Industry Insights

When Strahl, a drinkware maker, wanted to demonstrate the sturdiness of its polycarbonate bar glasses to the restaurant and food service industry in Norway last year, it sent potential customers drinking glasses by mail — with their address on the shatter-resistant product, which was all the packaging that was needed.

Today, it’s no question that brand marketers and advertisers recognize the value of smart digital advertising. In fact, digital advertising is well on trend to exceed 60 percent of global ad spend by the end of this year, according to Zenith Media. Although performance marketing is all the rage, it hasn’t necessarily been hitting its stride in the way it once did.

The scope of fraud on unsuspecting consumers is on the rise with a loss of billions and billions of dollars nationwide. There is a real opportunity for companies to take a greater leadership role by educating consumers, training employees, and taking preventative steps to protect their brand and support fraud victims.

During the fall months, and during any holiday season, it’s candy’s time to shine (or maybe, better yet, melt in your mouth). Whether it’s Halloween, Dia de los Muertos, or Thanksgiving, having treats on hand can help make the holidays feel special, and more easily shared with others. It’s a small gesture, but sharing a delicious moment matters. Of course, candy and snack brands know this.

People are exposed to about 10,000 ads per day. From Instagram ads to Google search results to commercials on TV – not every ad is going to be memorable or relevant. It’s the advertiser’s job to cut through the clutter.

During the pandemic there were various reports of bad business practices in the agency search and pitch process. The bad practices were found on both the client and agency side of the process. Many of the bad practices cited in the trade press stemmed from inconsistencies in the agency search and selection process. These bad practices leave both client and agency yearning for opportunities to simplify the process and in turn, benefit the business – and the industry as a whole.

On the U.S. media landscape, sports looms with outsized prominence among the nation’s sources of entertainment, as a 2020 study by VAB suggests. According to that report, in 2019, the last year before the pandemic began distorting data, the average U.S. viewer watched 4,364 minutes of national live TV sports broadcasts a year.

Customer reviews and referrals are one of the most effective elements driving customer acquisition today. In fact, product reviews rank even higher than a good price among modern consumers as a reason to buy your product or service. The three things a consumer typically looks for when checking customer reviews are recency, quantity, and a mix of good and bad reviews.

From inventory management to customer communications, running a DTC business comes with a plethora of simultaneous responsibilities. These days, savvy marketers are tapping into the power of e-commerce automation to save time, work more efficiently, and tend to their growing to-do lists without lifting a finger.

Over the past few years, the marketing industry has seen a substantial increase in digital ad spend and brand exploration in terms of virtual and immersive strategies for customer engagement. While statistics show that ad spend on gaming sits at around $6 to $8 billion in the U.S., representing less than 6 percent of total digital advertising spend, the growth trajectory for advertising across gaming platforms is projected to be fast-paced with very minimal limits on the potential these platforms offer brands in terms of customer engagement.

Coke and other brands with product placements in Season 4 of Stranger Things earned $27 million in brand value according to a YouGov study. If that doesn’t count as audience attention, then I don’t know what does. Yet, many digital advertisers don’t think about it that way yet.

Colgate Palmolive’s Renee Milliaressis, chief media officer, and Patrick McGraw, director of global analytics integration, recently sat down with the ANA’s Michael Berberich, senior director of content & marketing, to discuss their views on brand and performance metrics.

The end of the year is quickly approaching. In the advertising world, the changing of the calendar from September to October signals the beginning of a time-tested and frenzied period of heightened spending activity, during which advertisers and brands seek to capitalize on the looming holiday season.

My feelings toward Hispanic Heritage month are complicated. As a Latina born in San Juan, Puerto Rico who has dedicated the last two decades to multicultural marketing, my life is devoted to honoring my heritage.

Google defines micro-moments as occurring, “when people reflexively turn to a device –increasingly a smartphone – to act on a need to learn something, do something, discover something, watch something, or buy something. They are intent-rich moments when decisions are made and preferences shaped.”

The average U.S. consumer has approximately 55 apps installed on their smartphone, according to T-Mobile Advertising Solutions. But how many of those apps are they actively engaging with? For too long, mobile marketers have focused solely on raw app install counts as their primary measure of success. But it’s time the industry at large started paying closer attention to what happens after the install.

There are plenty of things to consider when planning your company’s approach to Advertising Week. Apart from the panels and networking events you’d like to attend, it is important to consider when and where you’d like to promote your brand.

Consumers are hanging on to their pandemic streaming habits. This elevates connected TV (CTV) as a critical channel for reach – which, it turns out, is just in time for the rebound of many marketers getting back into the market.

Global B2B enterprise marketing is complicated but can be reduced to answering one question from the customer’s perspective: Why would I spend seven figures on this one software-as-a-service company or hardware product? And while making sure marketing is aligned with sales and other “blocking and tackling” issues are crucial, I contend that emotion too often ends up minimized or erased from technical product marketing in favor of hard metrics.

Marketing teams around the world are thinking long and hard about the ‘R’ word. From New York to London, it’s hard to avoid stories that predict an upcoming recession. This report from the World Bank warning that the risk of a global recession in 2023 continues to rise is just one recent example.