Case Study

How Playbook Media is Using CTV to Build Brands That Last

For over a decade, performance marketing has been ruled by clicks and conversions. But Bryan Karas, CEO of Playbook Media and former Meta leader, is helping brands think bigger. His belief? You can’t build long-term growth without emotional resonance — and you certainly won’t find it in a seven-day attribution window.

That’s why Playbook Media is putting Connected TV (CTV) at the center of what they call Performance Branding: a strategy that balances storytelling with measurable results.

01 The Challenge: Scale Without Losing the Story

Marketers today are stuck in a loop: invest in paid search and social, watch the ROAS drop, then spend more just to stay afloat. What’s missing? According to Karas:“Emotional connection. Brand presence. Storytelling.”

For Playbook Media, the challenge was helping their clients escape that cycle — without sacrificing performance. “We needed a channel that thinks like a performance marketer.” After experimenting with direct buys and other CTV platforms, Karas turned to tvScientific.

Why?

02 When the Right Story Meets the Right Channel

One fast-scaling DTC brand came to Playbook Media when their performance channels (search and social) were starting to plateau. Instead of chasing more impressions, Playbook launched a 30-second CTV spot designed to hit emotionally, not just tactically. The ad told a painfully relatable story: what it feels like to give someone the wrong gift. Cringe-worthy. Awkward. Human. It wasn’t just measurable — it was memorable.

“Every channel started performing better. Search picked up. Social picked up. Even organic traffic moved. And we could tie it all back to that CTV lift.”

Bryan Karas,
CEO of Playbook Media

What was acheived

15% - 20%

lift in conversions across digital channels

Surge

in organic and direct traffic

Long-term lift

not short-term spike

"Most brands are addicted to instant returns. But real growth comes from brand presence — and CTV is one of the few places where you can tell a real story at scale. We’re not just chasing clicks. We’re building connection.”