2025 is being hailed as a breakout year for independent media agencies and for good reason. Armed with flexible teams, agile planning, and the freedom to test emerging formats, these agencies are increasingly outperforming legacy holding groups. At the heart of their success? The strategic use of Connected TV (CTV) and contextual platforms that provide precision without complexity.
At MarkApp, we’ve partnered with dozens of forward-thinking agencies across Southeast Europe, MENA, and North America. What unites them is a demand for smarter media—tools that deliver cross-screen effectiveness, campaign transparency, and outcome-based pricing.
CTV offers independent agencies a level playing field. Unlike linear TV, where buying power determines access, programmatic CTV allows any agency to activate high-impact campaigns across the biggest screens. Through our Pantheon contextual bidder, these agencies can deploy budget efficiently across TCL, WedoTV, Scripps, Rakuten and other curated supply, targeting viewers based on content engagement and screen behavior.
The shift from audience-based targeting to contextual intelligence is particularly valuable for smaller teams. With ID-based targeting constrained by privacy laws and platform limitations, MarkApp empowers agencies to segment campaigns using app genres, screen types, time of day, and contextual taxonomies—without relying on cookies or device IDs.
In 2024, over 50% of MarkApp’s agency spend occurred within CTV environments, and ROAS benchmarks for independent agencies rose by 34% YoY. These results stem from real-time data enrichment, open RTB 2.6 support, and creative optimization strategies tailored to each supply partner’s UX.
Campaigns for clients like Xiaomi, Nike, and Redbull leveraged shoppable formats and mid-roll placements across FAST channels and AVOD apps. With Pantheon’s geo-intent layers and AI segmentation, agencies could tap into vacation seekers, lifestyle audiences, or even high-frequency app users—all in brand-safe, premium environments.
Independent agencies are also benefiting from MarkApp’s billing automation, real-time reporting dashboard, and cross-device attribution tools. These systems eliminate the need for heavy infrastructure, giving smaller agencies the sophistication of a network-level trading desk with none of the overhead.
In a market defined by fragmentation, it’s the partners who enable clarity and performance that win. MarkApp continues to invest in capabilities that empower agencies of all sizes to deliver contextual, scalable, and results-oriented media strategies.
As we move into the second half of 2025, the independent agency advantage is clear and CTV is their launchpad. Through contextual intelligence, premium supply, and agile technology, MarkApp is proud to help them lead the next wave of media innovation.
