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Covering everything from brand activation to major initiatives, ANA keeps you on top of the latest marketing news and insights with in-depth stories, profiles, infographics, and more.

  • A New Perspective On Older Consumers

    B2C   October 27, 2023  

    Armed with enormous spending power, Americans aged 50 and over are living longer, more active lives. But, for the most part, marketers choose to ignore rapidly changing demographics and devote the bulk of their budgets to courting the coveted 18 to 49 crowd. A new platform targeting consumer-facing brands wants to change that.

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  • Is the Agency Review Process Broken?

    B2C   October 20, 2023  

    Is the agency review process broken? According to a recent study, the typical price tag for agency reviews is on the rise, both for the agencies and the brands they serve. Agency reviews are also getting to be a bigger drain on time. When an incumbent agency participates, the selection process takes 2.5 months, while choosing a new agency takes 3.2 months. Both sides of the table are getting increasingly frustrated, but there are ways to remedy the situation.

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  • Are Marketers Equipped to Build Trust for the Long Term?

    B2C   October 16, 2023  

    More than 70 percent of consumers said it is more important to trust the brands they buy from or use today than in the past, according to a recent survey released by Edelman. Companies will need to revisit their strategies for building trust with their customers or face dwindling returns or, even worse, irrelevancy.

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  • What the 'Total Experience' Means for Marketers

    B2C   October 13, 2023  

    Companies can no longer approach customer experience (CX) as one person's or department's job, according to Neil Dowling, CMO and global alliances lead at the global experience company Rightpoint. If companies are siloed, true measurement is narrow and makes enhancing the customer experience a bigger challenge.

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  • The Ethical Risks of Generative Artificial Intelligence

    B2C   October 11, 2023  

    Intellectual property and copyright concerns are among the thornier issues that marketers and agencies are grappling with as generative artificial intelligence (AI) becomes a force in the ad business. Procurement can play a key role asking vendors about their technology capabilities and how those technologies or models were trained. At the same time, marketers should be encouraged that some generative AI vendors are providing assurances that their products are free of copyright concerns.

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  • Why Are Marketers' Tech Stacks Collecting Dust?

    B2C   October 6, 2023  

    Martech utilization rates keep plummeting, according to a recent survey. One reason marketers don't use more of their technology is because marketers and/or their agency partners fail to take charge of the applications within their organizations. Problems with customer data, a complex ecosystem, and rigid governance also contribute to underutilization.

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  • Marketers Need to Have a Frank Discussion About Chatbots

    B2C   September 29, 2023  

    While the cost savings and marketing efficiencies chatbots offer are real, they come with potentially severe and growing risks, ranging from copyright infringement to misinformation. Whether marketers deploy generative AI chatbots for advertising campaigns or to improve workflow in-house, they need to understand the legal and ethical sand traps and proceed with a plan.

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  • Reaching People with Disabilities Authentically

    B2C   September 26, 2023  

    By ignoring people with disabilities, brands are not only potentially alienating a large swath of the population, they're also leaving money on the table. New research conducted by Morning Consult found that 84 percent of respondents had a more favorable impression of companies that are inclusive of people with disabilities in their marketing and advertising and 80 percent wanted to do more business with such companies.

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  • Marketers Balance the Promise and Peril of Generative AI

    B2C   September 22, 2023  

    The promise of AI is tempered by growing concerns regarding the risks the technology presents, leading the Biden administration to pressure the seven leading AI companies to commit to new standards for safety, security, and trust as they aggressively compete to dominate the space. Brands and agencies are diving in.

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  • Marketers Need to Be More Selective With The Data They Use

    B2C   September 20, 2023  

    Marketers continue to be overwhelmed by the amount of data they collect. A big part of the problem is that companies tend to acquire technology without thinking about the specific marketing goals and objectives for which the resulting data will be used. To tame the tech stack, CMOs and their teams need to do a better job of planning and figure out what the end game for the data is well before executing.

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  • Do Marketers Go Big for the Holidays?

    B2C   September 15, 2023  

    Most people will be watching their wallets during the 2023 holidays, with more than half of consumers (53 percent) saying inflation will have a moderate or significant impact on their spending. To ensure that they are buying wisely, consumers are demanding more from brands and retailers. They want flexible return policies, discounts, loyalty programs, and the capability to buy online and pick up in-store.

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  • What Retail Media Networks Have in Store for Marketers

    B2C   September 8, 2023  

    Two-thirds of companies viewed retail media as a sales driver, but only 12 percent used it to build their brand, according to a new survey. Only 31 percent said it was a valuable marketing tool right now. The lack of consistent and industrywide measurement on the effectiveness of retail media investments is one reason brands remain cool to the market.

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  • Catering to Hispanic Communities Means Overcoming Stereotypes

    B2C   August 25, 2023  

    Marketing to Hispanic consumers requires that brands heavily research the distinctive factors that matter most to them. Influencers can help brands connect with the various communities, as well as cultural elements like music and humor, but it's important to consult market experts to ensure the campaign is effective.

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  • Driving Change at Jaguar Land Rover

    B2C   August 11, 2023  

    The idea that brand work is difficult to measure or quantify doesn't hold up, according to Charlotte Blank, U.S. CMO at Jaguar Land Rover North America. She stresses that marketers need to cultivate KPIs for brand health metrics in the upper funnel, which are just as important as the conversion-oriented metrics that drive performance marketing discussions.

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  • Navigating Controversy

    B2C   August 4, 2023  

    While the backlash to brands aligning their messaging and merchandise with Pride Month has quelled, marketers continue to weigh the risks of taking a stand on hot-button issues. It seems an increasingly difficult needle to thread for marketers, who must grapple with a polarized society and the spread of misinformation on social media. Before they take a stand, brands need to take the temperature of both the mainstream and potential opposition and be prepared to stick to their messaging.

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  • A New State for Ad Shoots

    B2C   July 28, 2023  

    Location-based production has largely returned post-pandemic, but new challenges have emerged — including higher costs — alongside new opportunities like tax-incentive programs and promising new technologies.

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  • Can In-House Agencies Do It All?

    B2C   July 21, 2023  

    Not all in-house agencies will stop working with external agencies altogether. But a recent ANA study shows that in-house agencies continue to increase their clout and companies are working with fewer external agencies as a result. In fact, the study predicts that 85 to 90 percent of member companies will ultimately have in-house agencies handling some aspect of their marketing activities.

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  • What New Social Media Laws Mean for Brands

    B2C   June 30, 2023  

    Battle lines are being drawn stemming from a flurry of legislation at the federal and state levels designed to limit the use of social media among teens and children. Dozens of prominent advocacy groups have voiced opposition, saying the bills would limit free speech and allow state attorneys general to decide what constitutes “harmful” content.

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  • Marketers Scramble to Cater to Back-to-School Shoppers

    B2C   June 23, 2023  

    For harried parents, making back-to-school shopping less of a hassle is a major priority this year. Retailers are responding in kind by moving up the launch date for their back-to-school promotional campaigns and touting convenience in their ad messaging.

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  • Marketers Channel a New Approach to Streaming TV

    B2C   June 9, 2023  

    Streaming programming is fast evolving and recently surpassed cable for the first time in the percentage of TV viewers. Media companies are responding in kind. Lydia Daly, SVP of audience impact and intelligence at Paramount, says the explosion of streaming services is changing the way people consume entertainment and constantly raising expectations that marketers must meet head-on.

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