Pilot Program · CTV / Streaming TV

Imagine your brand showing up at the World Cup.

Streaming TV has quietly opened the doors to cultural moments that used to be reserved for the world's biggest brands. The Super Bowl. The World Cup. The finale of the show everyone's watching. Now your F&B brand can show up there too, for a fraction of what you'd expect.

Book a 15-Min Call → See What's Included
Your brand showing up at the World Cup via streaming TV
$15k
All-in / 60 days
12+
Streaming platforms
60
Day trial
F&B
Only. Always.
Built by operators who've worked at
Chick-fil-A Wendy's Straus Family Creamery Mondelēz Kraft Kellogg's Panera Bread
The Idea

Your brand. In moments you never thought possible.

Connected TV is the bridge between performance media and the cultural reach of broadcast television. The same screen. The same content. The same context as the brands you grew up watching, at price points small and mid-sized F&B brands can finally afford to test.

Your brand showing up during prestige TV moments
Live Sports

The World Cup. The NFL. The NBA Finals.

Show up while your audience is actually paying attention, in the moments most brands assume they can't afford.

Prestige TV

The shows everyone's talking about.

Pre-roll on the season's biggest dramas, comedies, and reality hits. Your brand alongside the content people are texting friends about.

News & Live Events

The breaking-news moments people stop everything for.

Election nights. Awards shows. Late-breaking weather. Streaming news inventory now hits the same eyeballs as cable did 10 years ago.

Family Co-Viewing

The Sunday-morning kids' show. The Friday family movie.

Reach the household decision-maker exactly when they're sharing the screen. The most valuable F&B context that exists.

FAST & Free Streaming

The new "cable," without the cable bill.

Tubi, Pluto, Roku Channel, Freevee. Free ad-supported streaming now has more US viewers than several major cable networks.

True Crime & Docs

The 4-hour Sunday binge.

True crime, food documentaries, premium reality. Long-watch sessions where viewers actually see, and remember, your ad.

The Platforms

Wherever your audience actually watches.

Our pilot runs across the major streaming and FAST platforms: premium subscription services, sports networks, and free ad-supported tiers. We deploy your brand wherever the audience overlap is strongest.

Premium Streaming
Disney+
Family · Premium
Hulu
Largest ad reach
Paramount+
Sports + Entertainment
Max
Prestige · HBO
Peacock
NBC · Olympics · EPL
Netflix
Ad-supported tier
Prime Video
Default ads now
Apple TV+
Premium content
Sports-Forward
ESPN+
Sports streaming
FuboTV
Live sports + TV
YouTube TV
Cable replacement
Sling TV
Skinny bundles
Free Ad-Supported (FAST)
Tubi
Free · 80M+ MAU
Pluto TV
Free · 80M+ MAU
Roku Channel
Free streaming
Freevee
Amazon · Free

Final platform mix is tailored to your category and audience overlap. Not every brand runs on every platform, but every brand should at least know which ones fit.

Why Now

The barrier dropped. The opportunity didn't.

For 30 years, television was the moat. Brand-building reach belonged to whoever could spend $250k on a single buy. That changed three years ago, and most F&B brands haven't caught up.

01

Minimums collapsed.

Streaming platforms used to require $25k+ entry buys. Most major CTV platforms now have programmatic access starting at $1–3k per platform, per month. The math finally works for emerging brands.

02

Targeting got sharp.

CTV targeting is closer to digital than broadcast: household IDs, behavioral overlap, retargeting from your existing Meta audience. You're not buying impressions blind anymore.

03

Performance media needs it.

Meta and Google get cheaper when your brand has air cover. CTV typically lifts conversion rates on lower-funnel channels by 8–15%. The performance you already paid for, working harder.

04

Linear TV is hollowing out.

Under-50 cable viewership has dropped 60%+ in five years. Your audience is on Hulu, Max, Tubi, not on cable. The question isn't if you'll be on CTV; it's whether you'll learn it on someone else's pilot.

05

Creative finally fits.

CTV creative looks like a polished social ad with sound, not a Super Bowl spot. The same teams making your Meta ads can make your CTV ads. We make them for you, included.

06

Measurement caught up.

Branded search lift. Meta CVR impact. Retail panel data. Household-ID attribution. CTV is now one of the most accountable channels in your stack, not the black box it used to be.

Why It Matters for F&B

The channel that actually moves retail.

If you sell through retail, your #1 KPI is shelf velocity. The buyer at Whole Foods, Sprouts, Kroger, or Target doesn't care how cheap your Meta CPMs are. They care whether your product turns. CTV is the channel that drives the kind of brand recall that makes shoppers reach for your product at shelf.

CTV is the missing layer between performance media and retail.

Performance media (Meta, Google) is fantastic at converting people who already know you. The harder problem, and the one most F&B brands underinvest in, is making sure they know you in the first place.

CTV solves that. It runs your brand in front of premium video audiences in their living room. Then when they walk into the grocery store the next week, your product gets picked up off the shelf instead of the one next to it. And when you walk into the buyer meeting, you have brand-support proof to bring.

8–15%
Meta CVR lift when CTV runs alongside
2.4×
Brand recall vs. social-only campaigns
$3k/mo
Entry point per platform
60 days
To read the signal
Who It's For

Built for F&B brands already running paid media.

This pilot is for food and beverage brands who understand performance media. You're running Meta, you're running Google, you know what works. But you haven't yet tested the layer above it. If that sounds like your business, the pilot is built for you.

Your brand showing up during NFL football streaming
Right Fit

$3M–$150M F&B brand

Established enough to have media budget, small enough to feel CTV's impact quickly.

Right Fit

Already on Meta or Google

CTV makes performance media work harder. It's the multiplier, not the foundation.

Right Fit

Ready to test in 60 days

Kickoff in the next 30 days. Read signal by day 60. No long-term lock-in.

By Category

How this plays out in your category.

Every F&B sub-category has its own buyer journey. Here's how a 60-day CTV pilot typically shapes up across the four most common Schaefer client profiles.

Beverage · DTC + Retail

Functional & better-for-you beverages

Sparkling waters, functional sodas, energy alternatives, probiotic drinks, RTD coffee.

The play: Reach health-aware adults on Hulu, Max, and Tubi during evening prime. Tight retargeting from Meta visitors to compound conversion. Sports-adjacent placements on Paramount+ and Peacock for category disruption stories.

Snacks & CPG

Better-for-you snacks & pantry staples

Premium snacks, protein bars, sauces, condiments, baking mixes, breakfast.

The play: Family co-viewing slots on Disney+ and Peacock to reach the household decision-maker. FAST inventory (Tubi, Pluto) for cost-efficient reach. Pairs with retail trade campaigns for shelf velocity at Sprouts, Whole Foods, and Target.

Restaurant & Foodservice

Multi-unit restaurants & emerging chains

Fast-casual, ghost kitchens, QSR challengers, regional restaurant groups.

The play: Geo-targeted CTV by DMA to focus spend in your trade areas. Sports content (ESPN+, FuboTV, Peacock) for dayparts that drive same-day visits. Direct-response creative paired with delivery-app remarketing.

Premium & Specialty

Premium food, fine grocery, gifting

Premium pantry, coffee, chocolate, olive oil, specialty cheeses, gourmet meal kits.

The play: Prestige inventory on Max, Apple TV+, and Peacock to align with the right consumer mindset. Lower volume, higher quality. Excellent for brands building a premium positioning before a retail rollout or DTC scale-up.

The Program

A productized 60-day CTV pilot, built for F&B.

Most CTV engagements start at $25,000+/month and quote creative separately. That's why streaming has stayed out of reach for emerging F&B brands. We've productized the same proven workflow into a 60-day pilot at $7,500/month all-in, with creative included. Same rigor as our enterprise work. Fixed price. No surprises.

What's included

  • CTV strategy and 60-day media plan tailored to your category
  • 1 fresh CTV creative concept, produced (15s and 30s cuts)
  • Prospecting audience build across Disney+, Hulu, Paramount+, Max, Peacock, and FAST
  • Remarketing audience setup (website visitors + engaged viewers)
  • Campaign launch + daily optimization across all platforms
  • Bi-weekly performance reports with actionable insights
  • Standardized measurement plan (branded lift, Meta CVR impact, retail signals)
  • End-of-pilot recap with continue-or-expand recommendations
Schaefer service fee
$9,000
Flat. Includes creative production.
Ad spend (separate)
$6,000
$3,000 per month, paid to platforms.
Total / 60 days
$15,000
Start Your Pilot →
✓

The Schaefer Guarantee, applied to the pilot.

If you don't see measurable lift within 60 days of launch (branded search, Meta CVR impact, or direct conversion), we return the full $9k service fee. No argument, no negotiation. We only take on pilots we're confident we can move the needle on.

What happens at day 60?

You choose. No auto-renewal. No surprise upsell. The pilot ends clean. We come back with a recap and three options: continue CTV at scale, integrate it into a full Schaefer retainer, or walk away with the data you've gathered. Your call.

Straus Family Creamery CTV ad creative
Real Brand · Real Result

Straus Family Creamery, and the CTV layer doing the heavy lifting.

+118%

When we rebuilt Straus's strategy around real buyer motivation, retail conversion lifted 118% in six months. What's powering that result behind the scenes? CTV is doing a disproportionate amount of the heavy lifting. It's driving lower-cost CPAs across the entire media mix, expanding reach into audiences Meta and Google can't touch alone, and giving Straus the brand presence that makes every other channel work harder.

↓ CPA
Lower acquisition cost across the mix
↑ Reach
Audiences Meta & Google can't reach
+118%
Retail conversion at shelf

The Straus playbook (research-led targeting, CTV brand layer, performance media compounding) is the exact framework every pilot ships with.

Read the Full Straus Case Study →
F&B Brands Only

Show up where your customers are watching.

Book a 15-minute call. We'll walk through the pilot, your category, and whether it's a fit. No pressure, no pitch deck. Just answers.

Book a 15-Min Call → See Common Questions

Or reply to any Schaefer email and we'll respond same business day.

FAQ

The most common questions.

Answered up front, so you don't have to schedule a call to get the basics.

01Will CTV work for my category?
+
If you sell food, beverage, snacks, restaurant meals, or specialty CPG to US consumers: yes. We've productized this pilot specifically for F&B because the channel works differently for category-driven purchases than it does for consideration-heavy SaaS or DTC fashion. The four most common profiles are mapped in the section above.
02Do I need to provide video assets?
+
No. Creative is included in the $9k. We produce one fresh CTV concept (15s and 30s cuts) using a mix of stock, brand-supplied assets, and lightweight custom shoots as needed. Two weeks from kickoff to live.
03How will I know if it's working?
+
Three layers of measurement, set up before launch: branded search lift (Google Trends + GSC), Meta conversion rate impact (CTV typically lifts the lower funnel by 8–15%), and household-ID attribution from the CTV platforms themselves. You get a bi-weekly performance report with what changed and why.
04Is $3k/mo enough to make CTV work?
+
At ~$20–25 CPMs, $3k buys 125–150k impressions per month. That's enough to test one well-defined audience across two or three platforms and read directional signal in 60 days. We don't promise national broadcast-scale. We promise enough reach to know if the channel deserves more.
05What if I'm already running on one streaming platform?
+
Then the pilot becomes a portfolio test. We benchmark your existing platform against the others in our standard mix and tell you where to consolidate or expand. Useful even if you've already tested CTV partially.
06What happens if the pilot doesn't perform?
+
The Schaefer Guarantee applies: if you don't see measurable lift within 60 days, we return the full $9k service fee. We only take pilots we believe in. And even if the channel doesn't perform for your specific brand, you walk away with the data: segmentation insights, creative learnings, and benchmark numbers that inform your next decision.
07Am I locked into anything after the 60 days?
+
No. No auto-renewal. No surprise upsell. The pilot ends clean at day 60. You choose what happens next: continue, expand, integrate into a retainer, or walk away. The deliverables and data are yours to keep either way.
08How fast can we start?
+
Two weeks from signed SOW to live campaign. Week 1: kickoff, audience build, creative production. Week 2: campaign launch and platform setup. We can have new pilots in market within 30 days of your first call.