Dive Brief:

• Omnicom will integrate the connected TV (CTV) and cross-screen ad inventory of LG Ad Solutions, an arm of LG Electronics, into its Omni operating system under a new pact, per a news release.
• Omni will provide Omnicom Media Group (OMG) shops with access to advanced targeting segments across more than 20 million households with LG smart TVs in the U.S. The deal will match the anonymized data of LG Ads Solutions to Omni's internal graph, allowing OMG agencies to more seamlessly run TV campaigns through LG devices.
• Under the agreement, all of LG Ads Solutions' advertising products, including native ads, CTV video and cross-screen ads, will also be available through Omni's media inventory graph. The tie-up signals new levels of maturity for CTV media buying as the channel is forecast to hit $19.1 billion in spending this year.

Dive Insight:

Omnicom cozying up with LG Ad Solutions demonstrates how agencies are trying to more formally integrate CTV and cross-screen ad-buying capabilities into their toolkit at a time when client demand for such services is high.

The deal promises brands will have easier ways to run and manage campaigns that can leverage data from the millions of households that have connected LG devices, while trying to uphold privacy compliance. The announcement arrives ahead of the key upfronts season, where streaming and CTV are expected to receive a lot of attention from buyers who are shifting media dollars away from linear channels.

CTV has grown at a rapid clip, with adoption accelerating due to the pandemic shift to streaming. Despite clear popularity with consumers, the CTV media market has remained fragmented and littered with issues ranging from ad fraud to frequency problems.

LG is an interesting player in the space, serving the dual role as ad network operator and original equipment manufacturer (OEMs). OEMs have increased their presence in the ad-buying market, with Samsung and Vizio — LG competitors — presenting at the NewFronts in recent years.

LG Ad Solutions has been busy trying to shore up its ad offerings. Earlier this year, it introduced outcome-based guarantees for its native and cross-screen media buys, meaning brands only pay for ads that reach certain performance benchmarks as validated by independent third-party partners.

CTV is among the fastest-growing ad categories in the U.S., with Insider Intelligence estimating investments jumped 40.6% year-on-year in 2020. The researcher expects more than $30 billion will be spent on CTV ads by 2025.