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iProspect secures Interactive Investor's first ever TV sponsorship
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Manchester collaboration partners investment platform with Sky News’ Financial Report Dentsu UK&I’s iProspect has secured an exclusive cross-platform partnership between Interactive Investor (ii) and Sky Media in the UK, representing the retail investment platform’s first foray into TV sponsorship.
4 mins read
iProspect snaps up Josh Dwiggins as new Global Chief Client Strategy Officer
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iProspect announces the appointment of Josh Dwiggins to its global leadership team as Global Chief Client Strategy Officer.
2 mins read
Search Ads 360 – Platform Updates
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This article was authored by Alice Wilson, Media Tech Manager, iProspect. On 8th February, Google launched a plethora of new features and updates to Search Ads 360, the biggest update in a over a decade. We want to take you through some of the new features, and the reasons why we are so excited for this new era of Search Ads 360. New Look, Faster Navigation The first change to note is the look of the platform, designed to feel more like other platforms to provide a more consistent experience. The new Search Ads 360 allows you to carry out more of your day-to-day tasks in one UI by supporting more of other search engine features. This update brings immediate support for almost everything on Google ads, as noted below; Google Ads The new SA360 UI will now match Google Ads, making it easier for Google Ads users to navigate both platforms seamlessly for increased productivity. Management support for more campaign types, including local, discovery, and performance max. Furthermore, this update provides support for labels, callout message, price, app and structured snippet extensions. The functionality extends past productivity and automation as it unlocks the potential to activate full-funnel first-party data for different features, such as Value-Based Bidding (VBB), in a way which has not previously been possible. Many other engines have also been kept in mind with this update, with the below mentioned features joining the SA360 platform; Microsoft Responsive Search Ads support Full management for Dynamic Search Ads (DSA) Smart Shopping Campaigns support Yahoo Full measurement & management for Dynamic Ads for Search (DAS) The result of these new integrative features? Streamlined management for the advertiser, as it permits an overview of multiple platforms in a singular view. New Report Editor & Overviews With the new SA360, you will have access to report overviews (customisable, full cross-engine summary of your key success metrics & top performing areas), and report editor (build, customise and download professional charts, graphs and tables that give you the insights you need). The noted features will be; User Friendly – Easy and Intuitive reporting experience Flexible – More reporting options available Powerful – Improved customisation options New Experience Hub The final update we want to touch on today is the new experience hub. This hub can be found within your account, is available for every account and is personalised to you. This page view offers 3 different pieces of information; ‘what’s new’, ‘what’s changed’, and ‘what’s available’. The combination of this information gives a transparent view of the account, keeping you in the loop with features and products which may be new, recently changed, or potentially features that are available which could help your account. Although these features are just a few of many, we are really excited about this new stage of Search Ads 360 and look forward to the rest of the SA360 updates to follow in the upcoming year. You can find the official announcement from Google here. To find out more, or to discuss the opportunity around SA360 for your business, please contact our Technology Partnerships team at TP@iProspect.com Content 0
3 mins read
Operating in the intersection of 3 Cs can help brands win
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Global President, Amanda Morrissey, delivered a keynote address titled ‘Convergence of Media’ at the unveiling of the dentsu-e4m Digital Advertising 2022’ report
5 mins read
Dentsu Ad Spend 2022
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The new dentsu Ad Spend Report forecasts 9.2% growth in global advertising investment in 2022, outpacing real GDP growth projections by 4.7 percentage points. Dentsu combines data from more than 50 global markets on a semiannual cadence. The current report anticipates US$745bn in global ad spend.
5 mins read
Fast Track to Data Maturity
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Want to get on the fast track to Digital Marketing Maturity? In response to the unparalleled changes of the last 18 months - specifically the accelerated digital evolution caused by the pandemic, rapid expansion of consumer demand for personalisation and the dwindling data-stream once nourished by the third-party cookie – BCG & Google have collaborated once more to analyse the impact this has had on advancements in Digital Marketing Maturity. As we would expect, overall brands have progressed their digital maturity since the first research in 2019. The coveted multi-moment stage registered a considerable jump (from 2%) with 9% of companies now operating as the most digitally advanced marketers. There’s more good news for those already making strides along their Digital Marketing Maturity journey, as this new BCG research has found that more mature brands have further increased their effectiveness and efficiencies since the first study - 18% 29% 2x Sales Increase (up 2 points since 2019) Costs Savings (up 16 points since 2019) Increase in Brand Share (by 3% or more) As you can see companies that have made considerable advancements are already reaping the rewards of those efforts, with the gap widening between the former and those companies that have continued to stand still or have made only minimal steps compared to their more mature competitors. But all is not lost if your company is yet to begin its own Digital Maturity advancement. In getting to the heart of the rapidly changing landscape, this new study identifies four specific drivers that can accelerate the journey of digital maturity and put companies on the fast track today. Rest assured that wherever your current position, the six digital marketing pillars identified in 2019 remain imperative to digital success. Even when in the same stage of maturity, companies that are balancing their development of the four accelerators are generating more effective and efficient business results. For those high-maturity brands this is not something to ignore, the further development of these accelerators has the potential to increase revenues and efficiencies by 2% compared with static peers. Accelerator One: Technical - Building a virtuous cycle around first-party data Utilising first-party data — information that is shared directly by people following their consent — has always enabled companies to gather valuable insights about their audiences, that when strategically analysed gives a competitive advantage in their category. Privacy concerns and regulatory changes have heightened the value of that first-party data, with the primary objective being to gain and maintain consented access to the data itself. Companies that are yet to invest in understanding their current sources of data will need to start now, to ensure that data quality is the foundation across their capabilities. This in turn will help them navigate new regulatory changes and privacy concerns. For more digitally mature organisations, further investment into creating a holistic view across all sources of first-party (online and offline) data and establishing a cross-functional data privacy team for the long-term will be key. And how do you convince your consumers to share this valuable data? Success will come in the creation of a compelling story across each touchpoint of the purchasing journey, which is told in the language of your audience. That story must underpin the two-way trust value exchange of first-party data, as without this companies may struggle to build trust with their audience — leading to difficulties in maintaining long-term access to first-party data. This latest research shows that companies who have connected their first-party data can generate 1.5x the incremental revenue from a singular interaction, compared to those with limited data integration. Accelerator Two: Technical - Developing a true end-to-end measurement capability across channels, using predictive models The ability to measure the impact of paid, earned and owned interactions with consumers along the purchasing journey, has long been the sought-after holy grail of marketing. Stepping towards this, companies need to build an effective measurement system that continuously optimises the value exchange with customers. With the sun setting on the third-party data source, precision marketing must evolve into the predictive marketing era. This latest study finds that even some of the more advanced marketers have not yet built this capability. Only 42% of Multi-moment companies and 36% of Connected companies currently leverage predictive models effectively. In establishing true end-to-end measurement capabilities, companies must widen their lens from focussing only on consistent KPIs through cross-channel and cross-device measurement out to deploying predictive models along the entirety of the purchasing journey. The future is modelled. Only by leveraging advanced analytics can these predictive models permeate the data gaps currently filled by third-party cookies, attributing the value of customer touchpoints on modelled conversions in place of actual. Accelerator Three: Operational - Setting up agile performance loops based on a test-and learn approach The importance of the two technical accelerators reaffirms the need for organisational agility. Curating first-party data cycles and test-and-learn approaches will not be possible for those still operating in traditional, siloed organisational structures. Nevertheless, a considerable number of companies still lack cross-functional, agile teams. Likewise, real-time response capabilities - think dashboards accessible by all relevant stakeholders presenting data signals on campaign performance - are still not commonplace. While multi-moment marketers have built connections between their data, allowing this to flow between cross-functional teams in near time. Agile teaming aids in the breakdown of silos and empowers companies in reacting effectively and efficiently to fast-evolving consumer behaviour. You can take the first step toward establishing agile teaming by inspiring and enabling cross-functional teams to work in partnership, while promoting a strong, strategic test-and-learn culture based on current trends and insights-driven hypotheses. Accelerator Four: Operational - Securing access to new skills and resources In strengthening skills and resources companies can take a hybrid approach, primarily filling skill gaps through strategic, specialist partnerships, while conducting in-depth analysis of the most effective balance of internal and external capabilities longer term. The success of this a hybrid model may rely on external partners for areas such as creative content, objective strategic advice, and technical expertise, which is then harmonised with internal skills which may be focused on data analyses and activation. This is a chance to navigate the turbulent sea of “The Great Resignation” by building compelling development and retention programmes, creating an environment of professional growth that empowers talent. So how are you going to pick up the pace? The digital maturity journey has already begun — and less mature companies need to accelerate their endeavours just to keep pace as our Multi-Moment finish point today may fall into Connected tomorrow. It may seem overwhelming; however, it is not unachievable. The spotlight is firmly on C-suite leadership here as their sponsorship is key, particularly critical in when advancing into the upper levels of maturity. Only then can alignment of stakeholders throughout the organisation begin, with customer value and trust moving to the centre of the vision for the future. No matter your position on the maturity curve, the four accelerators outlined above are powerful levers of progress in driving long-term, sustainable growth. Read more of the complete research ‘The fast track to digital marketing maturity’ .telerik-reTable-5 { border-collapse: collapse; border: solid 0px; font-family: Tahoma; } .telerik-reTable-5 tr.telerik-reTableHeaderRow-5 { margin: 10px; padding: 10px; color: #3A4663; text-align: left; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-family: Tahoma; text-transform: capitalize; font-weight: 500; border-spacing: 10px; line-height: 11pt; vertical-align: top; } .telerik-reTable-5 td.telerik-reTableHeaderFirstCol-5 { padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; color: #3a4663; } .telerik-reTable-5 td.telerik-reTableHeaderLastCol-5 { padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; color: #3a4663; } .telerik-reTable-5 td.telerik-reTableHeaderOddCol-5 { padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; color: #3a4663; } .telerik-reTable-5 td.telerik-reTableHeaderEvenCol-5 { padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; color: #3a4663; } .telerik-reTable-5 tr.telerik-reTableOddRow-5 { color: #666666; vertical-align: top; font-size: 10pt; } .telerik-reTable-5 tr.telerik-reTableEvenRow-5 { color: #666666; vertical-align: top; font-size: 10pt; } .telerik-reTable-5 td.telerik-reTableFirstCol-5 { padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; } .telerik-reTable-5 td.telerik-reTableLastCol-5 { padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; } .telerik-reTable-5 td.telerik-reTableOddCol-5 { padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; } .telerik-reTable-5 td.telerik-reTableEvenCol-5 { padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; } .telerik-reTable-5 tr.telerik-reTableFooterRow-5 { color: #3a4663; font-weight: 500; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Tahoma; line-height: 11pt; } .telerik-reTable-5 td.telerik-reTableFooterFirstCol-5 { padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; text-align: left; } .telerik-reTable-5 td.telerik-reTableFooterLastCol-5 { padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; text-align: left; } .telerik-reTable-5 td.telerik-reTableFooterOddCol-5 { padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; text-align: left; } .telerik-reTable-5 td.telerik-reTableFooterEvenCol-5 { padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; text-align: left; } 0
7 mins read
The Beginning of A New Era
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The Beginning of A New Era | A Guide for the New Era of Digital Marketing | The Cookieless World
3 mins read
iOS 14.5 is here, what’s next?
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Since the announcement of Apple’s iOS 14.5 App Tracking Transparency (ATT) update, performance marketers have been left wondering what the impact will be on their Paid Social campaigns.
5 mins read
Getting ready for Core Web Vitals
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Back in November 2020, Google announced some new ‘page experience’ metrics, Core Web Vitals, which will become a ranking signal from June 2021. At iProspect, we’re tracking 1,500 sites across 15 industries to find out who’s ready, and who will miss out.
3 mins read
Future Focus 2021: Brands Accelerated
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The new iProspect Future Focus report explores the intersection of consumer attention, commerce and data. Today, we officially launch Future Focus 2021: Brands Accelerated as the essential read for conscientious marketers seeking to explore and exploit the latest consumer and industry advancements for brand growth. The 75+ page report addresses some of the most pressing aspects of modern marketing including; the battle for attention, wholesale changes in data privacy, and the emergence of assisted commerce. Combining evidence-based research with interviews and responses from over 200 brand marketers in 29 countries, the Future Focus 2021: Brands Accelerated report delves deep into the challenges and opportunities faced in the current global climate and within the immediate media landscape. And, convenience and relevancy of media to the consumer is key, as 61% of marketers, polled for the report, considered ‘building a highly convenient experience for the consumer’ as the most powerful lever to generate business growth.i The content of this sixth edition of the Future Focus series typifies the intricacies of bringing brand and performance together to achieve growth. “Despite the challenging times we live in, I believe there have never been so many opportunities in media. With our new and unique approach of performance-driven brand building, we are firmly optimistic about the future and resolved to make it happen, today. With Future Focus 2021: Brands Accelerated as their guidebook, I hope all marketers will be able to leverage the growth potential afforded at these significant intersections of media, data, commerce and culture.” Amanda Morrissey, Global President of iProspect The findings showed that around 2 in 5 marketers (42%) still think the linear path to purchase is as relevant today as it was decades ago, despite the rise of digital. While at the same time 32% of marketers feel that expanding commerce capabilities is important for the 2021 roadmap, however 26% see this as one of the most difficult challenges this year.ii Practical advice to marketers. In addition to discussing and dissecting the impact of major global industry trends and innovations, the report spotlights the relevancy and opportunity for brands, regardless of sector, to capitalise on these seismic shifts in the media landscape. Examples of the report’s advice and guidance for marketers worldwide include: #1: Commerce is Everywhere Organisations should strive to build and maintain an accurate picture of their commerce capabilities across five key dimensions: desirability, availability, findability, buyability, and repeatability. This will help them define the most profitable commerce model for their brand, better integrate their e-commerce and stores into an actionable omnichannel strategy, explore new growth channels, and turn media opportunities into transaction opportunities. #2 The Battle for Attention Brands should consider factoring attention into their media optimisation and measurement efforts to elevate the impact and efficiency of their investment. To maximise audience attention, they should ensure the content and experiences they design truly align with consumer intent, and that the campaigns they develop do not relegate diversity and inclusivity as afterthoughts. #3 The New Data Playbook On the data front, organisations should embrace the new privacy-conscious world by re-evaluating the value exchange they offer to their audiences and anticipate technological changes to minimise business disruption. This is the occasion to explore opportunities for automation, evaluate the quality of the data they collect and process, and more broadly reflect upon how data is effectively used to inform decisions. The last point is of particular significance as the report found in some circumstances there are huge disparities between what the consumer and brand marketer think, when it comes to assessing data value. Only 9% of marketers believe helping a company improve products or services is an incentive for consumers to share their data, while 44% of consumers believe it is a good enough reason to release personal identifiable information (PII) to the brand.iii Download your copy of Future Focus 2021: Brands Accelerated now. ----------------------------------------- [i] Proprietary omnibus survey: iProspect, 2020 Global Client Survey, 12 Oct–11 Nov 2020, 202 respondents. [ii] Proprietary omnibus survey: iProspect, 2020 Global Client Survey, 12 Oct–11 Nov 2020, 202 respondents. [iii] iProspect 2020 Global Client Survey (Oct 2020) and iProspect and Microsoft Advertising, Consumer Privacy and Data Survey (Mar 2020) Content 0
4 mins read
Q&A with James Bailey and The Drum
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Earlier this week, iProspect relaunched globally as a ‘performance-driven brand-building’ media agency following its integration with Vizeum. The relaunch brings together more than 8,000 specialists across 93 markets and includes six offices across the UK. James Bailey, CEO, iProspect UK discusses what this new agency proposition means to him. What do you hope to achieve in with this new agency proposition? The work we do is very complex. How clients engage with our people and capabilities needs to be really simple and delivered without friction. I want clients to feel like they can access capabilities, thinking and talent throughout Dentsu with ease, and for that to be deployed around their goals with real speed. We want to continue to be a home for media and digital practitioners throughout the UK where they feel like they can grow in their craft. We want to be a home that provides amazing commercial returns for clients. Ultimately, I want to convince new clients to join the party. What’s different about the 'new' iProspect? It’s in the right proportions and in the right locations. We have 80% of our people focussing on optimising today’s commercial returns for clients in digital and media. Meanwhile, 20% are liberated to think about transformative behaviour for future brand health. That could be in technology, in communications strategy, first-party customer management in partnership with Merkle or creative work in collaboration with DentsuMB and Isobar. Our people are based throughout the UK with significant teams in Manchester, Stafford, London, Newcastle, Leeds and Edinburgh. Both iProspect and Dentsu represent the best geographic diversity in the industry and we are committed to delivering digital careers throughout the UK. Why do you think now is the right time to make this change? Every single advertiser is in an accelerated mindset. It can be enthralling and exhausting for marketers in the same instance. Clients need partners that can move at pace, that can accelerate them to meet new consumer behaviours or disruptive threats head on. iProspect is a safe space because so many of our people are there to deliver on today’s commercial goal. But with this merger and expansion of our services we’re also creating head room for clients to plan for tomorrow’s challenges with the right strategists and consultants on our side ready to work with them on the big questions. What do you think the biggest challenges will be in the coming 12 months? There are a few. Managing a migration to a cookieless view of digital advertising is first up. iProspect and Dentsu have the best analytics, platforms and data science teams of any agency and they are providing considerable support for clients looking to adapt their measurement and optimisation approaches. For my part, it’s important to hold Google and Facebook to account over how conversion data is mapped to advertising effectiveness in a closed ecosystem but geared clients toward testing all opportunities CAPI, GA4 and Ads Data Hub opens to clients. The next challenge is ensuring the balance is right culturally when offices re-open. We’re committed to hybrid working for our people but I need to ensure cultures in the office or remotely accessed do not move at different speeds. We need to address where COVID and remote working is undoing progress that the industry has made in making marketing a positive career for mothers, it’s not acceptable that we’ve stepped backwards here as a society. Finally, we need to collaborate more and more. If there is any brief for the people of iProspect it’s to continue to increase the breadth of your collaboration, in Dentsu, with clients and their marketing partners and with media partners. How have clients taken to the changes at the agency? Really well, although I would say that. But interestingly it’s the clients that on paper this made least immediate sense in a new iProspect that are the ones that are really welcoming some new perspectives in media and digital. My message to clients is simple, we’re just trying to expand the capabilities that are at the fingertips of your teams here. So far no one has suggested that’s a bad idea. How does the 'new' iProspect compare to its competitors? We’ve taken a step to expand our list of competitors. When I look at the scaled independents like JellyFish and BrainLabs, agencies I admire because I know they can deliver performance marketing really well, they are starting to make some strategic hires in communications strategy to broaden their horizons, I find that encouraging because we’ve leapt past this to merge with a communications planning agency but backed that up with an international footprint of 8,000 employees worldwide. The independents are great competitors to have because they move quickly and I want us to be on our toes. When I look at the media groups I believe that our geographic footprint, centralisation and de-badging of capabilities, strength in CxM, the reduction in brands and focus on collaboration should worry them. In Dentsu Media there is now genuine distinction between our media agencies – Carat (deep human understanding), dentsuX (convergence of creative and media) and iProspect (accelerated brand growth) and I don’t believe that’s the case in all holding groups. What effect will these changes have on the UK footprint of iProspect? Only positive ones. We’re going into new digs in Stafford where we have nearly 150 employees. We’re keen to expand in Newcastle and Leeds where we have in infrastructure there to grow. In Manchester and London, we have the most sophisticated digital operation in the UK marketplace and in the considerable expertise in the fine art of stitching it all together for clients. We will look at additional locations alongside other Dentsu capabilities if it allows us to access great talent. I think we’re up to around 80 new hires in 2021 already and there is a nice distribution of that opportunity in London and through all other locations. 0
5 mins read