Media Brief Template for Automotive CTV / Streaming Campaigns

Begin every automotive CTV brief by specifying the campaign tier. Tier 1 (OEM national): brand and model awareness across all US DMAs; minimum $500K budget; 30-second non-skippable on premium SVOD. Tier 2 (Regional dealer association): market-level sales event promotion; $50K–$300K budget; DMA-specific creative required. Tier 3 (Individual franchise dealer): PMA-level inventory promotion; $3K–$25K/month budget; VIN-level dynamic creative preferred. Each tier requires different publisher strategy, frequency caps, and attribution approaches — designating tier upfront prevents planning mismatches.

Specify the exact vehicle model year, model name, and relevant trim levels for the campaign. For clearance campaigns, note the outgoing model year; for conquest campaigns, note the incoming model year. Campaigns mixing clearance and new model messaging in the same brief require explicit audience suppression rules — buyers who've seen new model creative should not be served clearance offers for the same vehicle, as this creates conflicting purchase signals that depress both campaign's conversion performance.

Select the single primary objective for this CTV campaign flight. Automotive CTV objectives require distinct execution strategies: brand awareness campaigns optimize for reach and frequency on premium SVOD at high CPMs; model consideration campaigns deploy in-market auto shopper segments with 30-second narrative spots; test-drive campaigns require QR code or URL CTA units; conquest campaigns require ACR or behavioral data activation. Multi-objective campaigns are a planning compromise that typically deliver 30–40% lower performance on every objective vs. single-objective campaigns.

Specify start date, end date, and any required blackout dates. Map the campaign flight to the automotive seasonal calendar: note if the flight overlaps a tent-pole sales event (Memorial Day, Labor Day, Black Friday, December Season of Sales) requiring creative variant swaps. For model-year changeover flights (August–October), document which model year is the primary creative focus and whether parallel outgoing-model clearance will run simultaneously under a separate brief or the same one.

Define the demographic floor for automotive CTV audience targeting: a luxury sedan campaign should specify HHI $100K+, A35–65; a compact SUV campaign might target HHI $60K+, A25–55. Household income is the most important automotive audience filter — CTV platforms offer HHI targeting in $25K increments via third-party data appends (typically $2–$4 CPM premium). Without an HHI floor, a significant portion of CTV impressions will serve households for whom the advertised vehicle is financially inaccessible.

Segment target audiences by purchase timeline: 'immediate market' (actively researching, 0–30 days to purchase), 'near-market' (in consideration, 30–90 days), or 'future market' (brand building for buyers 90+ days from purchase). In-market and near-market audiences warrant aggressive CTV bidding with conversion-focused creative; future-market audiences require softer brand/aspiration creative at lower frequency. Specify which in-market segment is primary — this determines DSP audience data strategy and bid levels.

If the campaign includes competitive conquest, specify the target competitor brands by make/model (e.g., 'conquest Toyota Camry and Honda Accord consideration shoppers for Ford Fusion replacement'). List up to 5 conquest targets in priority order. Conquest audience sources: ACR data from Roku or Samsung identifying households currently seeing competitor brand CTV ads; in-market data segments with competitor brand affinity; behavioral segments from automotive research sites with competitive make browsing history. Each conquest target requires its own creative message strategy.

Specify whether this campaign is for an EV/PHEV model requiring a distinct audience strategy (tech-early-adopter, HHI $100K+, EV consideration segments, range-anxiety awareness messaging, charging infrastructure proximity geo-targeting) or a traditional ICE model. If the OEM's portfolio includes both EV and ICE models with overlapping target demographics, explicitly state that campaigns must run as separate ad sets with different creative and audience suppression between them to prevent cross-contamination of purchase intent messaging.

For Tier 1: list all included and excluded DMAs with any state-level geo restrictions. For Tier 2: list the specific DMA cluster for the dealer association with included zip codes. For Tier 3: specify the dealer's PMA radius in miles from the dealership address, and identify the 3–5 competitor dealership locations that should be geo-targeted for conquest. Include a coverage map or dealer address list as an attachment to the brief for trafficking accuracy.

Attach or reference the current OEM co-op program's approved CTV publisher and DSP eligibility list. If co-op reimbursement is expected, all publisher and DSP selections must appear on this approved list. Common co-op-eligible publishers include Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Peacock, and Roku Channel; common approved DSPs include The Trade Desk and Google DV360. Non-eligible publishers must be funded from dealer direct budget only and tracked in a separate budget line for reconciliation purposes.

Define acceptable CPM ranges for each publisher category: premium SVOD (Netflix, Max, Hulu) — accept up to $40 CPM for Tier 1 campaigns; mid-tier streaming (Peacock, Paramount+, AMC+) — target $18–$28 CPM; FAST channels (Tubi, Pluto, Roku Channel) — maximum $18 CPM for Tier 3 reach extension. Document absolute CPM ceilings by tier so buyers do not over-bid in premium inventory for campaigns that don't require premium brand environment. This CPM discipline typically saves 15–25% on Tier 3 dealer campaigns.

Specify frequency caps at both the weekly and campaign-total level for each tier: recommended caps are 3 exposures/household/week (OEM Tier 1), 2/week (Tier 2 and Tier 3), with a campaign-total maximum of 12 exposures/household. Document the cap coordination protocol if multiple tiers are running simultaneously in the same DMA — the aggregate cross-tier cap (recommended: 5–7 total automotive-brand exposures/household/week) must be enforced via DSP frequency management or weekly check-in between tier buyers.

List required creative formats per publisher tier: premium SVOD typically accepts 30-second non-skippable units; FAST channels accept both 15-second and 30-second; programmatic open auction accepts 15-second and 30-second. For Tier 3 VIN-level dynamic creative campaigns, specify the data feed integration format (XML/JSON/CSV inventory feed URL, update frequency, required data fields: stock photo URL, year/make/model/trim, MSRP, mileage, VIN). All CTV creative must be delivered in H.264 video format at minimum 1080p resolution with stereo audio.

Specify the desired call-to-action for each audience segment: test-drive booking page URL (for in-market audiences), VDP (vehicle detail page) URL (for inventory-specific campaigns), OEM model explore page (for brand awareness campaigns), and dealer locator page (for regional campaigns). For QR code interactive units, provide the tracking URL with UTM parameters pre-built. Landing pages must be mobile-optimized — 70%+ of post-CTV conversion visits happen on mobile devices within 24 hours of CTV exposure.

Specify the store visit measurement vendor to be integrated into the DSP campaign: Foursquare, Neustar/TransUnion, Polk (S&P Global Mobility), or LiveRamp. Include vendor contact and data feed specifications. Define success benchmark: cost-per-showroom-visit target (typically $20–$60 for automotive CTV), incremental visit lift threshold (minimum 0.5% over control), and geographic level at which visit attribution will be reported (DMA, metro, zip, dealer location). Confirm vendor integration is active before the campaign starts — post-hoc visit measurement setups are significantly less accurate.

Specify the URL patterns for all VDP (vehicle detail page) pages on the dealer or OEM website to be tracked as CTV conversions. Define attribution window: 7-day view-through (minimum viable) or 14-day view-through (recommended for automotive purchase funnels) from CTV impression to VDP visit. Confirm that CTV campaign pixels or IP-matching tags are installed on VDP pages before launch. Track both VDP visits and secondary actions (build-and-price, financing calculator, chat initiation) as mid-funnel conversion indicators alongside VDP volume.

Define weekly reporting deliverables: reach and frequency by DMA (segmented by tier if multi-tier), VCR (video completion rate, target 90%+), VDP visit rate per 1,000 impressions, store visit count and CPV, and co-op spend reconciliation (eligible vs. ineligible spend). Monthly reporting should include brand lift study results (if applicable) and pacing vs. plan. Specify whether Tier 2 and Tier 3 buyers receive the same report or receive DMA-specific data only relevant to their market.