Industry Insights
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Purpose: From Performative Gestures to Strategic Value Creation
Leading Edge June 4, 2024Marketing strategist Anne Bahr Thompson examines the evolving nature of brand purpose, and the industry’s current sentiment around it.
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A Cookieless Future: Delayed Again, But Still Imminent
Leading Edge June 3, 2024The latest hold-up for Google’s plans to finally eliminate third-party cookies by the end of 2024 comes in response to more industry and regulatory pushback on Chrome’s alternative Privacy Sandbox solution and their initial test rollout that began January 2024 when it disabled third-party cookies for 30 million Chrome users, 1 percent of their three billion users worldwide.
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The LGBTQ+ Community's Resilience Amidst a Challenging Year
Pulse June 3, 2024The past year has been a rollercoaster for the LGBTQ+ community. We've seen a disheartening trend of businesses retracting their support and bowing to pressure from a vocal minority. This wave of boycotts and backlash has left many feeling disheartened and vulnerable. However, it's precisely during these challenging times that we must stand together, united in our resilience and unwavering in our hope.
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4 Campaigns That Leverage Experiential Marketing
Pulse May 31, 2024In today’s world, endless scrolling not only saps attention, but also clutters the marketplace with information and products. For a brand, this situation can be a challenge when trying to differentiate in a crowded forum. Crafting experiences that bring people together and inspire fun, however, can be a game-changer. What better way for a brand to build community and create fond memories?
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A Call: Principal Media Case Studies
Pulse May 31, 2024The ANA recently released a study titled "The Acceleration of Principal Media," which reveals that when it comes to buying media, ad agencies are increasingly acting as principals rather than agents. It features four case studies highlighting how marketers have leveraged principal media.
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How Being an Air Traffic Controller Prepared Me for a Career in Advertising
Leading Edge May 31, 2024Ad serving is known for its speed, as it takes only a few milliseconds to win a bid and serve an impression. However, the risk of bidding incorrectly pales in comparison to the consequences of making a wrong decision as an air traffic controller; this is a key difference between the two. Working long hours in a high-pressure environment and monitoring movement on my screen was the best training I could have had for my work in advertising technology today.
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Marketers: Work with Creators to Tap into Summer Sports Events in 2024
Leading Edge May 30, 2024For marketers, the tie-in to sports has long been an effective and engaging tactic. With the continued growth of creators and influencers, this summer will provide a rich content opportunity for all creators, even ones not focused on sports.
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Pathways to Transparent Media: The Growing Complexity of Today’s Media Buying
Leading Edge May 30, 2024The role of a media buyer has shifted dramatically since the dawn of digital marketing. Gone are the days of phone negotiations for spots in local or national print. Today's buyers need to navigate a complex ecosystem, from the ad platforms such as DV360 and Meta to the burgeoning retail media networks of Amazon, Walmart, and the like.
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Women’s Sports Can Launch the Next Era in CTV Advertising
Leading Edge May 29, 2024Despite the countless memorable moments provided by highly entertaining Super Bowl ads over the years, I am still most affected by the poignant messaging of P&G’s “Like a Girl" commercial. The video effectively exposed a gender stereotype, while inspiring girls everywhere to be proud of themselves and fight for women’s equality in sports.
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The Pitfalls to Avoid When Planning Your Data Story
Leading Edge May 28, 2024This article tackles the three main pitfalls to avoid when planning your data story.
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Unlock Experience Innovation with These Steps
Leading Edge May 28, 2024In my latest book, "Seeing the How: Transforming What People Do," Not Buy to Gain Market Advantage, I emphasize the importance of looking through different lenses to identify marketplace opportunities. One of these lenses is titled "Go the Rental Route," and a simple way to activate that lens and see the marketplace with fresh eyes is to go down to your basement (or storage locker if you don't have one) and take a look around.
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Programmatic Transparency: Why Inclusion Lists, Not Exclusion Lists, Are the Answer
Leading Edge May 24, 2024One of the many things we can learn from the ANA’s Programmatic Supply Chain Transparency Study is that inclusion, not exclusion, is the answer. So, in this, our fourth deep dive into the implications of the study’s findings for advertisers, let’s have a look at why that is and why getting started should be on you and your media teams’ immediate to-do lists.
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The Campaigns Successfully Marketing to Millennials and Gen Z
Pulse May 24, 2024Advertisers have long been invested in marketing to younger audiences; gen Z and millennials are no exception. For many companies, finding ways to engage with these two generations has become integral to their campaigns. Below are successful case studies that illustrate companies authentically connecting with gen Z and millennials through experiences, product launches, and content.
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3 Capabilities All Retailer CMOs Need to Build
Leading Edge May 23, 2024Staying ahead of an increasingly complex marketplace requires advanced capabilities in three key areas. It’s not easy being a retailer’s chief marketing officer these days, due to the following reasons discussed in this piece.
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Resources for Navigating an Increasingly Complex Data Privacy Landscape
Pulse May 22, 2024Since the European Union passed the General Data Protection Regulation in 2018 — better known as GDPR — the issue of data privacy has seen heightened focus. The adoption of that law was a watershed moment. Since then, governments all over the world have followed suit, passing their own variations of the bill.
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Why Residential Proxies Are Primed to Wreak Havoc in the Streaming Industry
Leading Edge May 22, 2024The explosive growth of streaming services has transformed media consumption, granting unprecedented access to a world of content. Yet, beneath this digital revolution's surface, a challenge looms large, one that threatens the very sustainability of the streaming industry: the dramatic rise in the use of residential proxies and VPNs.
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15 Guidelines for the Use of Principal Media
Pulse May 21, 2024Principal media is on the rise. Changes in agency compensation models from marketers as well as pressure from marketers to extend payment terms and "drive media costs down" have led agencies and holding companies to accelerate the use of principal media. Increasingly, advertising agencies are now acting as principals rather than agents.
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Benefits and Challenges of SEM and SEO
Leading Edge May 21, 2024An advertiser can create and launch an SEM campaign quickly. Tools like Google Ads provide maximum control over every element of a text ad. With the right attention to detail, successful campaigns with specific landing pages and calls to action can drive tremendous growth for businesses. However, depending on how competitive the landscape, costs per click can be high. SEM can often represent the largest line item on a digital marketing budget.
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It’s Time to Diversify Lower-Funnel Tactics
Leading Edge May 21, 2024E-commerce conversion rates for many brands have surprisingly taken a downturn in recent months. Recent industry data from Belardi Wong reveals a 7 percent decline in conversion rates for apparel and an even steeper 11 percent drop for home goods. This unsettling trend underscores the imperative for ecommerce brands to rethink their bottom-funnel remarketing strategies.
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Brands as Beacons: The Power of Positive Content in Digital Advertising
Leading Edge May 20, 2024Today’s online experiences have been built on the backs of advertising dollars, and those experiences have become increasingly unpleasant and detrimental to the human condition. Interestingly, this current state of affairs presents an interesting opportunity for leading brands.
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