Introduction: A New Era of Festive Connection
As families gather around their television screens during festive seasons, something remarkable is happening. The traditional television has transformed into a powerful storytelling platform that connects brands with audiences in ways never imagined before. In November 2025, Connected TV stands at the center of how brands tell their festive stories, reaching viewers when they are most engaged and emotionally receptive.
This shift represents more than just a technological change. It marks a fundamental transformation in how brands communicate during the most important shopping and celebration periods of the year.
The CTV Revolution: Numbers Tell the Story
Connected TV has moved from being an experimental channel to becoming the primary focus for festive advertisers. The growth numbers validate this transformation.
In 2025, streaming captured 43.8% of overall TV time in the United States, marking a significant shift in viewing habits. This massive change has created an unprecedented opportunity for brands to reach audiences during festive seasons.
The financial commitment from marketers reflects their confidence in CTV. A significant 56% of marketers globally plan to increase their spending on CTV in 2025, up from 53% in 2024. This represents one of the few digital channels where planned spending increases have grown year over year.
The United States market leads this transformation. CTV campaigns deliver approximately 23% higher return on investment compared to traditional television advertising, making it an attractive option for festive campaigns where every marketing dollar must work harder.
Festive Season Amplification
The festive period creates unique viewing patterns that amplify CTV effectiveness. During December 2024, streaming viewership climbed 9% compared to November, reaching a record 43.4% of total TV watch time. This elevated engagement provides brands with expanded reach precisely when consumers are making purchase decisions.
Research shows viewers spend more time watching streaming content in the fourth quarter compared to the rest of the year. This extended viewing time gives brands more opportunities to tell their festive stories and connect with audiences in meaningful ways.
Why CTV Wins for Festive Storytelling
The Big Screen Advantage
Connected TV provides something that mobile and desktop cannot match: the immersive experience of the largest screen in the home. CTV ads achieve completion rates between 90% and 98%, with 15-second commercials reaching approximately 94.5% completion and 30-second ads seeing about 96% completion.
These extraordinary completion rates matter because festive campaigns often rely on emotional storytelling that needs time to develop. When viewers watch the entire advertisement, brands can create the emotional connections that drive festive purchases.
The viewing environment also matters. Families gather around televisions during festive seasons, creating a shared viewing experience. This communal aspect makes CTV particularly powerful for festive storytelling because brands can reach multiple household members simultaneously, influencing group purchase decisions.
Emotional Context Drives Results
Recent developments in CTV advertising technology have enabled brands to align their festive messages with the emotional state of viewers. An agency case study demonstrated a 33% increase in brand awareness and 28% improvement in brand favorability by aligning the emotions of creative content with the programming shown directly before the ad break.
This emotional targeting becomes especially important during festive seasons when audiences are already in heightened emotional states. Brands can amplify the joy, anticipation, and warmth of the season by serving their messages at emotionally aligned moments.
The technology enables real-time content analysis that categorizes scenes by emotional tone. This allows festive advertisements promoting joy and celebration to appear during uplifting programming, while messages about family connection can align with touching moments, creating seamless storytelling experiences.
Precision Targeting Meets Scale
Connected TV combines the broad reach of television with digital precision. Brands can target specific audience segments based on demographics, viewing habits, interests, and purchase behaviors while maintaining the impact of big-screen storytelling.
During festive seasons, this precision proves invaluable. Brands can reach early holiday shoppers in October, last-minute gift buyers in December, and everyone in between with tailored messages that match their shopping journey stage.
By 2025, 70% of connected TV ad transactions are conducted programmatically, enabling brands to quickly adjust their festive campaigns based on real-time performance data. This agility allows marketers to respond to changing consumer behaviors throughout the extended holiday shopping season.
Real Success Stories: CTV Festive Campaigns in Action
NEOM: Building Future Dreams
The ambitious NEOM project demonstrates how CTV can effectively launch new concepts during festive periods when audiences are most receptive to aspirational messaging. NEOM partnered with Xapads Media to leverage Unwire CTV platform for their launch campaign.
The campaign strategy focused on reaching high-net-worth individuals interested in innovation and sustainable living. By targeting premium inventory on Disney+ Hotstar during festive content consumption, NEOM positioned itself effectively.
Campaign Results (Source: NEOM Case Study):
- 60 million+ impressions delivered across Pan India
- 8 million+ reach achieved among target audiences
- Premium placement during high-engagement festive content
- Successfully educated audiences about the innovative city concept
The campaign succeeded because it aligned NEOM’s futuristic vision with festive season aspirations, when viewers naturally think about possibilities and new beginnings.
Thums Up Thunder Wheels: Adventure Meets Celebration
Thums Up leveraged CTV to amplify their Thunder Wheels campaign featuring cricketer Jasprit Bumrah during festive seasons when cricket viewership peaks in India. The campaign, executed through Xapads Media, created an integrated CTV and mobile retargeting strategy.
Campaign Achievements (Source: Thums Up Case Study):
- 5.2 million+ total impressions across CTV and mobile
- 1.5 million+ total reach in target markets
- 88.30% video completion rate on CTV
- 2.5 million+ complete views demonstrating strong engagement
- 60.51% viewability in Uttar Pradesh and 64.39% in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana
- Mobile retargeting delivered 33,500+ clicks with 1.41% CTR
- Campaign verified by IAS with strong brand safety metrics
The campaign’s success came from targeting adventurous audiences aged 18-34 during festive periods when they actively seek exciting experiences. The combination of CTV awareness and mobile retargeting created a seamless journey from inspiration to action.
The Festive Consumer Mindset
Understanding why CTV works for festive storytelling requires understanding the festive consumer. Research shows 65% of high-income consumers plan to spend the same or more during holiday seasons compared to previous years, despite broader economic uncertainties.
This spending intention creates opportunities for brands that can effectively connect with audiences. Approximately 39% of total planned holiday gift spending happens in the five-day period between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday, making early and consistent messaging crucial.
Shoppable Experiences Transform Intent into Action
The evolution of CTV has introduced shoppable features that reduce friction between inspiration and purchase. Sixty percent of CTV viewers are willing to save their shipping and payment details on their television for quick checkout, indicating readiness to embrace seamless shopping experiences.
Additionally, 71% of viewers appreciate holiday shopping television advertisements that are personalized to their preferences. This preference for personalization during festive seasons gives brands opportunities to create relevant, timely messages that resonate.
Technology like QR codes in CTV advertisements enables immediate engagement. Eighty percent of viewers keep mobile devices nearby while watching television, and almost 60% use those devices to make purchases after seeing television advertisements. This second-screen behavior creates natural pathways from festive storytelling to conversion.
Geographic Insights: India’s Festive Digital Surge
India presents a particularly compelling case for festive CTV advertising. Industry leaders estimate digital advertising expenditure will rise 20-25% year-over-year during festive seasons, nearly double the pace of traditional media.
Within this growth, CTV captures increasing attention. CTV is expected to account for 6-8% of digital spending during festive seasons, up from previous year’s 4-5%. For categories like automotive, banking and financial services, electronics, and travel brands, the allocation reaches even higher, with some brands dedicating 20-25% of their video budgets to CTV.
The growth is driven by expanding smart TV adoption in tier-2 and tier-3 cities, where e-commerce penetration is accelerating. This geographic expansion creates opportunities for brands to reach new audiences with festive messages during their most receptive moments.
The Psychology Behind Festive CTV Success
Festive seasons create heightened emotional states that make audiences more receptive to storytelling. Brands that understand and leverage these emotional contexts achieve superior results.
Trust and Credibility Building
CTV campaigns consistently deliver approximately 20% lift in brand awareness on average, along with 15% lift in brand consideration and 10% lift in purchase intent. These upper-funnel metrics prove particularly valuable during festive seasons when consumers actively research and evaluate options.
The television environment contributes to credibility. Advertisements appearing on premium streaming platforms benefit from the perceived quality and trustworthiness of those platforms. During festive seasons, when consumers make significant purchases, this credibility becomes especially important.
Storytelling That Boosts Conversions
Compelling storytelling directly impacts business outcomes. Research shows storytelling can boost conversion rates by 30%, and if customers connect with a brand story, 55% become more likely to purchase in the future, 44% will share the story, and 15% will buy immediately.
Festive seasons amplify these effects because audiences are already engaged in storytelling traditions. Holiday narratives, family celebrations, and year-end reflections create cultural contexts where brand stories naturally fit. CTV provides the canvas for these stories with high-quality video, emotional music, and immersive visuals.
Looking Forward: CTV Festive Trends for 2026-2030
Explosive Growth Trajectory
The future of festive CTV advertising looks exceptionally bright. CTV advertising spending is projected to reach $46.89 billion by 2028, with continued double-digit growth throughout this period. By 2028, CTV advertising spending will surpass traditional TV advertising spending for the first time.
This crossing point represents more than symbolic significance. It marks the moment when festive advertisers will allocate more resources to CTV than linear television, fundamentally changing how brands plan and execute holiday campaigns.
Retail Media Integration
Retail media networks are expected to sell significant amounts in CTV advertisements through 2028. This integration will enable brands to combine festive storytelling with transactional data, creating seamless journeys from inspiration to purchase.
Imagine festive advertisements that not only tell emotional stories but also connect directly to product availability, personalized recommendations, and one-click purchasing. This convergence will transform holiday shopping experiences.
Advanced Personalization
Artificial intelligence will enable unprecedented personalization in festive CTV campaigns. Brands will serve different creative variations based on household composition, shopping history, geographic location, and even the time of day.
A family with young children might see festive toy advertisements during early evening viewing, while the same household might receive gift suggestions for adults during late-night streaming. This contextual personalization will make festive advertising feel more relevant and less intrusive.
Interactive Experiences Expand
The next evolution in festive CTV will make advertisements increasingly interactive. Beyond QR codes and voice activation, expect features like:
- Augmented reality product previews enabling virtual gift unwrapping
- Gamified festive experiences where viewers collect rewards
- Social viewing features allowing families to shop together remotely
- Personalized festive greeting cards incorporated into brand messages
These innovations will blur the lines between entertainment, advertising, and shopping, creating festive experiences that audiences actively seek rather than passively endure.
Cross-Platform Orchestration
Successful festive campaigns from 2026 onward will orchestrate experiences across CTV, mobile, social media, and in-store channels. CTV will serve as the emotional storytelling anchor, with other channels providing complementary touchpoints.
Smart brands will track individuals across devices, serving coordinated festive messages that build progressively toward conversion. The big-screen CTV experience will introduce products and create desire, while mobile and social channels will enable immediate action.
Best Practices for Festive CTV Storytelling
Start Early and Maintain Presence
Approximately 41% of marketers launch campaigns by September or even August to establish brand presence before the holiday rush intensifies. Early festive campaigns on CTV build awareness and consideration that pays dividends during peak shopping periods.
Maintaining consistent CTV presence throughout the extended festive season enables brands to reach consumers at different decision stages. Early campaigns can focus on inspiration and dreaming, mid-season messages can highlight specific products, and late-season advertisements can emphasize convenience and last-minute solutions.
Optimize Creative for Completion
Given CTV’s exceptional completion rates, create advertisements that reward viewers for watching the entire message. Build narratives with emotional arcs that payoff at the end. Include clear calls to action that make next steps obvious.
Festive creative should balance production quality with authenticity. While high production values signal quality, overly polished content can feel disconnected from real family experiences. Finding this balance creates festive stories that resonate emotionally while maintaining brand standards.
Leverage Emotional Alignment
Work with CTV platforms that offer emotional targeting capabilities. Ensure your festive advertisements appear during programming that matches your intended emotional tone. Joyful holiday messages should align with uplifting content, while messages about family connection should appear during touching moments.
Test different emotional approaches to discover what resonates with your audience. Some segments may respond better to humor, others to nostalgia, and still others to aspiration. CTV’s measurement capabilities enable this testing and optimization.
Measure What Matters
Track both immediate performance metrics and longer-term brand impacts. While clicks and conversions provide instant feedback, also measure brand lift, search volume changes, and impacts on other marketing channels.
Among marketers, 58.2% report their CTV budgets are growing in 2025, compared to just 40.8% who said the same in the previous year. This increased investment demands clear accountability and measurement frameworks that justify spending.
The Unwire Advantage for Festive CTV Success
Unwire, powered by Xapads Media, provides brands with the tools and expertise needed to excel in festive CTV advertising. With 15 years of experience in digital advertising, Xapads Media brings deep understanding of audience behaviors and campaign optimization.
The platform offers:
Advanced Targeting Capabilities: Reach specific audience segments based on demographics, interests, viewing behaviors, and purchase intent. During festive seasons, this precision ensures messages reach the right consumers at optimal moments.
Premium Inventory Access: Connect with audiences on leading streaming platforms during high-engagement festive content. Premium placements enhance brand perception and drive better results.
Real-Time Optimization: Adjust campaigns dynamically based on performance data. This agility proves crucial during fast-moving festive periods when consumer behaviors shift rapidly.
Comprehensive Measurement: Track performance across awareness, consideration, and conversion metrics. Understand how festive CTV campaigns impact broader marketing efforts and business outcomes.
Creative Guidance: Leverage expertise in crafting festive messages that resonate emotionally while driving action. Benefit from insights about what works in different markets and audience segments.
The Future Is Connected, Personal, and Festive
As we move toward 2026 and beyond, Connected TV will cement its position as the primary platform for festive storytelling. The convergence of emotional impact, precise targeting, measurable outcomes, and evolving interactive features creates unprecedented opportunities for brands.
The brands that succeed in this evolving landscape will be those that understand CTV is not simply another advertising channel but a storytelling platform that connects with audiences during their most meaningful moments. Festive seasons amplify these connections because they tap into universal human experiences of celebration, giving, and connection.
The numbers validate this direction. The real-world campaign results demonstrate effectiveness. The technological evolution enables new possibilities. Most importantly, audiences are ready for festive experiences that feel personal, relevant, and emotionally resonant.
Connected TV makes this possible by placing powerful storytelling on the biggest screen in the home, precisely when families gather and consumers are most receptive. This is why CTV has become the center of festive storytelling, and why smart brands are shifting resources to capitalize on this transformation.
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