ITV targets ads based on emotions, claiming a world first
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John Moulding
| 11 October 2023
2 ITV targets ads based on emotions claiming a world first

ITV is claiming a world first, as it uses contextual classification to identify emotions during its programmes to help advertisers decide where they place ads, and in which shows. A mental health focused campaign will target uplifting or joyful moments.

The expectation is that these types of emotional moments will help the advertiser find audiences who are more likely to be feeling anxious or stressed. The advertising innovation will launch with the DHSC Every Mind Matters campaign, via OmniGOV and Wavemaker (media agency), to coincide with World Mental Health Day.

ITV’s Automated Contextual Targeting (ACT) tool underpins the new targeting capability. This technology was developed by AdLabs, ITV’s strategy unit that brings together all the broadcaster’s advertising innovation. It was launched last year in beta and uses AI technology to scan every ITVX show, categorising every scene by moment, theme or emotion.

ACT now harnesses Captify’s advanced contextual classification technology and draws upon Captify’s natural language processing and machine learning models to extract precise meaning from ITV programme subtitle data. The partnership with Captify, announced this week, enables a rapid scaling of the solution, with many more segments available on a self-service basis in Planet V (the programmatic planning/buying platform managed by ITV). Captify is a search intelligence platform.

Jayesh Rajdev, Controller of Advanced Advertising at ITV, says: “Our partnership with Captify will help advertisers get closer to moments that matter in ITVX shows with even greater scale and precision.”

Amelia Waddington, Chief Product Officer at Captify, adds: “We have built Captify’s business on our ability to develop technology that understands natural language and turns it into intelligence. Bringing that ability to television through ITV’s massive content catalogue and ad platform will bring a huge boost of scale and effectiveness for ITV advertisers.”

ITV revealed that it is also using Automated Contextual Targeting to schedule its latest ‘Britain Get Talking’ advertising campaign, which calls on every school in the country to set a different kind of homework and encourages young people to have a proper chat with an adult they trust about the hardest subject on their minds.