It is that time of the year where leaders and experts use their insights and knowledge to make predictions for the year ahead. After a long period of uncertainty mixed with key industry developments in data technology and privacy regulations, as well as transformations in consumer needs and behaviours, here are the changes we expect in key areas of the media ecosystem.
Open-season for ad agencies
During the pandemic, conflicts between agencies and brand clients over control and flexibility of assets revealed underlying tensions that are likely to endure over the next year. This turmoil has prompted Board-level executives to pay more attention to advertising investments and ROI, as they now recognise the need for greater agility in their media investment decisions and thus, more flexible deal arrangements.
This indicates that 2022 will be a year of increased media pitch activity, something of an open season for agencies. Especially after the uncertainty of 2020 and 2021, and the consequent rolling over of deals, we expect to see a lot of global brand advertisers looking for better deals and going out to pitch.
Shifting to a single source of media data truth
When it comes to data and technology, we expect to see more global advertisers taking greater control of their own media investment data. The value of data ownership is really coming to the fore, as are the efficiencies that arise from fingertip access to a single source of trusted data. This means that while in-housing media planning and buying will still be up for discussion, in-housing media data is the approach that smart brand owners will increasingly take more seriously.
On an industry level, this indicates a shift away from dependency on ad-hoc data supply from external agencies, and a shift towards brands owning and accessing their full data picture. Why? Data ownership enables companies to combine data points and to create a single source of media truth for their entire business to use, a level of insight that outside solutions do not always provide.
Ecommerce: Understanding your customer and brand equity
Brand advertisers will be looking to gain a better understanding of their customer and brand equity, and joining up their investment dots to deliver this. By developing a unified data view, brands will not only have a more complete picture of the entire marketing funnel, it will also allow them to align their ecommerce activation and shopper marketing data with their advertising media investment data, to provide a full picture of attribution and ROI.
By bringing together all digital performance data, including ecommerce activation, brands will be in a stronger position to make quicker and better investment decisions. What’s more, this level of data overview will enable brands to better understand their customers, and therefore better serve them.
The advertising technology landscape is continuously shifting and evolving, be it in terms of methodology, systems, or attitudes. Staying on top of these developments may be a challenge, but it is a worthy one, and one that will help you and your company stay ahead of the game over the next twelve months.
