Audiences today have more content choices than ever before, but less patience for advertising that misses the mark.For Media & Entertainment brands, the stakes are even higher. They aren’t selling products; they’re shaping culture. These marketers know to reach them effectively, ads must feel like an extension of the entertainment experience.

Smartly has been working with leading M&E companies for years, partnering with them to deliver the most compelling and high-performing campaigns. We took a look back and what we’ve seen drive the most success, and here’s how leading they are rethinking relevance, personalization, and creative agility.

Audiences Expect Relevance

The best ad experiences start with one core principle: relevance. Today’s viewers expect brands to know who they are, what they care about, and how to meet them in the right moment. According to Smartly's research, 71% of global consumers expect personalized, authentic creative in advertising. And for Gen Z, presentation and entertainment value are nearly as important as the message itself.

To make their ads stand out, M&E marketers can lean into what their industry does best: crafting emotional hooks that pull people in, delivering pulse-raising moments that keep them engaged, and weaving stories that make everything come vividly alive. It’s these same cinematic, heart-grabbing elements that turn ordinary campaigns into experiences people remember and talk about.

In addition to having compelling and relevant content, ads also need to be personalized. But how can marketers include this personalization at scale? 

True personalization at scale isn’t about swapping a few names or content images. It’s about creating thoughtful variations that adapt based on channel, audience, and cultural moment. Whether it’s a streaming campaign adjusting visuals for regional audiences or a gaming company  running dynamic countdowns to launch day, creative relevance drives performance.

But this scale is hard to achieve with manual processes alone. That’s why more are adopting templated workflows and dynamic creative tools to reduce production bottlenecks and bring campaigns to market faster. With Smartly’s tools, marketers can build once and adapt everywhere—while staying on-brand and on-brief.

In-Flight Agility Makes All the Difference

A great ad experience is about more than format or polish—it’s about timing. That means adjusting to live events, shifting promotions, or trending topics without starting from scratch.

With in-flight editing capabilities, media and entertainment marketers can tweak campaigns in real time: swapping in updated visuals, revising copy, or reallocating budget based on what’s performing. This flexibility keeps creative aligned with the cultural moment and ensures viewers see the most relevant message, right when it matters.

Driving Long-Term Fan Value

For media and entertainment brands, true performance goes far beyond transactions or cart size. It’s about sparking engagement, driving subscriptions, and building lasting fan relationships that pay off over time. Whether it’s keeping viewers hooked on a new series, growing a loyal streaming audience, or turning casual listeners into devoted fans, the value lies in sustained connection, not just a one-time click.

That’s where Smartly comes in. By combining creative automation, data-driven optimization, and AI-powered insights, ads can be customized and served the channels that matter most to make a connection. With our platform, brands can seamlessly tailor and scale campaigns across channels, ensuring every ad resonates with audiences and strengthens that long-term loyalty.

Just look at The Times, which doubled real-time performance on Meta by using Smartly’s creative automation to instantly turn breaking news into compelling ad experiences, driving both efficiency and subscriber growth.

From Ad to Experience: A Creative Mindset Shift

M&E brands are already in the business of storytelling. Applying that mindset to advertising can transform the viewer relationship.

When ads reflect the tone of the content they accompany, when they anticipate audience needs, and when they adapt fluidly across channels, they stop feeling like ads and start feeling like moments. Moments that spark interest. That deepen fandom. That brings people closer to the stories they love.

The result? Better engagement, stronger loyalty, and a marketing function that isn’t just delivering messages, but delivering value. 

Deliver better, more personalized ads at scale with Smartly. Request a demo to see how.