LG Ads Pitches Advertisers on 50 Cent and a Candy Shop of CTV Ad Offerings

LG Ad Solutions believes in the “future of connection”—so much so that it was the theme of the company’s NewFronts presentation on Monday.

Tony Marlow, global CMO of LG Ad Solutions, said the TV industry is entering a CTV-first era, which blurs the line between content and commerce as well as the line between entertainment and engagement, making connection pivotal.

“It’s already starting to blur,” Marlow said. “This is what makes connections so important.”

To aid in bringing brands and consumers together and “elevate this notion of connection,” Marlow explained that LG Ads is expanding its CTV products, measurement solutions, and FAST channels ahead of NewFronts—even bringing 50 Cent into the fold.

The Home Screen becomes more immersive

In expanding its CTV product suite, LG Ads is implementing more interactive TV ads with BrightLine, with formats being available in Q3 in the U.S. and Canada before expanding globally.

Among the ad units, marketers can expect trivia capabilities and game advertising, with an ad unit becoming gamified within the screen itself via 15-second or native ads.

Shoppable ads are also a priority, including QR codes and add-to-cart functionality to facilitate purchases and turn the TV into a full-funnel commerce channel. The format is currently available in the U.S., with the United Kingdom and Europe to follow soon. According to Marlow, shoppable TV experiences have been a theme that users have been engaging with over the past 12 to 18 months.

“TV is no longer just for viewing,” Marlow said. “It’s an experience.”

LG Ad Solutions also announced 3D native home screen ads to transform the LG home screen into a brand showcase and make it easier for content discovery. Meanwhile, Magnite’s premium native home screen units are currently available programmatically through SpringServe, with guaranteed buys through ClearLine, allowing for automation and transparency.

The company also announced the launch of social amplification through Spaceback, which will bring social media content like Instagram Stories and TikTok videos to TV screens for unified cross-platform campaigns and will launch globally in Q3 2025.

“The genius of this was that we have a lot of clients that come to us, and they say we have hugely successful social campaigns that are working really well,” Marlow said. “So we’ve partnered with Spaceback, which essentially utilizes AI to automatically turn these social units into CTV-friendly ad units, and it’s astonishing how beautiful the end result is without a lot of human intervention.”

The company is also getting into the gaming space with the launch of a new cloud gaming hub, which will unlock gaming directly through LG TVs and give advertisers an early opportunity to get access to its gaming audience, no console required.

A FAST partnership with 50 Cent

Meanwhile, LG Ad Solutions is expanding LG Channels, its FAST service, which is powered by WebOS, LG’s proprietary operating system. Currently, it has over 4,000 channels launched globally, with more than 350 in the United States.

The company recently launched the 50 Cent Action Channel on LG Channels, which will be curated by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson himself.

“It’s essentially Hollywood blockbuster action movies curated by 50 Cent intermingled with some music collages with him,” Marlow said. “It’s interesting and seems to be gathering a lot of attention. People are really into that.”

According to the company, LG Channels is a top-five service on LG TVs, with over 50% of users calling it their favorite. And top brands like A&E, AMC, and NBC have partnered with LG Ad Solutions on the service.

Unlocking more data and insights

On the data and insights side, LG Ad Solutions also had a slate of new announcements, including the expansion of Experian audience data, which will bring GDPR-compliant consumer data to advertisers in the United Kingdom for more precise targeting. It will be available in Q3.

Meanwhile, in Q4, local measurement will be available with AdImpact to unlock local advertising intelligence across all 210 U.S. DMAs with real-time campaign tracking and competitive insights.

The company is also building a privacy-first, global data platform, which will let marketers access a premium set of global ACR data to better inform media buying decisions. Plus, LG Ad Solutions is also partnering with Horizon Media with Horizon’s Blu Platform, which will integrate LG’s AI-powered ecosystem, combine ACR data, audience activation, and AI-driven measurement.

More identity and measurement

Moving forward, LG Ad Solutions will expand identity solutions to strengthen support for The Trade Desk UID 2.0, LiveRamp RampID, Yahoo ConnectID, and Google Display & Video 360 PAIR to improve match rates, privacy-first targeting, and campaign performance.

In addition, the company is expanding its multicultural reach with Western Union to give brands and advertisers more access to diverse, high-intent, cross-border audiences through verified, first-party data. There’s also the expansion of ContexTV, which will feature AI-powered, scene-level targeting that puts ads in more emotional moments within content, delivering up to four times better performance than traditional targeting.

“Our philosophy is—as attention fragments—the future of marketing belongs to those who can connect content, ads, and audiences in meaningful ways,” Marlow said. “At LG Ad Solutions, that’s our focus, and in many ways. That’s our superpower.”