We’re all familiar with the key trends that have shaped the last several years within the advertising sector; media convergence, fragmentation, consolidation, data proliferation and emerging media. Now that it is clear that these are not passing fads, the question faced by marketers across the globe is “How can we focus our efforts and resources in a way that acknowledges the fundamental changes which have occurred and leverages our opportunities?”
In a recent article in AdAge entitled “Marketing’s Next Five Years: How to Get from Here to There” author Matthew Creamer shares a compelling perspective on how marketers can use the knowledge gleaned in the recent pass to chart a path forward. When one considers the growth of internet and mobile as a percentage of ad spending, much of it at the expense of traditional media, marketers will need to adjust both their resource allocation decisions as well as their performance expectations with regard to crafting and delivering their brand messages to the intended target audience.
One of the most intriguing changes is in the area of audience measurement and media attribution and the role it will play in influencing marketing strategy. Consider for example television, which is and will remain the largest ad spending category. Today, it is estimated that less than 2% of the advertising on television is “data-denominated with guarantees of GRPs and sales attribution.” As second-by-second audience ratings data continues to proliferate, the impact on addressable TV will be profound. The role of TV will shift from a cost-efficient means of reaching the masses to that of a media which has the ability to micro-target specific consumer segments to delivery specific or niche product messages in a very direct manner.
Needless to say, defining the roles of each medium in an ever evolving media set will require the ability to process and analyze “big data” to generate insights that drive an advertiser’s creative and media delivery decisions. Data analysis will also factor heavily into the establishment of campaign performance criteria, which will likely be more “outcome” focused and the real-time monitoring of progress toward an advertiser’s demand generation and brand development goals.
These trends will clearly impact the client-agency relationship and the subject matter expertise that will be required of an advertiser’s marketing services agency network. The clear delineation of roles and responsibilities, the need to harness technology and tap the services of data and consumer strategy and insight specialist and, yes, how agencies are compensated will be seminal issues that need to be addressed within client-agency letters-of-agreement.
That being said, it is an exciting time to be in marketing whether on the client-side, at an ad agency or working in the marketing accountability field. According to Mr. Creamer; “even the worst-case forecasts have our economic malaise nearing an end” and a “true recovery taking shape with low unemployment and revitalized consumers.” Interested in learning more? Check out the article in its entirety in AdAge.