Smart TV home screens are becoming prime real estate for advertisers looking to capture viewer attention at the moment they turn on their TVs and start their content discovery journey. 

Such home screen placement is a natural fit for content providers seeking to drive tune in. But increasingly, consumer brands are seeking a place to fit in as well. That can be a challenge, as most smart TV providers are understandably reluctant to play product ads within what is meant to be a content discovery experience. 

A recent case study from VIZIO shows how both brands and smart TV providers are walking this tightrope. According to the report, retailer Ashley Furniture added a Home Screen activation to its existing CTV video ad campaign designed to drive increased traffic into its stores in over the second quarter of the year. 

That activation included a “brought to you by” integration in several areas of the content discovery home screen, including a Hero Unit in the main top banner of the screen, and a Discovery Row banner, as well as sponsoring a pop-up channel of themed programming curated around Memorial Day themes. 

Ashley Furniture used Foursquare to track in-store traffic over the course of the home screen campaign, which credited the campaign for both higher conversion rates and a lower cost-per-visit. In fact, the home screen component of the campaign alone was credited with driving over 57% of in-store visits.

At a time when businesses are under pressure to show more lower-funnel results beyond reach and awareness, stats like these have other brands looking for similar ways to establish a presence on the smart TV home screen. Brands in the QSR, Automotive, and Insurance industries have all run home screen campaigns with VIZIO alone in the last year, and more are sure to follow.