The rise of Connected TV (CTV) has changed the media landscape—but it’s also exposed a major flaw in how advertisers reach audiences. While streaming has exploded, the data needed to confidently target and optimize within this environment has lagged far behind.
For years, CTV has been a black box. Advertisers knew where their ads would run in the broadest sense—on a “News” app or during a “Sports” stream—but lacked the granular insight needed to ensure true brand alignment. That meant guesswork, overblocking, missed opportunities, and media waste.
At Sightly, we’ve set out to fix that. And through our partnership with IRIS.TV, we’re not just making CTV targeting smarter—we’re redefining what’s possible.
The Problem: CTV Has a Context Crisis
Brands are investing heavily in CTV for good reason—massive reach, high engagement, and premium content environments. But they’re often flying blind.
Most contextual tools rely on top-level descriptors like Publisher or App level. These signals can be vague, misleading, or totally irrelevant to the content’s actual tone and themes. The result? Advertisers either run in environments that don’t align—or avoid large swaths of content altogether to play it safe.
- How do you differentiate a video of a sports broadcaster engaging in a political debate vs recapping a big game?
- Does “Lifestyle” content mean wellness, luxury, or reality TV drama?
- Are you blocking entire publishers (and therefore minimizing scale) because of one controversial storyline?
Without deeper data, you’re stuck making assumptions.
The Solution: Sightly + IRIS.TV To Unlock Video-Level Precision
That’s where video-level contextual targeting comes in—and why our partnership with IRIS.TV is a game-changer.
As an IRIS-enabled™ data partner, IRIS.TV connects us to millions of premium shows and movies on the leading streaming apps that allow for granular, transactable insights on individual CTV videos. Through their content ID, the IRIS_ID, we can access that video-level data and run it through our proprietary taxonomy, which classifies each video by tone, topic, sentiment, and cultural nuance—not just keywords or genre.
It’s the first solution of its kind to bring true contextual intelligence to CTV—built around your brand’s unique identity, with the flexibility to activate custom packages or choose from our pre-bundled, off-the-shelf options for speed and scale.
How It Works
Brands can leverage Turnkey packages: Use ready-to-run, pre-bundled, PMPs aligned to nuanced topics like Retail Shoppers, Auto Enthusiasts, & On-The-Go Foodies or align to tentpole events like Earth Day, the Olympics, or holiday shopping.
Or, for a customized brand-centric approach:
1. Define Your Brand’s POV
It starts with your Sightly Brand Mentality profile, where you define what your brand stands for, what themes to embrace, and which ones to avoid (like kids content or sensitive topics).
2. Apply Sightly’s Taxonomy
Sightly’s tech analyzes each video from IRIS-enabled publishers, and classifies it using our layered taxonomy – compatible with, but expanding upon standard IAB categories.
3. Build and Activate PMPs
Build bespoke packages based on your profile for any DSP.
4. Launch in Your Preferred DSP
We deliver a custom inclusion/ exclusion list and work with IRIS.TV to generate a Deal ID and activate across your preferred DSP.
Why It’s a Big Deal
According to Upwave, advertisers that utilized IRIS-enabled data for contextual targeting have proven to drive superior lift in CTV, including 2x lift in Awareness 3x lift in Ad Recall 5x lift in Favorability.
In addition, advertisers gain:
- Increased Transparency: Gain a deeper understanding of where your ads will run.
- Brand Suitability Controls: Fine-tuned options for excluding sensitive or misaligned content—no more broad-stroke blocking.
- Real-Time Relevance: Respond to what’s trending right now, not weeks later.
- Seamless Activation: With pre-built PMPs and an easy handoff workflow, launching is fast and flexible.
All of this is available programmatically, through your platform of choice – whether you’re buying managed service or operating self-serve. Plus our segments are available on major platforms including Viant, Basis, Equative, Index Exchange, Pubmatic, Xandr Curate, Beachfront Select, Magnite Clearline, and more!
Real Results, Not Just Hype
While other companies may offer access to IRIS-enabled data, our taxonomy is what sets us apart. It’s built from the ground up to reflect the full emotional and cultural context of every video—allowing your brand to show up in moments that matter, not just moments that match keywords.
A leader in American steel manufacturing felt the direct impact of aligning their sustainability-focused messaging to relevant content across premium CTV publishers, and saw a 99% video completion rate on Sightly’s targeting segments – which performed 5% higher than their other targeting tactics.
CTV Isn’t Blind Anymore
For too long, CTV’s biggest opportunity—its premium content—was also its biggest risk. Now, with Sightly, you can cut through the noise, avoid the guesswork, and execute smarter, faster, and with full confidence.
If your CTV strategy still relies on genre or network-level targeting, you’re already behind. Let’s fix that—together.
Ready to activate? Request a Deal ID Here or Reach out at sales@sightly.com