From Show to Scene: Why Moment-Based Targeting Is the Future of CTV with Lauri Baker from KERV

In episode 1 of From Show to Scene, Lauri Baker, Senior Vice President, Head of Partnerships at KERV, explains why audience targeting alone is no longer enough in CTV. She explores the shift from broad audience and genre-based buying toward scene-level, moment-based targeting, where ads align with what is happening on screen in real time. Lauri also breaks down how this approach improves performance by increasing attention, recall, and intent, while addressing challenges like fragmentation, measurement, and scalability. She shares how advancements in video analysis and real-time activation are making moment-based targeting a powerful and viable strategy for modern advertisers. Takeaways • Scene-level targeting outperforms traditional audience targeting by aligning ads with real-time content moments • Matching ad creative to the scene increases attention, recall, and intent • Contextual signals act as a unifying layer across fragmented CTV ecosystems • Standardization and measurement remain key challenges for scaling moment-based buying • Advances in video analysis and real-time activation make scene targeting viable today Chapters 00:00 Introduction to the From Show to Scene series 00:55 Why audience buying is no longer enough 01:27 Where performance gains actually come from 02:00 The shift from broad targeting to moment-based signals 04:10 Why the scene is the new audience 05:18 Tackling fragmentation in CTV 07:15 What is scalable versus still experimental 10:05 Technology enabling scene-level targeting 12:17 What is needed to scale this approach 15:03 Closing thoughts and key takeaways