CTV-03: in conversation with Antonia Faulkner of Samsung Ads
Episode Summary
Antonia Faulkner outlines Samsung Ads' unique position as a hardware giant evolving into a media powerhouse, leveraging data from one in three European smart TVs. The discussion covers Samsung's services like TV Plus (FAST), Cloud Gaming, and Art Store, all monetised via Samsung Ads. Key themes include data enrichment from TV, mobile, and gaming for precise targeting and measurement, the Samsung Insight Planner tool for pre-campaign planning, navigating European fragmentation and privacy via clean rooms, and why Samsung acts as publisher, data partner, ad tech, and trusted brand in the CTV ecosystem.
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Points of Note on Samsung Ads
- Samsung Ads is the monetisation arm of Samsung's media division, launched ~10 years ago; it encompasses services on Samsung TVs and mobiles
- Samsung TV Plus: Free ad-supported streaming (FAST) service, available on all Samsung Smart TVs and mobiles; integrates linear, OTT, and VOD
- Samsung Cloud Gaming: Streaming for games via TV apps (e.g., PlayStation), eliminating the need for set-top boxes; uses a controller on the TV
- Samsung Art Store: Turns TVs into art displays with high-resolution reproductions (e.g., textured Monet paintings); subscription for full access
- Samsung News: Curated news service on Samsung devices
- Samsung operates on ~1 in 3 smart TVs in Europe, providing vast scale and data on viewing habits across linear, streaming, and gaming
- Data team (half of Faulkner's 25-person team) focuses on insights, analytics, product marketing, and ad experience design
- Samsung Insight Planner: Tool launched ~1 year ago; uses ACR (Automatic Content Recognition) and third-party data (e.g., Experian) to profile unreached audiences from linear campaigns (e.g., % of 18-34s missed)
- Mobile data overlay: Adds app usage from Samsung phones to CTV data (e.g., Expedia app signals travel intent alongside TV travel content)
- Privacy-forward: Household-level data only; uses clean rooms for matching (e.g., via IP); no individual-level tracking
- Fragmentation challenge: Average household uses ~4 apps (SVOD + AVOD); top 10 apps create 120+ combinations, complicating reach
- Samsung as all-in-one: Publisher (own inventory), data/measurement partner (insights, not data sales), ad tech platform (programmatic/DSP buys), and trusted brand (brand-safe environments)
- Buying options: Direct for TV Plus (full data access) or home screen native; programmatic/DSP for TV Plus; always privacy-safe
- European focus: Country-level insights for localised needs (e.g., linear strong in Italy); pan-regional execution possible with shared formats
- 2026 priorities: More creative formats, innovation in fragmentation, and advanced measurement
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Episode Running Order
- 00:00 — Introduction; Antonia's role and Samsung's media division
- 01:00 — Team structure: Marketing, product, data/insights, analytics, design/ad studio
- 03:00 — Connected team enabling data-driven CTV for digital marketers
- 04:00 — Samsung as a hardware leader evolving into a media business
- 05:00 — Samsung TV Plus (FAST service); Cloud Gaming; Art Store; Samsung News
- 07:00 — Samsung Ads as monetisation for free services on Samsung devices
- 08:00 — Data scale: 1 in 3 European smart TVs; insights across linear, streaming, gaming
- 09:00 — Mobile data overlay for richer touchpoints (e.g., app usage + TV content)
- 10:00 — Focus on TV activation, data enrichment for targeting/planning/measurement
- 11:00 — Samsung Insight Planner: Pre-campaign unreached audience profiling
- 12:00 — European complexity: GDPR, country differences (e.g., linear in Italy)
- 13:00 — Localised insights with pan-regional execution; varying market maturity
- 14:00 — Insights section on Samsung website (link in notes)
- 15:00 — Positioning: Publisher, data/measurement partner, ad tech, trusted brand
- 16:00 — Fitting into fragmentation: ~4 apps per household; 120+ top-10 app combinations
- 17:00 — Planners' nightmare; need for total TV approach
- 18:00 — 2025 trends: Home screen native for reach; gaming as TV evolution
- 19:00 — Privacy: Household-level data; clean rooms for matching
- 20:00 — No creepy ads; relevant experiences via privacy-safe innovation
- 21:00 — New advertiser dynamics: Direct/programmatic buys; data benefits
- 22:00 — 2026 predictions: Creative formats, fragmentation solutions, measurement
- 23:00 — Brand values in data handling; global reputation
- 24:00 — Closing; excitement for data innovations and team projects
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Key Quotes
"I'm a marketer, obviously, by tradition and by experience, but in this role, I have a much more involved role in the business in terms of what products we build and solutions we build for our customers."
"It's quite unusual for these functions to all sit within one team. But the fact that they do means that they work a lot better together."
"Samsung is a hardware company. We are a very separate division. Samsung Ads is quite a new division, around 10 years or less in the making."
"We have Samsung TV Plus, which is our FAST service that's available on all Samsung Smart TVs and mobile phones. We have Samsung Cloud Gaming... you don't have to have these setup boxes anymore, you just need a game controller."
"The Art Store is basically art on your TV... it doesn't feel like a TV screen with a piece of art behind it. It feels like the real art is there."
"All of this is supported by Samsung Ads, which is essentially the monetisation arm of all of these great services which are available for free on Samsung devices for Samsung households."
"We operate on about one in three smart TV screens in Europe, so there's a huge amount of scale... with that comes a wealth of data and insight into how consumers are using their TVs today."
"You think search, you think Google, you think interest, you think Meta, you think app usage. Think Samsung."
"This summer we added mobile data as an extra layer... the TV might tell us that this group of people are watching travel content, but the mobile data will tell us that they're using the Expedia app three times a day, probably ready to buy."
"We launched a product about a year ago called Samsung Insight Planner... it allows brands to see how many 18 to 34 year olds a linear campaign reached and crucially how many they didn't."
"Europe is quite different... if I look at somewhere like Italy, where linear is still very strong, it's still really ingrained in the culture."
"We are a publisher. We are a data measurement partner, and we are a tech platform. I'd argue we're actually four things - I'd add that we're also a brand."
"Samsung is privacy forward. We put customer privacy and consent first in everything we do... we're using household level data. So we collect data and use data at a device level, not on an individual level."
"On average each household uses around four different apps. That's a combination of SVOD and AVOD... if you look at just the top 10 apps on a TV and assume everybody's using an average of four, it amounts to 120 different possible combinations of apps."
"The home screen is festive gold for brands... it's the first thing you see when you turn on your TV, so it's a great way to cut through."
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References
- Samsung Ads: samsung.com/uk/business/samsungads
- Samsung TV Plus: samsung.com/uk/tvs/smart-tv/samsung-tv-plus
- Samsung Art Store: samsung.com/uk/support/tv-audio-video/how-to-use-art-store
- Samsung Cloud Gaming: news.samsung.com/uk/samsung-expands-mobile-cloud-gaming-platform-to-europe
- Samsung Insight Planner: broadbandtvnews.com/2024/05/17/samsung-ads-uk-launches-its-insights-planner-tool
- Samsung Insights Section: insights.samsung.com
- ACR Technology: samsung.com/us/business/samsungads (overview of Automatic Content Recognition for TV data)
During the episode, Ian said he would add references for:
- Insights Section on Samsung Website — "Looking on your website, there's a whole insights section, which I wholeheartedly recommend. And I will put the URL into the program notes." This is the URL he mentioned - https://www.samsung.com/us/business/samsungads/insights/
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Connect & Follow
- Host: Ian Jindal
- Guest: Antonia Faulkner
- Samsung Ads: samsung.com/uk/business/samsungads | LinkedIn
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Show notes prepared from transcript: "Commercial Break 03 - Antonia Faulkner, Samsung Ads" by Ian Jindal's Perplexity and were checked by him.
Creators and Guests
Guest
Antonia Faulkner
Head of Corporate Communications and Ads Marketing, Analytics and Insights EMEA at Samsung Media
