Observed Signal · Jun 19, 2026 · Partnership · Source: Digiday · Impact: 3/5 · Sentiment: Positive
Fanatics Shifts to Value-Optimized CTV Campaigns
Fanatics Sportsbook changed its performance marketing approach after experimenting with adtech vendor Cognitiv, moving away from manually defined audience segments toward machine-learning models optimized for customer lifetime value (LTV). Fanatics reports a projected 19% increase in customer LTV from campaigns run with Cognitiv’s full-funnel CTV solution. The work relied on Cognitiv’s AudienceGPT product, which builds behavioral segments from natural-language prompts and trains custom ML models against advertiser-defined business outcomes. Fanatics’ paid-marketing director Andy Magnes and Cognitiv CEO Jeremy Fain described the shift as replacing audience hypotheses with algorithmic identification of high-value customers across channels including CTV and online video.
Demonstrates a measurable industry trend: shifting CTV/performance campaigns from audience-segmentation toward ML-driven, value-optimized outcomes (19% projected LTV uplift), which affects measurement, budgeting and vendor demand.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- Fanatics Sportsbook ran experiments with Cognitiv that shifted campaign strategy from predefined audience targeting to ML-driven value optimization.
- Fanatics reported a projected 19% increase in customer lifetime value (LTV) from campaigns run with Cognitiv’s "full-funnel CTV solution."
- Cognitiv’s AudienceGPT product was used to describe prospective audiences in natural language and construct behavioral segments for activation across channels.
- Andy Magnes (Director, paid marketing, Fanatics Betting & Gaming) and Jeremy Fain (CEO, Cognitiv) were quoted explaining the move to optimize directly for business outcomes rather than lowest cost per acquisition.
Connected Companies & Entities
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Related Market Signals & Shifts
Recent verified developments and strategic activity across this market segment.
CTV Advertising Enables Full‑Funnel Marketing
The article argues that connected TV (CTV) has evolved from an awareness-only channel into a full-funnel marketing lever thanks to improved targeting, measurement and interactive ad formats. It cites industry studies and benchmarks showing CTV’s high completion rates (>95%), strong upper-funnel lift in omnichannel campaigns, and growing use of first-party and behavioral targeting. The piece outlines how CTV can support consideration (sequential creative, QR scans, add-to-cart interactions) and conversion (cross-device/household attribution, assisted app installs), and recommends matching KPIs to funnel stage and integrating CTV into cross-screen strategies. Survey data referenced indicates many marketers plan to increase CTV budgets if measurement improves and that measurement infrastructure (first-party data, cross-screen attribution, household IDs) is enabling lower-funnel measurement.
CTV-first 70/30 Blueprint for Full-Funnel Growth
The article argues that connected TV (CTV) has matured from a branding channel into a measurable performance medium when treated like digital advertising. It recommends a 70/30 media blueprint — 70% investment in CTV and 30% in mobile, OLV, display and pause ads — reinforced by CRM-driven targeting, cross-device measurement, and verifiable incrementality (log-level attribution). The piece cites Pinterest’s acquisition of TVScientific as evidence of the industry shift and highlights a cited campaign where the CTV-first approach produced 2.1x ROAS and a 20-day average time-to-conversion for a high-end fitness e-tailer.
Cognitiv Blog: New Articles on CTV Targeting and Fanatics Case Study
New blog posts added: 'The Three Pillars of Smarter CTV Targeting' (Sept 15, 2026) and 'Fanatics Betting & Gaming Stopped Chasing Every Bettor' (Sept 10, 2026).
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