Understanding CTV Attribution in MENA

The Shifting Television Landscape in MENA

The television advertising ecosystem across the Middle East and North Africa has undergone a fundamental transformation in recent years. As viewers increasingly move away from linear TV to streaming platforms, marketers face both new challenges and unprecedented opportunities to measure campaign effectiveness.

In markets like the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, where digital adoption rates are among the highest globally, Connected TV (CTV) has emerged as a powerful advertising channel. Regional platforms such as Shahid VIP, StarzPlay Arabia, and OSN+ have gained significant market share, while global streaming giants continue expanding their MENA footprint.

For marketing professionals across the region, this shift demands a sophisticated understanding of how to measure advertising impact in this new environment.

What is CTV Attribution?

CTV attribution refers to the process of connecting a viewer’s exposure to a streaming TV advertisement with their subsequent actions—whether visiting a website, making a purchase, downloading an app, or engaging with your brand in other measurable ways.

Unlike traditional TV measurement, which relied primarily on panel-based viewership estimates and broad correlation analysis, CTV attribution provides granular insights into how specific ad exposures influence consumer behavior across multiple touchpoints and devices.

Why CTV Attribution Matters for MENA Marketers

For marketing professionals across the MENA region, CTV attribution solves several critical challenges:

1. Demonstrating Real Business Impact

In a region where marketing accountability is increasingly prioritized, CTV attribution allows you to connect advertising spend directly to business outcomes—whether online purchases for e-commerce brands in the UAE, app downloads for fintech companies in Saudi Arabia, or in-store visits for retail chains across the region.

2. Understanding the Multi-Device Customer Journey

MENA consumers are among the world’s most digitally connected, often using multiple devices throughout their day. The average UAE resident owns 4.4 connected devices—CTV attribution helps marketers understand how ad exposure on one device influences actions taken on another.

3. Optimizing Campaign Performance

With comprehensive attribution data, marketers can make informed decisions to optimize targeting, creative execution, frequency, and budget allocation—crucial for maximizing ROI in competitive MENA markets.

How CTV Attribution Works

The Technical Foundation

When a viewer in Dubai, Cairo, or Riyadh watches content on a streaming platform, the CTV ad delivery system captures specific data points that enable tracking:

1. Device Graph Technology

When your advertisement is served on a CTV device, the system records the household’s IP address and creates an identifier. This information becomes part of a “device graph” that maps relationships between different devices within the same household.

For example, if someone watches your ad on their smart TV in their Amman apartment, the attribution system can recognize when that same household later visits your website from a laptop or completes a purchase via smartphone.

2. Tracking Implementation

To capture user actions following ad exposure, marketers implement:

• Tracking pixels on their websites to monitor visits and conversions
• SDK integration in mobile apps to track installations and in-app activities
• API connections with customer data platforms for deeper analysis

3. Cross-Device Measurement

Advanced attribution platforms can track actions across multiple devices within the same household, which is critical in MENA markets where mobile-first consumer behavior is prevalent.

Attribution Methodologies

Several methodologies can be employed to connect CTV ad exposure to outcomes:

1. Deterministic Matching

This approach uses definitive identifiers like IP addresses or login credentials to create direct connections between ad exposure and subsequent actions. This method is particularly valuable in countries like the UAE and Saudi Arabia, where high-speed fixed internet penetration enables consistent household IP matching.

2. Probabilistic Modeling

When direct matching isn’t possible (increasingly common with privacy regulations), probabilistic models analyze patterns to establish connections with statistical confidence. These models are calibrated to account for regional behavior patterns specific to MENA consumers.

3. Incrementality Testing

To determine the true impact of CTV campaigns, marketers can implement:

• Test and control groups that compare conversion rates between exposed and unexposed audiences
• Geographic testing that measures performance differences between markets with varying levels of CTV campaign exposure
• Holdout tests that deliberately exclude certain audiences from campaign targeting

Attribution Models for Different Business Objectives

Different attribution models serve different marketing objectives across the MENA region:

For Awareness and Consideration

• Brand Lift Studies: Measure changes in key metrics like awareness, consideration, and purchase intent through pre- and post-campaign surveys. Particularly valuable for launching new products in competitive MENA markets.
• Post-View Website Visitation: Track increases in site traffic following CTV ad exposure—useful for awareness-focused campaigns from government entities, educational institutions, or new market entrants.
• Search and Social Impact: Measure how CTV ads influence search behavior and social media engagement—critical in markets like Saudi Arabia where social commerce is rapidly growing.

For Connecting Online and Offline Behavior

• Foot Traffic Attribution: Using mobile location data, track physical store visits that occur after CTV ad exposure—essential for retail, automotive, and banking sectors across the region.
• Online Purchase Tracking: Connect CTV impressions to e-commerce transactions—critical for the rapidly expanding digital retail sector in countries like the UAE and Egypt.

For Measuring Conversions

• First-Party Data Matching: Integrate your customer database with ad exposure data to measure the impact on existing customers versus new acquisition—particularly valuable for subscription services in the region.
• Revenue Attribution: Implement tracking to capture the exact revenue associated with each conversion attributed to your CTV campaign.

Implementation Challenges in the MENA Context

Several factors make CTV attribution uniquely challenging in the MENA region:

1. Variable Digital Infrastructure

The digital infrastructure varies significantly across MENA countries. While the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states have near-universal broadband penetration, other markets have more fragmented connectivity—affecting attribution methodology selection.

2. Privacy Regulations

The regulatory landscape is evolving rapidly:

• The UAE’s Personal Data Protection Law (PDPL)
• Saudi Arabia’s Personal Data Protection Law (PDPL)
• Qatar’s Data Protection Law
• Egypt’s Data Protection Law

These regulations increasingly limit the use of certain identifiers, necessitating privacy-compliant attribution approaches.

3. Multi-Language Environment

Many MENA households consume content in multiple languages, requiring attribution models that account for viewing patterns across Arabic, English, and other language content.

4. Unique Viewing Patterns

Seasonal factors like Ramadan significantly alter viewing patterns across the region, requiring attribution windows that account for these variations.

Best Practices for CTV Attribution in MENA

1. Define Clear Objectives

Before implementing attribution, clearly define what success looks like:

• For luxury brands in markets like the UAE: Focus on consideration metrics and high-value conversions
• For FMCG companies across the region: Emphasize reach and eventual retail purchase
• For e-commerce platforms: Prioritize direct response metrics like site visits and conversions

2. Choose the Right Attribution Window

Attribution windows should reflect your typical sales cycle:

• Finance and automotive sectors: Longer windows (30+ days) to account for extended consideration periods
• Retail and QSR: Shorter windows (1-7 days) to capture more immediate response
• Travel and hospitality: Seasonal windows that reflect booking patterns in the region

3. Implement Comprehensive Tracking

Ensure tracking is implemented across all relevant touchpoints:

• Website and app analytics integration
• CRM system connections
• In-store POS systems where applicable
• Call center tracking for high-touch sectors

4. Select Appropriate Partners

Work with partners who understand the unique characteristics of MENA markets:

• • CTV platforms with robust regional presence
  • Attribution vendors with experience navigating local privacy regulations
  • Agencies with technical expertise in cross-device measurement

Conclusion

For marketing professionals across the MENA region, mastering CTV attribution represents a significant competitive advantage. Those who develop sophisticated measurement capabilities gain access to insights that were impossible in the traditional TV era—understanding not just who saw their ads, but how those exposures influenced real business outcomes.

As streaming continues to grow across the Middle East and North Africa, the gap between brands with advanced attribution capabilities and those without will only widen. Forward-thinking marketers will prioritize building these capabilities now, positioning themselves to maximize the effectiveness of their CTV investments in an increasingly digital region.