Dailymotion Session: CTV and the future of premium video experiences

Connected TV is no longer just another media channel—it is becoming the backbone of a more intelligent, measurable and integrated marketing ecosystem.

That was the central message of “CTV, audience evolution and the future of premium video experiences,” a session at Latino US Day by Dailymotion during Cannes Lions 2026 featuring Rafael López, Global Director of Media Effectiveness & Operations at Coty, Bruno Latapie, General Director EMEA of Dailymotion Advertising, represented on stage by a company executive, and moderated by Gordon Young, Editor-in-Chief of The Drum.

The discussion explored how first-party data, retail media, audience insights and attention metrics are reshaping the future of advertising.

For Rafael López, brands no longer expect media partners to simply sell inventory—they expect strategic guidance. “In the past we were very tactical: What placement can I buy with this budget?,” he said. “Now we ask our partners to understand our business, understand our consumers, and recommend where we should reach them.”

That shift is particularly important for beauty brands like Coty, which compete in a category known for rapidly adopting emerging platforms.

“We were early on TikTok, early with influencers, early in social media,” López explained. “Now the focus is Connected TV combined with a strong data layer that allows us to buy media efficiently and deliver business results.”

Data is becoming the competitive advantage
While many consumer brands have limited direct access to customer information because retailers own much of the purchase data, López said retail media has fundamentally changed that equation.

“The data coming from retailers is incredible because it allows us to understand whether our marketing is actually driving sales,” he said. “It gives us evidence to show CEOs and CFOs that media investment is generating business growth.”

For Dailymotion, proprietary technology and audience signals have become equally important.

The company’s representative explained that Dailymotion has evolved beyond being a video platform into an independent video advertising technology company, using its own infrastructure to help advertisers identify audiences across connected TV, mobile and desktop.

“The conversation today isn’t about formats anymore,” he said. “It’s about audience insights.”

Connected TV is only one screen
One of the session’s strongest themes was that marketers should stop thinking about Connected TV in isolation.

“We don’t want to talk only about CTV,” López said. “We want to understand how to reach consumers throughout their entire day.”

Today’s consumer may watch television at home, browse social media on a smartphone and consume creator content on multiple devices—all within hours.

Media planning, López argued, should follow that journey rather than treating each channel separately. “A media plan shouldn’t be one channel or another. It should strategically connect every touchpoint throughout the consumer’s day.”

Attention over impressions
As marketers face increasing pressure to demonstrate return on investment, both speakers argued that attention has become a more meaningful metric than traditional media KPIs.

“If someone watches more than half of a video, we know the message has landed,” López said. He warned against optimizing campaigns exclusively around low CPMs or low acquisition costs.

“The cheapest media often becomes the lowest-quality media,” he said. “You need creativity, efficient media and business outcomes working together.”

Dailymotion also emphasized adapting creative assets to each platform rather than simply reusing television commercials across every device.

“Thanks to AI, adapting creative to different screens is becoming much easier,” the company noted.

AI won’t replace marketers—but it will change how they work
Asked about the next five years, López said the industry’s conversation has become more realistic.

“Last year everything was AI,” he said. “This year we’ve all used it and we’ve seen its limitations.”

Rather than replacing agencies or marketing teams, he believes AI will automate repetitive tasks while enabling creative professionals to produce better work faster and at lower cost.

“The more first-party data we share across partners, the more we’ll be able to close the loop between consumer behavior and purchase.”

The session concluded with a broader prediction from Dailymotion: the future belongs to marketers who eliminate media silos and build unified video strategies across every screen.

“It’s great to work with Google, Amazon or TikTok,” the speaker said. “But success will come from thinking beyond individual platforms and creating one global video strategy with agencies and clients.”