Is GenAI Secretly Revolutionizing Digital Video Creativity Behind the Scenes?
Ever wonder if the future of digital video ads is being scripted by robots? Well, buckle up—because generative AI is not just knocking on the door; it’s rewriting the whole playbook. According to the IAB’s 2025 Digital Video Ad Spend & Strategy report, a whopping 86% of buyers are already riding this AI wave or gearing up to jump on. And it’s not all Silicon Valley giants; small and middle-sized brands are diving in, hoping to snag top-notch videos without the Hollywood-sized price tag. But here’s the kicker—are we ready to let AI tailor ads down to our very eyeballs, or will there always be a place for that irreplaceable human touch? The shift toward programmatic Connected TV adds another layer of intrigue, blending tech automation with a longing for real-time creativity and strategy. Curious how this AI-assisted revolution is reshaping marketing and what it means for your next campaign? Let’s unravel it together. LEARN MORE.
Generative AI is transforming digital video ad creation, with 86% of digital video buyers either using or planning to use it in creatives, according to the IAB’s just-released 2025 Digital Video Ad Spend & Strategy report.
Currently, 30% of digital video ads are built or adjusted with GenAI, and that’s expected to increase to nearly 40% by 2026. Small and mid-tier brands are some of the biggest users, hoping they can get quality videos without paying for large creative teams or extensive production.
The major use of GenAI in video enhancement is tailoring ads for different audiences (42%). Next is visual and style modifications (38%) and improving contextual relevance (36%). Buyers also want support from the sell-side to facilitate GenAI creative testing, with 46% expressing a desire for this assistance.
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Connected TV (CTV) is seeing increased programmatic activation and higher expectations for live content. The shift towards programmatic CTV is leading to a surge in biddable inventory, with buyers anticipating that nearly half (47%) of their CTV inventory will be biddable this year, up 13 percentage points from 2024. Currently, 85% of CTV purchases are made programmatically, up from 75% in the previous year.
Forty-one percent of CTV programmatic buyers cited improved return on investment (ROI) or return on ad spend (ROAS) as their top KPI. Furthermore, when investing in live content on streaming platforms, nearly six out of ten buyers expect more advanced capabilities and options than traditional linear TV offers. These include incremental audience reach (43%), real-time signals and contextual targeting (41%), and interactive elements or shoppable ads (36-38%).
Despite programmatic’s self-serve nature, 83% of buyers indicate that human involvement from the sell side is frequently necessary to activate or customize programmatic CTV deals. In line with this, 74% of buyers have already invested in or plan to allocate in-house resources to manage self-serve CTV activation platforms.
Methodology
The survey is based on 368 respondents who worked at agencies or directly for a brand marketer that spent at least $1 million on advertising in 2024. The full report can be found here.
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Constantine von Hoffman is senior editor of MarTech. A veteran journalist, Con has covered business, finance, marketing and tech for CBSNews.com, Brandweek, CMO, and Inc. He has been city editor of the Boston Herald, news producer at NPR, and has written for Harvard Business Review, Boston Magazine, Sierra, and many other publications. He has also been a professional stand-up comedian, given talks at anime and gaming conventions on everything from My Neighbor Totoro to the history of dice and boardgames, and is author of the magical realist novel John Henry the Revelator. He lives in Boston with his wife, Jennifer, and either too many or too few dogs.
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