TV Buyers Need Better Signals Not Just More Floss Data: Alliant's Suvadip Choudhury

Описание: SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO – At the Beet Retreat San Juan, Suvadip Choudhury, head of television partnerships at Alliant, delivered a reality check to the TV ad business. Yes, we have more data than ever. No, that does not mean we should blindly chase every shiny behavioral segment that appears in a dashboard.

“The TV industry has done a great job at evolving the way they think about custom audiences,” Choudhury said in this interview with Beet.TV contributor David Kaplan.

He said the shift from basic demographic targeting such as “moms ages 25 to 34” to far more behaviorally informed audiences.

Instead of broad strokes, marketers can now zero in on “moms who are likely to spend on childcare” or “college educated households that are looking to buy a new house.”

With richer signals, he said, “we now have the ability to hone in on the exact things that an advertiser, an agency, or brand might want for targeting their consumers.”

But more signal also means more responsibility. Choudhury urged buyers and sellers to question the raw material behind those segments.

“Where does the seed data come from? How did you collect it? What does it truly signify?” he said, adding that these are the questions required to execute “highly sophisticated audience strategies in the future.”

Translation: not all data is created equal.

You are more than your floss purchases

Kaplan suggested that Alliant sits at the crossroads of transactions and prediction. Choudhury agreed, then cited an example that may haunt dental aisles everywhere.

“Transactional behavior has been the gold standard for E-commerce marketing,” he said.

If you buy floss every month, marketers know you floss. Congratulations.

But, he added, “there are multitudes to everyone.”

Just because someone buys a lot of floss does not mean that floss defines their entire identity.

“The frequency at which I buy tooth floss isn’t the only thing about me,” he said with a smile.

For marketers, the lesson is clear. Transaction data shows what happened. Predictive insight helps explain why and what might happen next.

“The context of why they’re doing the things that they do matter,” he said, because that broader understanding leads to better predictions and smarter audience expansion.

Balancing scale and precision in CTV

When it comes to connected television, the eternal tension between scale and precision still looms. Choudhury framed it as a business decision.

“Balancing scale and precision really comes down to how an advertiser would like their ad dollars to be used,” he said.

If a brand wants a very specific consumer based on real behavior, precision wins. If there is enough transaction data, that precision can sometimes scale on its own. But often it cannot.

That is where predictive modeling steps in. It helps “fill the gap and size up,” he said, allowing marketers to take a precise audience and reach it at meaningful volume.

After all, “there are more to users purchase beyond just the fact that they’re purchasing,” he said, emphasizing that behavior is layered and