Future Focus 2022: The New Intersection of Media

iProspect snaps up Josh Dwiggins as new Global Chief Client Strategy Officer

iProspect announces the appointment of Josh Dwiggins to its global leadership team as Global Chief Client Strategy Officer.

Dentsu Ad Spend 2022

The new dentsu Ad Spend Report forecasts 9.2% growth in global advertising investment in 2022, outpacing real GDP growth[1]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.   When compared to the recovery period following the 2008 financial crisis, today’s post-pandemic ad spend is expected to outpace post-2008 ad spend by almost three to one. In 2022 global ad spend is forecast to grow by 9.2%, almost three times more than the 3.4% growth in 2011. Comparing the two-year post-crisis ad markets, in 2022 the global ad market exceeds the 2019 pre-pandemic ad market by18.7%, whereas in 2011 the global ad market was 1.0% less than in 2008.   Following a 29.1% increase in 2021, we forecast Digital investment to grow by 14.8% in 2022. This will bring the Digital share of spend to 55.5% (US$408.4 billion) of the total as spend – meaning that the Digital share of spend will become twice as big as the Linear Television share of spend (26.9%) for the first time.   Growth across social media platforms is expected to continue this year, supported by short video formats, better commerce infrastructure like shoppable ads and streamlined payment processes. Advertisers have increased focus and resources into e-commerce, increasing display and search budgets on retailer web sites in reaction to new consumption habits. Search spend is forecast to grow by 16.9% in 2022 to US$144.9 billion, and Social spend is predicted to grow by 21.4% in 2022.    2022 is a year when media pricing is expected to be under pressure because of the continued economic uncertainty caused by the pandemic and expected inflation. For the first time, the FIFA World Cup will clash with Black Friday and Christmas and is likely to cause a bottle neck of ad-spend which could inflate media pricing further. Long-term media planning with clear targets and potentially front-weighted investments are highly recommended.   The growing importance of gaming and virtual worlds also gives us a vision of what might be coming with the next evolution of the internet: the metaverse. Although the metaverse does not fully exist yet, this open ecosystem made of hybrid, shared spaces that blend physical, digital, and virtual realities is expected to create tremendous opportunities for advertisers to reimagine their branded experiences.[2] This is an area where brands can experiment and innovate in 2022. This space could be less reliant on advertising, which will require brands to start testing new ways of interacting with consumers and start exploring new advertising paradigms.   We invite advertisers to reflect specifically on three of the brand considerations covered in the report as they develop their 2022 media strategy:   Adapt media strategy to shortages   As shortages continue into 2022, brands need to adapt their strategies to make the most of their media dollars. Upper-funnel programmes tasked to build awareness or engagement pre-sale are long-term endeavours that are not so impacted by supply chain. Conversely, direct response-focused digital media programmes optimised towards conversion are more stressed by these implications, given the difficulty of selling unavailable inventory. Brands should use structured data and feeds and automation to better inform their audiences about product availability by dynamically adapting the content of ads.     Boost E-commerce through retail media   As people constantly reinvent their unique path to purchase, media plays a paramount role in reconnecting brands to the consumer journey by enabling more personal, contextual, and valuable shopping experiences. Retailers, marketplaces, social platforms, grocery services, and super apps are all actively developing media portfolios with unique commerce-first solutions. Advertisers should include this growing media segment in their media mix. They should also strive to close the gap between discovery and purchase across the customer journey by making media campaigns directly shoppable where possible, leveraging the live commerce opportunity, and exploring relevant uses of technology such as augmented reality (e.g., through virtual product try-on).     Invest in brand to avoid growth plateau   Although newcoming players tend to focus their media activities only on performance-based tactics, familiarity is critical in times of uncertainty and is key to shaping long-term preferences. Therefore, advertisers should cultivate durable emotional connections with consumers through storytelling across their stores, products, and media campaigns. Performance marketing tactics can be used in a complementary way to address audiences that have been exposed to brand-building efforts. This balance of brand and performance will enable more continuous growth and will keep acquisition costs lower than trying to force one’s way to growth solely through performance-based tactics.   Of course, all forecasts are dependent on the evolution of the global pandemic, new COVID-19 variants, and related government restrictions. We recommend the industry keep a close eye on key economic indicators, which is what we’ll be doing in partnership with our clients at iProspect to ensure we’re ahead of any impacts to campaigns and business growth. For more information, please download the full dentsu Ad Spend report   [1]OECD, OECD Economic Outlook, Volume 2021 Issue 2: Preliminary version, Table 1.1 - December 2021 - link [2] Dentsu, The irresistible ascent of gaming in 2021, December 2021 - link Content 0

Gamified Commerce

A Cookieless World Conclusion

As 87% of people now believe data privacy is a right, not a privilege,[1]we, as marketers, should do better to address their growing concerns around how their information is collected and used. It is not only a matter of legal compliance, but also a matter of trust.  In that context, although the recent evolution in the cookies landscape has triggered legitimate concerns around the potential consequences on advertising efficiency and on market dynamics, we should all welcome any change promoting user privacy as a collective, meaningful progress.  Of course, these changes come with their own set of challenges and uncertainties, and the industry will probably have to make do with less - but better - data.  As we have seen in this report:  The leading web browsers are moving away from third-party cookies, creating a fresh paradigm for the digital marketing industry. In 2023, we consider using third-party cookies for advertising purposes should be a relic of the past. Apple is going even further, requiring apps to explicitly obtain consent to keep tracking users.[2] Some digital marketing activities are impacted, such as data management, audience activation, and performance measurement.  Marketers must reconsider how they manage data. This means questioning their current value exchange, improving communications around data privacy, and revisiting their technology needs.  To keep engaging consumers, marketers should investigate the possibilities offered by contextual targeting and cookieless audience targeting alternatives such as persistent IDs.  To measure future performance, marketers will have to combine multiple techniques, from in-platform attribution to incrementality measurement to media mix modelling. A solid testing roadmap will be more important than ever.  There is no silver bullet for this evolution, instead, each brand must develop its unique combination of responses. It is fine if your organisation has not figured out the best option yet. You are not running behind as there is still time to adapt – but you should not wait any longer to plan your transition to a new model.  We expect discussions around privacy and identity to stay at the forefront of the debate even after we have pivoted to the cookieless world.  This is why at dentsu we constantly monitor the martech landscape and are committed to working alongside our clients and partners to imagine and implement solutions that work for all. As a global leader in search marketing, we have implemented advanced cookieless strategies for the world’s largest brands for the last 10+ years. We are using this know-how to help our clients not only thrive in a world free of third-party cookies but do so with speed.  Digital advertising has always been one of the most dynamic and exciting marketing spaces - and we are confident the best is yet to come.    For more, download the full report today: http://ow.ly/KDTK50FKTaJ  [1] Microsoft Advertising in partnership with iProspect, 2020 Consumer Privacy and Brand Trust Survey, Dec 2019 – Mar 2020, as featured in the report In Brands We Trust, published in April 2020  [2] Apple Developer, App Store, User Privacy and Data Use, as accessed on May 4, 2020    0

The Beginning of A New Era

The global demand for privacy is one of the most consequential consumer dynamics at play today.   Across the globe, 91% of consumers are concerned about the amount of data that companies can collect about them, [i] and 42% have taken steps to reduce the amount of data they share online.[ii]   In light of this desire for increased privacy, most technology platforms have recently implemented or announced restrictions around data collection and user tracking through their web browsers and operating systems.   For brands and the advertising industry, the magnitude of this evolution is massive.   On the short term, it is undoubtedly a source of conundrums for many marketers and publishers. Processes, ways of workings, legal compliance efforts, technology stacks, customer data strategies – even business models – must be reviewed and rethought to limit business disruption.   Yet, in the long term, it offers a unique opportunity to (re)build trust between brands and consumers around the data issue. Success will hinge on increasing efforts to educate audiences (67% of consumers declare they have little to no understanding about how their data is being used[iii]) and defining a right value exchange that works for all (only 15% of consumers feel they are getting a good value from granting access to their data[iv]).   In the midst of sensationalist headlines, technical solutions still being worked out, and a lack of shared standards to get behind, it is normal for marketers to feel lost and nervous. In a recent marketer survey we conducted, 60% of respondents declared they are not familiar with tracking prevention or are unsure about the consequences on their business, showing that this fast-changing landscape is not fully understood yet.[v]   In this new dentsu definitive guide for global marketers, The Cookieless World, we rise above unique market perspectives and cut through the ambient noise to help you focus on what you should know today and investigate tomorrow to be ready in 2023, when the world will become cookieless.   For more, download the full report today: http://ow.ly/KDTK50FKTaJ    [i] Microsoft Advertising in partnership with iProspect, 2020 Consumer Privacy and Brand Trust Survey, Dec 2019 – Mar 2020, as featured in the report In Brands We Trust, published in April 2020   [ii] Dentsu, Decoding Data Dynamics: Digital Society Index 2020, Global survey of 32,000 respondents   [iii] MMicrosoft Advertising in partnership with iProspect, 2020 Consumer Privacy and Brand Trust Survey, Dec 2019 – Mar 2020, as featured in the report In Brands We Trust, published in April 2020   [iv] Microsoft Advertising in partnership with iProspect, 2020 Consumer Privacy and Brand Trust Survey, Dec 2019 – Mar 2020, as featured in the report In Brands We Trust, published in April 2020   [v] iProspect, iProspect 2020 Global Client Survey, November 2020, as featured in Future Focus 2021: Brands Accelerated, published in April 2021 0