Acer India lifts CTV spend as festive brands target shoppers beyond metros

Acer India has raised connected-TV allocation to 12–13% from 5–6% and plans festive investment at least 30% above last year. Brands including DS Group and Uniqlo are using CTV’s expanding reach to localise campaigns around city, household and store catchment audiences.

— Source publishedTue, 1 Sept, 2026, 12:04 IST·First seen Tue, 1 Sept, 2026, 13:41 IST·Source ET Brand Equity

What happened

Acer India · Indian consumer brands including Acer, DS Group and Uniqlo are increasing or refining festive connected-TV spending to target households, cities

Key facts

  • India CTV audience: 207 million viewers
  • Estimated CTV households: 62-65 million
  • CTV universe growth: threefold since 2022
  • Rural CTV audience growth: doubled in one year
  • Acer CTV media allocation: 12-13%, up from 5-6%
  • Acer festive investment: at least 30% higher year-on-year
  • Urban TV households that are CTV households: 47%
  • CTV households also consuming linear TV: 68%
  • Shared CTV viewing: over 80%
  • Average CTV household size: 3.3 members
  • People reached per CTV impression: about 2.5
  • Weekday 8-10 pm CTV activity: 78% versus 63% for linear TV
  • Weekend 8-10 pm CTV activity: 73% versus 61% for linear TV
  • CTV audience growth: 21% in metros, 46% in mini-metros, 55% in small towns, 110% in rural markets

Why this matters

Prioritize partnerships or acquisitions in CTV measurement, household identity and localized ad-tech capabilities, where fragmented cross-screen attribution is the key bottleneck.

What to watch

  • Growth in CTV ad inventory and audience penetration across tier-2/3 cities during the festive period.
  • Launch of independent CTV measurement, cross-screen deduplication or verified store-visit attribution in India.
  • Whether major retail platforms and smart-TV OEMs introduce joint CTV-commerce audience and conversion products.
  • Post-festive evidence of CTV-driven branded search, marketplace conversion, store traffic or sales lift versus linear TV and online video.
  • CPM inflation, frequency concentration and inventory quality issues as more festive advertisers enter CTV.
  • Build festive CTV plans by city cluster, language and store catchment rather than national audience alone.
  • Pair CTV exposure with retailer search, marketplace sponsored listings, QR codes and geo-based store-visit offers to create attributable conversion paths.
  • Negotiate reach-and-frequency controls, deduplicated reporting and incremental-lift studies before committing large budget increases.
  • Prioritize categories with high consideration and local availability, including consumer electronics, apparel, packaged gifting, beverages and home improvement.
  • Create separate creative versions for metro, mini-metro and regional-language audiences; align messages to local inventory and delivery coverage.

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