices per person. Half of this audience actually have two devices, not including a PC. 

These millions of consoles aren’t gathering dust, either. According to Samsung Ad’s first-party Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) data, when gamers turn on their TV, gaming is their first point 20% of the time. 52% of gamers play for 10+ hours per week, while nearly half (48%) of Samsung Smart TV’s gamer audience games at least once every week, and 10% everyday in a week.  And we’re talking gamers who have the latest tech — 57% of those consoles are a new generation device, like a PS5.  

What does this mean for CTV campaign strategy? Grabbing the attention of gamers as they switch on their Smart TV is critical. Products such as the Samsung TV 1st Screen Masthead or Game Console Launcher are the perfect high-impact, premium formats to target gamers with. A recent campaign with an American toy manufacturing company used the 1st Screen Masthead ad placement, and saw an 8% lift in app opens among viewers who saw the campaign. 

For esports brands and event owners, the Samsung TV Masthead placement is a game changer. Advertisers can outlink YouTube or Twitch, making it the perfect way to promote a teaser trailer or drive the gaming audience through to a tournament. 

That’s great, but can advertisers target a specific console model? Yes! Using a combination of ACR and first party data, Samsung Ads is able to provide rich insights, like device or console use, to advertisers. So even before a Samsung Smart TV gamer boots up their Playstation, Xbox or a Nintendo Switch console, they can be targeted with a high impact ad, based on which console they use. 

Samsung Ads’ Game Console Launcher is all about delivering ads at the right time, to the right audience — essentially increasing contextual relevance and ad effectiveness. The Game Console Launcher will automatically detect which console is connected. Prospective gaming audiences are targeted accordingly. 

So from September, when gamers turn on their Samsung Smart TV and launch the Homescreen, what do you want them to see? Working with Samsung Ads Europe, gaming brands have the opportunity to truly master the art of CTV advertising, with access to ACR and first party data — always targeting the right audience, at the right time.