Results
BMW South Africa, a premium automotive leader, asked a simple question: can free streaming deliver luxury intenders with real efficiency, not just reach? The objective was to improve key KPIs while reducing wasted impressions by proving first-party CTV targeting can beat broad buying in the same environment. Together with SABC+, Adform ran a controlled test on CTV, comparing broad targeting versus BMW first-party audiences. The outcome showed BMW’s audiences were reachable and more likely to act when activated with first-party data, turning CTV reach into measurable efficiency.
higher CTR vs broad
lower CPC vs broad
eCPA
lower cost per interacting visit vs broad
viewability
VCR
Why Adform:
As a long-standing partner, BMW works with Adform for the control and clarity they need when performance must be provable. Adform’s single stack connects BMW’s data across channels, while Multi-ID supports audience recognition in cookieless CTV and enables precise frequency control. By centralizing buying rules, inventory curation, and measurement, BMW could run a consistent A/B test and trust the comparison. Transparent dashboards made the results easy to interpret, ensuring smooth implementation and ongoing optimization.
Challenges:
CTV viewership is surging in South Africa, yet audience targeting and retargeting on streaming are still early. Signals are fragmented across apps and devices, and measurement practices are inconsistent. SABC+ is a free national OTT platform that delivers broad reach to the mass market. That created a quality question for a luxury marque. BMW needed proof that its high-intent first-party segments could be found and motivated in this environment, which meant the plan had to protect efficiency, maintain attention, and show clear lift against a fair baseline.
Solution:
BMW set up a controlled two-arm test inside SABC+ CTV to isolate impact. Arm A (Benchmark) ran a SABC+ CTV PMP with broad eligibility through Adform’s SSP to define baseline reach and costs. Arm B (Precision) ran a SABC+ CTV PMP with BMW first-party audiences activated in Adform’s DSP, focusing on known intenders and recent site visitors.
By keeping planning, activation, and measurement in one workflow, Adform protected clean A/B isolation and reduced signal loss between delivery and reporting. This ensured Arm A and Arm B were directly comparable, with consistent supply, creative delivery, and measurement logic across both strategies. Optimization centered on engagement and cost efficiency, while eCPA for interacting visits captured response quality and viewability plus VCR validated attention. Arm B, powered by BMW first-party audiences, delivered stronger engagement and better cost outcomes than broad targeting, without sacrificing viewing quality. This confirmed that first-party CTV activation on SABC+ can deliver both efficiency and meaningful engagement for a premium brand.
Ané Viljoen
Brand Manager, BMW
“Activating our own first-party audiences on SABC+ proved that premium targeting delivers premium outcomes, even in open streaming environments. The uplift in engagement and efficiency gave us confidence to scale CTV with control.”