Pathways to great advertising

By Steve Davis / Global Director, Advertising Intelligence, Media Division

As consumers use more and more connected personal devices to organize, curate and discover media, the opportunities to reach them through advertising has exploded.

And at the heart of better advertising is data  fueled with dynamic creative.

But data itself must be collected and used with care. Ignoring consumer concerns can have very negative repercussions.

Advertisers face a real dilemma between increasing relevance and avoiding intrusiveness. Getting that balance wrong can mean overstepping a very fine line, a view echoed in a recent interview we conducted with Marcia Esteves, CEO, Lew’Lara\TBWA Brazil:

“I love advertising, but when I’m doing something on my mobile, I don’t appreciate an ad interrupting me. We’re forgetting that consumers’ behavior and experiences across different screens are not always the same. We need to find new formats for different screens, and we’re far from being able to deliver that.”

Our 2020 DIMENSION research examines where data can best be leveraged in the pursuit of delivering better advertising. These include:

1. Trusted advertising = effective advertising

We must be clear, honest and straightforward when it comes to how we collect and use data. Consumers must be confident that brands, their agencies and partners are using appropriately gathered data that doesn’t compromise their privacy. Both play an important role in the opportunity to deliver advertising through addressable means. But many advertisers have suggested that in their early experiments into addressable media channels the pendulum may have swung too far. Too much focus was placed on outcomes and perhaps not enough on towards understanding consumer’s motivations when they’re using different types of media.

2. Be transparent and act responsibly

Online behavioral data is powerful but can only provide half the story critical for marketers – “what” people do (as opposed to “why” they do it.)

In many cases these behavioral data sets still sits within a walled garden, closed to any detailed, objective external verification, analysis or examination. The reluctance of platforms to share this data in a fully transparent way has prevented advertisers from using these media forms to their fullest extent.

Lack of transparency has also led to bad practices that have been widely reported and ultimately helps explain some of the consumer nervousness around online advertising and data privacy.

Brands, agencies and media owners must be transparent and act responsibly. With a shared goal towards restoring consumer trust in advertising, all data, regardless of source, must adhere to the highest research standards. It must be collected in a privacy-safe way that respects the rights of consumers.

3. Data stewardship requires responsible partners with transparent methods and tools that are easy to use

Driven by consumer and data privacy concerns, brands are taking increasing control of their media output. The result is that there are more stakeholders throughout the organization who need access to the data and insights being produced.

Advertisers must navigate this deluge of data, the regulations that increasingly govern consumer data use and the permissions required to ensure compliance. Placing trust in and with partners and suppliers is now more critical than ever.

Media currencies play an important role in fueling the ad technology used in advertising and media today. Our own development work ensures that the data built into the various systems and working methodologies is collected and analyzed in a transparent manner and that it can be used and accessed by multiple stakeholders in our client organizations.