_Editorial

Climbing the Digital Experience Maturity Pyramid

Ultimately, consistency and authenticity are what will set brands apart. All experiences should reflect the brand’s values and aesthetics. And interactions should feel the same regardless of the device a customer is using.

city square with electronic billboards

How to Succeed in the Evolving World of Digital Video

Video in DOOH can drive brand awareness and even performance that isn’t possible elsewhere, precisely by virtue of existing someplace meaningful in the physical world. Here are some factors to consider, however, for advertisers that want to get the most out of it.

graphic showing opposite tv screens for male and female

Advertising’s Contextual Future

By replacing third-party data with first-party counterparts, advertisers are presented with tools that are more potent than ever. From CTRs to conversions and even difficult metrics like retention and attention, contextual ads have seen advertising KPIs soar across the board.

graphic of hand throwing an arrow

Activate Your Brand Purpose to Inspire Consumer Action

If you want to generate deeper positive consumer sentiment (and committed action) year-round, make a sustained investment to activate your brand strength around shared values with your consumers. You’ll see it delivers meaningful business value, while impacting the lives of your consumers and communities.

silly photo of man freaking out on office chair

The Hidden Work Behind Great In-Store Tech

In this environment of high expectations, new technology trends are also changing the customer experience in stores. New hybrid sales fulfillment options like buy-online, pick-up-in-store (BOPIS) and curbside pickup are gaining popularity.

6 Steps to Content Strategy Success

With a solid content strategy in place, and ongoing optimization, you’ll be able to iterate strategic initiatives throughout the rest of your marketing touchpoints.

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A Conversation with Nestlé on the ROI of Inclusivity

The emergence of Hispanics into the American mainstream is the biggest business growth opportunity of our time, and the effectiveness of engaging this group in-culture and in-language has never been more important.  

advertising week learn new york trends report presented with amobee from Advertising Week Learn

Advertising Week New York 2021 Trend Report

This report brings key trends from AWNewYork to life, examining why they are so important, and discussing the potential impact they will have on our industry, our clients, and our target audiences.

graphic image of hand shake made of data points

Data Collaboration is a Competitive Necessity

While some organizations have deep data on their individual customers, few have the breadth to compete effectively without collaboration. Leveraging your best data along with another company’s best data has become a competitive necessity, giving you a breadth and depth of insight you may lack.

black friday ribbon

Insights on How Major Retailers Prepared for Black Friday

In the week leading up to Thanksgiving and Black Friday, BrandTotal analyzed paid social media ad campaigns for 28 top retailers, including Walmart, Target, Costco, Macy’s, Best Buy, Home Depot, Nike, Nordstrom, and TJ Maxx — here are the findings.

snails racing

The Challenges Facing Influencer Marketing Regulations

Although regulations for influencer marketing are still being defined, the industry would welcome more robust guidelines and is taking steps toward implementing this for the benefit of brands, audiences, and content creators.

woman taking selfie

The Challenges Facing Influencer Marketing Regulations

Although regulations for influencer marketing are still being defined, the industry would welcome more robust guidelines and is taking steps toward implementing this for the benefit of brands, audiences, and content creators.

people as data points

Digital Audience Models Don’t All Look-Alike

Models built on anonymous, cohorted data give retailers the ability to target based on category or brand purchases while respecting individual’s privacy, assuming the seed file is excluded from the audience. High quality models can create addressable segments that predict purchases with better than 90% accuracy.

colorful human paper cut outs

Your Brand Is Inclusive, But What About Your Creator Strategy?

The concept of inclusivity has evolved significantly over the past decade. Inclusivity isn’t just about race, gender, or orientation, or a reaction to discrimination; it’s about different worldviews and backgrounds coming together to tell relevant, authentic stories.

hollywood sign

Could Advertising Learn More From Hollywood?

Most would probably know the Star Wars opening theme. However, only the diehard fans would be able to sing Leia’s theme, or even the more widely used, Force Suite.

data icons on trees

How Brands Must Prioritize Sustainability

The data is quite clear that people want brands to align with their values more than ever before, and even companies that have failed to promote sustainability have bounced back when they have made it their main goal.

person typing in a winter storm

Snowed Under With Emails This Christmas?

As we approach the Christmas period, we are likely to see our inboxes snowed under by a steep influx of emails that advertise gifts and services. In order to stand out from the crowd, it is crucial to plan your email marketing with close attention to detail.

image of woman and electronic graphics

Dark Marketing 101: What You Need to Know

Dark marketing is a useful tool that allows brands to engage with consumers like never before, and will become substantially more important with the absence of third-party cookies.

padlock

Unlocking the Superpowers of CTV Advertising

Streaming TV has not only become the most popular form of TV entertainment for audiences, but it has also edged out the linear broadcast for the first time this year.

toy boat with cotton ball clouds

Context Shapes Content

Never before has the importance of context been clearer than over the past couple of years.

pro audio microphone

Now Playing: Superpowered Audio

Audio enables today’s most powerful influencers and beloved brands to deliver compelling content and build deep, meaningful connections with listeners.

neighborhood party bbq

5 Things Brands Can Learn from Neighborhood Data

A recent Nextdoor survey found that 73% say neighbors are their most important community. This enthusiasm for the neighborhood extends to nearly every aspect of their lives, from how they’re socializing to which businesses they’re supporting.

pop art image of fashionable woman

How to Keep Gen Z From Breaking Up With You

Brand loyalty is down. “Genuinfluencers” are in. YOLO is here to stay. Confused? Fear not – here’s how to re-engage with younger consumers, on their terms.

woman looking out huge windows

Have You Got HER Back?

The pandemic took a disproportionate toll on women, but we’ve got the stats – and the solutions – to build fresh brand-led conversations that will work.

conference room in office

5 Lessons I Learned From Launching An Agency During Covid

In January of 2020, I launched the U.S. office of BAM Strategy, a 25-year-old independent digital agency headquartered in Montreal. It was, without question, one of the most exciting moments of my career and a milestone for which I’d spent the better part of a year prepping and planning.

tv and remote

If It’s All TV… Now What?

TV has converged with digital-like campaign measurement and full funnel outcome-based insights are available across nearly all varieties of TV campaigns.

intermodal containers on barge passing under freeway bridge

Why We Should Never Go Back To A Pre-Covid Supply Chain

For the past decade, global supply chains have been running a seemingly normal path. Even a year and a half later, industries across the board are experiencing the impacts of supply chain disruptions. With massive labor shortages and continual shipping delays, there is increasing desperation to return “back to normal.”

chains linked to a red ring

CTO Strategies For Building Stronger Relationships With The CMO

As organizations continue to recover from changes and setbacks brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, marketing teams will be critical cogs in the engine of innovation to move forward. In order to be successful, the CMO and CTO need to be more aligned than ever before. 

pac man game board

Gaming: Levelling Up Your Brand In The Cookie-Less Future

With so much focus on how to establish and target audiences in a cookie-less advertising landscape, much of the attention has centered on the power of publishers and their communities of engaged and authenticated audiences.

computer-aided-manufacturing

Navigating The Metaverse Through Online Community

What is your Metaverse strategy? Whether that question induces your eyes to roll or your eyebrows to raise, it’s sure to be one you’ll encounter from your customer, your boss, or your investors soon. That is, if you haven’t already.

woman playing game on phone

The Gaming Media Channel Is Not Just Mobile, But Global

As ‘mobile advertising’ and ‘mobile games advertising’ increasingly become a distinction without a difference, it’s clear that this opportunity is comparable to the early days of social media as a media channel.

collage of brands and pop culture

The Six Best Ways to Connect Brands to Culture

What is the key to increase relevance, driving brand love and, ultimately, revenue? Well, the answer isn’t far off from how one got to be class president or homecoming king/queen in high school.

artistic light traffic graphic

How to Fix Ad Tech’s Lingering Problem

As a proponent of ad tech innovation, it pains me to say this. Our industry is wildly inefficient, not automated, and not transparent. And we’re barely addressing these major faults.

person painting mural advert

Painters Wanted

Of the omni-present Covid-recovery “we’re hiring” pleas, perhaps among the most curious comes from a media company in Brooklyn aggressively seeking . . . more sign painters.

closeup-of-home-made-tasty-burger

Authenticity in Advertising

Ok, so we’re not saving lives, but if I’m selling you a hamburger, you’ll know you’re being sold a hamburger. Terms and Conditions apply.

charlie the tuna turns 60

Happy 60th Birthday, Charlie!

The celebrations keep swimming upstream for StarKist’s Charlie the Tuna! Join us a new video premiering at #AWNewYork 2021 celebrating the iconic brand mascot.

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Getting Ready For What’s Next in Video

Join Tara Walpert Levy, Google’s VP of Agency and Brand Solutions, as we explore how marketers can be ready for today’s opportunities, and what’s coming next, in streaming and shopping.

youtube video presented by google panel graphic with mondelez international

Ready for Growth: How Mondelēz International Scaled Human Connection

Join Kate Stanford, Google’s VP for Ads Marketing, to explore a real story of what it means to be ready. Tune in to hear directly from senior leadership at Mondelēz International on how they pivoted their teams that were traditionally built for mass marketing to deliver “empathy at scale.”

Immersion is Far More Than a Personal Playlist

Today marketers have nearly endless choices, but audience time and attention are tight. People are moving away from many traditional sources, and they’re tired of their screens.

woman taking selfie with phone

How Top Fashion Brands are Advertising on Social Media

According to Pew Research Center, today in the US, seven-in-ten are using social media. Of that group, younger adults are the most loyal and heavy social media users, creating an unparalleled marketing opportunity.

gaming chair in front of gaming PC

How Branding In Games Has Come Of Age

The gaming industry now boasts three billion players globally with a value in excess of $175.8bn. Gamers are an older and more diverse demographic than often assumed.

reddit icon

Digital’s White Whale: Marketing on Reddit

Reddit is infamous for being a marketing graveyard. It is full of buried links from entrepreneurs and marketers that just didn’t “get it.” So how do you “get it” and avoid falling into the trap?

james bond

The Name’s Brand… James Brand

The owners of successful brand characters know when to change things subtly and also know when a change can mean big publicity.

digital screens flying through space

Digital Media’s Loss is CTV’s Gain

The past year has not been kind to digital media. From the (now-delayed cookie-apocalypse) to Facebook’s continual political troubles to increased scrutiny on digital privacy, it’s safe to say digital media has not had a good 2021.

red envelope

Does Third-party Data Need a Rebrand?

Third-party data, the product, is better than ever. It’s ethically sourced and privacy-compliant and will remain so even after cookies fall away.

last puzzle piece

Amazon Gets The Whole Picture

When the Amazon juggernaut rolls into a sector, market dominance is assured – it’s a question of when not if. Its latest venture? The trusty television set.

billboard for connecticut

Covid Ad Pitch: Keep Moving

Despite Covid — perhaps BECAUSE of Covid — robust ad campaigns pitch relocation and tourism. CTvisit (Connecticut) is spending nearly triple the typical amount on its fall regional campaign.

hot dog, baseball, apple pie, american flag photo

Why “Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie And Chevrolet” Has Stood The Test Of Time

From Steve Miller’s “The Joker” to Carl Douglas’ “Kung Fu Fighting”, the hits of 1974 include their share of classic earworms. But over in adland, Chevrolet made a hit of its own that year – “Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet” which became one of the most iconic car jingles of all time.

graphic person checking off check list next to shipping

How to Be Ready for Holiday Shoppers This Year

Google and Boston Consulting Group conducted a series of surveys to understand changes in consumer shopping behavior ahead of the holiday shopping season. Suchi Sastri breaks down what the findings mean for retailers.

magnifying glass on people

Why Brands Are Moving Audience Research In-House

The role of the agency is changing. Many brands are adapting their processes, redistributing their budget to get more control of their output, with a bigger focus on in-house. This shift has been ongoing for years.

chocolate chip cookie

Why Post-Cookie Targeting Solutions Can Not Retread Old Ideas

The advertising technology industry has spent most of the past 18 months developing plans and products to fill the white space in targeting that will be exposed when Google finally stops supporting third-party cookies in its Chrome browser.

woman window shopping

How Many Shoppers Are Actually Up For Grabs?

When working with finite marketing budgets, businesses need to be sure they’re focusing on getting the right message to the right people at the right time. But who are the right people exactly, and what do they need to hear?

child holding upward trajectory arrow

Our Mis-Invested Youth

As markets threaten to close a window of opportunity on younger generations’ financial security, AML Head of Strategy Christian Barnes calls on investment firms to start showing EQ as well as IQ – before it’s too late.

audio speakers

Looking Beyond Host-Read Ads to Make an Impact in Audio

As podcast listenership continues to skyrocket, marketers are allocating a greater portion of their media budgets to this increasingly popular medium. Today, advertisers are spending more on podcast advertising than ever before.

truck with box and bow

Get Ready for the Holidays 2021

In the heat of summer, the holiday shopping season can feel like it’s a long way away. Experienced e-commerce merchants know better.

artistic image of head made of light

The Upside of Automation and Partnership Marketing

Over the past 20 years, automation has transformed digital marketing and media, in all its forms, one way or another. Despite its ability to change the game, however, its impact has been gradual.

3 hanging lightbulbs graphic

Why It’s Time To Move From Brainstorming To Brainsteering

Stimulating and creating a space – both physically, emotionally and intellectually – where ideas can be formed, new thinking can be encouraged, and product development can be shared and inspired is often easier said than done.

graphic of runner made of pixels

The New Era of Data-Driven Creative

It seems obvious that performance marketing and creative teams should work together but most agencies and brands have created silos within marketing to decentralize their operations between creative, media buying and performance marketing.

person holding sony playstation controller

Why Adtech Needs to Learn from Kidtech

With under 16s making up almost 40% of all online users, they are having profound and long-lasting changes on how the internet is perceived and used.

man in data center in dark

How to Choose a Data Provider

We bring on a new data provider at least every quarter, if not every month. Along the way, we’ve learned some lessons about how to bring on new data partners.

hundreds of screens of icons

The Creative Impact Of CTV In A Privacy-First World

While this has been going on, connected TV (CTV) – which is free from third-party cookies – has seen its viewing figures increase in a massive way, growing by four billion hours per week in early 2020.

digital cart button

What Retailers Should Know About Digital Circulars

Old print vehicles aren’t grabbing attention or influencing purchase behavior the way they once did. Most Americans—46% according to Pew Research Center—don’t even look at print circulars anymore.

person going up stairs with years marked on them

Why Brand Purpose is your Business Value

Between two products of identical quality and cost, today’s consumers will choose the product that stands for something they support ten out of ten times. We promise.

bar graph made of glass cylinders

Finding the Future of Measurement with Cohorts

The history of innovation follows a familiar pattern: New technology comes along that improves our quality of life—like the car—then time reveals its unintended consequences, and innovators jump in to create something even better. 

girl looking at phone in front of mall escalators

Using AR to reach ‘Camera Native’ Gen-Z

Born during a time when consumer technology was exploding, GenZ spends up to 10 hours per day scrolling on their mobile devices and has become a ‘camera native’ generation.

Which Fast Food Fans Are Still Avoiding the Vaccines?

A recent survey found that 6 out of 10 consumers think that brands have a responsibility to be encouraging COVID-19 vaccinations. Major brands, from Budweiser to Krispy Kreme, are stepping up to this challenge by offering incentives unique to their brands.

art shot of robot and child hand

The Answer Is Automation

For digital media, advertising and numerous other industries, automation is the key solution needed to improve efficacy and efficiency, allowing businesses to outperform the competition.

art image of people standing on stacks of coins

Solving for the Browser Imbalance

Considering that Safari is the most popular mobile browser in the US, there is a lot of missed opportunities for monetization.  Publishers are now fighting with one hand behind their backs.

Sport is Finally Catching Up

Like most sectors, frankly, Sport has done an excellent job of papering over the cracks of this issue. Mental health has a stigma tied to weakness, which is absolutely the antithesis of what most sporting professionals want to portray.

Hypercasual’s Golden Age Doesn’t Have To End

There have never been so many talented developers and titanic publishers working within the genre, and that’s owing to the never-ending appetite for hypercasual games in the world today.

More Than Ever, We All Need The Olympics This Year

More than ever, as a national and even global community we need what the Olympic Movement provides – an antidote to the cultural tenor of the past two years; a push to exhibit “the best of us.”

Are You Ready to Go Social with the Summer Games?

Euro 2020 was the tournament in which sports consumption went truly social. With public venues in many countries still subject to social distancing or lockdown restrictions, fans took to more accessible digital channels in greater numbers than ever before, and the Tokyo Olympics is sure to continue that trend.

How Brands Can Succeed on TikTok

More and more brands are wanting to appear on TikTok, and the platform seems to have achieved a rare level of viral popularity among the most desirable audiences. TikTok, however, is not a typical media platform. Here are some very important points to consider for brands that want to get onto the newest, most popular digital platform.

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How to Calculate the Real Benefits of ROI

There’s a healthy number of ROI opportunities within the payment automation sphere, and it’s relatively easy to estimate for any given organization by doing a payment analysis.

CTV Completes the Puzzle for Cross-Channel Marketing Campaigns

The average UK home now uses 10.3 internet-enabled devices. With an excess of channels to choose from, audiences are no longer fully reachable via one platform. To keep up with consumption habits, marketers need omnichannel solutions that connect with their core customers as they move between touchpoints.

man with dog on couch and laptop on lap with graphics laid over the top of image

CTV & OTT Advertising Guide: 5 Big Challenges Solved

A decade ago, a cable television subscription was your ticket to news, entertainment, sports, and the shows everyone was talking about. Now, cable is just one of many ways that consumers can access video content thanks to the rise of connected TV.

Why You Need A UX Marketer

In the world of commerce, the power balance between seller and consumer has dramatically shifted. It was comparatively simple to convince consumers to convert and purchase a product or service in times past.

Audience Targeting And Why The Industry Needs To Do Better

Despite gathering significant momentum in recent years, the concept of diversity seems to remain a separate workstream for many businesses, as opposed to manifesting itself as a significant shift in policy, process, and approach.

K-Shaped Recovery: How Brands Can Come Out On Top Post-COVID

The economic impact of the pandemic has not been spread equally. Hard-hit industries like travel, retail and automotive were forced to rethink fundamental principles underpinning their normal business practices. While some faced hardships due to a prolonged disruption in trading, others capitalised on this new digital-first environment.

Your Brand Strategy Failed. It’s Not Your Fault.

Your brand strategy was never destined to succeed. Months of work, resources, discussions, and meetings that somehow never get you to the gold at the end of that proverbial rainbow. It’s a chronic problem caused by the system we’re working both in and against.

Creativity and the Power of Scale

Coming from the world of a creative agency, it can be hard to fully appreciate all of the digital advancements the industry has experienced in the last 5-10 years. Companies have talked about breaking down silos for years now, but implementing change is notoriously difficult.

Equally AI CEO Commentary: Why Technology is the Great Digital Democratizer

It’s estimated that 98 percent of websites aren’t fully accessible, creating a significant digital divide that’s harming people and businesses. In response, digital platforms need to understand the case for accessibility while taking practical steps to improve their operations moving forward.

Gen-Z Rising

Highlighted by GenZ, youth are pushing brands to dispense with the BS, contribute to social progress, ease their considerable anxieties, and help them course-correct the imperiled planet they and their children will inherit. Expect more brands to wake up to their power and influence.

Diversity and Trust: Your Marketing Medium Matters

The size and influence of Black and Hispanic audiences continues to grow – and along with it, the importance of these communities in the advertising ecosystem. Is your brand doing everything it can to reach them?

Re-Thinking The HFSS Debate: A Call To Arms For Context

The imminent UK government ban on advertising products that are high in fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) is almost certainly well-intentioned. But it is also heavy-handed, especially given the positive impact of industry self-regulation, as well as the advanced technologies available to manage and control ad exposure.

AWEurope 2021 Trend Report

This report brings those key trends to life, examining why they are so important, and discussing the potential impact they will have on our industry, our clients, and our target audiences.

All Shoppers Do Research – Even The Impulsive Ones

We’ve all learned what that feels like over the past year or so, so it should be easy enough to understand: when the situation is always evolving, we have to roll with the punches. As marketers and advertisers, that’s what ongoing shifts in shopper behavior demand of us.

Tips for Success from Working Moms in the Digital Marketing Field

As a bi-racial, divorced, and working mom of three, I have faced more than my fair share of hurdles as a female working in tech. I have taken the lessons I have learned over the years to my current position at  NetBlaze, a digital marketing SaaS company for small businesses. 

Catching Some Z’s with HiSmile’s Nik Mirkovic

Generation Z is arguably the choosiest when it comes to the brands they support. But as 20-something entrepreneurs Nik Mirkovic and Alex Tomic prove, if you get your product and comms strategy right, you can ride the wave of approval and build a really strong brand.

Looking to the East: The Future of e-commerce

2020 was a game-changer for e-commerce in Europe. Brands and retailers have surged towards digital channels and omnichannel marketing has become a true buzzword. Some of our clients have seen their e-commerce sales double after just a few weeks.

What’s the Purpose of Purpose?

Brand Purpose (capital ‘p’) offers the WHY a brand does what it does. It goes beyond profits, offering a reason for being that’s grounded in humanity. And, as many brands have recognized this past 18 months, that Purpose can be a guiding and stabilizing light in dark times.

How Conscious Brands Can Help The LGBTQ+ Community

In the past few years, brands have started to embrace the LGBTQ+ community, often changing their logos to feature rainbow colours during Pride months to show their support. Having worked in the media ecosystem, I noticed that there were still things that needed to change for brands to show their support further.

connecting with audiences through mobile presented by mopub

Connecting with Audiences Through Mobile

In this report, you will discover the six main themes that emerged from this summit, explaining how marketers should approach the fast-growing mobile space.

Here’s What It Will Take to Reach People Who Are Avoiding the Vaccine

COVID-19 vaccines have been rolling out across the U.S. for six months now, but the real work for vaccination campaigns is just beginning. As supply eclipses demand, all eyes are turning to Americans who have expressed hesitancy or outright resistance to being vaccinated against COVID-19.

Billboards are Part of Billy Graham’s Multi-Media Story

On June 24-26, 2005, evangelist Billy Graham held his “last crusade” at Flushing Meadows Corona Park, speaking to approximately 242,000 people. Today, from Graham’s birthplace Charlotte, NC, Gale Bonnell of Adams Outdoor Advertising looks back at the connection between the legendary preacher and out of home media.

Boosting Your Sales with the Right Product Video

Even though people are getting more used to the idea of shopping online, the fact that they can’t see, touch, or try the actual product is a big purchase stopper. Luckily, eCommerce companies and their marketing teams have product videos to help them with that.

Catching Some Zs with Iyia Liu

Wooing Generation Z can be a tough sell. Educated, dedicated and increasingly conscious of their consumption habits, they can be a tricky cohort to engage in authentic ways. Unless of course, you’re New Zealander Iyia Liu, a serial entrepreneur who has shown again and again she knows what Gen Z wants.

The Changing Definition of What It Means to Travel

To many, it feels as though the skies have parted and the world around us is opening up. Our worlds have been ‘unlocked’ and it has us ready for what’s next. In fact, the first place we’ve gone is to our computers…“Get me the heck out of here!”

Why Contextual is Not the Answer

Everyone is talking about the end of the cookie and what kinds of targeting will survive in the aftermath. Many continually debate that context is or isn’t the answer to this loss of signal.

Communication Gaffes Can Derail Sports Careers, So Don’t Wing It

You would never think about doing your job without ensuring you’re fully prepared for what’s in front of you. And yet, time and again, many people continue to wing it when it comes to one of the few areas that can immediately derail projects, reputations, even careers.

Corporate Buzzwords? Just Say No!

“Synergy.” “Leverage.” “Paradigm shift.” Why do people talk like this at work? Here are 20 words and phrases to cut from your work vocabulary.

The Participation Economy presented by braze

The Participation Economy

Everything You Need To Know About Customer Engagement in 2021, all in one report. Download The Participation Economy presented by Braze.

5 UX Best Practices for Online Checkout Design

The checkout flow is easily the most crucial phase of any online business. But, with customer expectations for an easy purchase journey at its peak, the process is not always smooth-sailing.

How To Build A Data Quality Playbook For 2022 And Beyond

The digital advertising industry is a space of constant evolution. From the emergence of smartphones to the adoption of Connected TV, to the laser-focus on data privacy, ongoing developments continue to transform online advertising.

A Year of Lessons: The Future of OOH

The Out of Home industry took some big blows from the pandemic, but it is recovering fast. Along the way, we have learned some interesting things over the last year.

The 5 Ways Airline CMOs Can Help Their Brands Take Off

Business travel expenses will be scrutinized like never before as companies weigh them against the cost of videoconferencing (which is virtually free). Mainstays like privacy and comfort will remain important, but new values like flexibility have emerged.

Balancing Image Licensing with a Post-Pandemic Brand Refresh

AW360 sat down with Brad Ralph, Senior Director of Content Development at Getty Images, to talk about his experience as the founder of iStock.com and share some of his hard-earned insights as to how small businesses can keep in step with copyright laws and protect creators’ rights.

Securing C-Suite Buy-In for Search Campaigns

While digital ad spend may be rising, overall marketing budgets are still contracting, albeit at a slower rate than last year, meaning marketers need to account for every penny spent and prove they are delivering real value.

Brand Gen is the Future of B2B Marketing

Why follow one track only when you can combine the best of all worlds to maximize returns. This is how you build a real B2B brand that you can actually take to the bank.

The Creative Lens with Dan Monheit, Founder, Hardhat

Hardhat is an agency that works to marry the best of creativity with an understanding of the ins and outs of human behaviour. Here, Co-Founder Dan Monheit gives us an insight into how he uses psychology to fuel creative output.

Authentic Approaches To Improving Advertising Industry Inclusion

Cultural inclusion is gaining prominence in the advertising industry and in recent years it has taken great strides forward. Here, we talk to four agency heads across Australia and New Zealand, who have been bringing indigenous voices and cultural values further into the mainstream advertising and media environment.

How Brands Can Pivot In A World Beyond Lockdowns

As we look ahead to a new wave of winners and losers – yet to be decided in the post-Covid flux – businesses that walk the line between digital and real worlds may well come off the best.

Why TV Streaming Equals Next Level TV Ad Buying

Streaming TV advertising brings new opportunities to brands as first-party data and the digital infrastructure enables more advanced targeting and measurement capabilities. These capabilities give marketers more control over their campaigns resulting in better ROI.

You’ve Partnered With a Nonprofit. Great, Now What?

Working with a nonprofit can be a powerful way for a brand or corporation to express its values around civic or social issues. Let’s digest what it really means to work with a nonprofit and how to make the most of it.

What's Next in the Post-Cookie World? presented by open x

The Post-Cookie World

While the increased difficulty in tracking consumers across the internet will pose challenges, these changes will also open new opportunities and ways to create a better user experience.

man walking through a walled garden

Breaking Through the Walled Garden

Here we distill the key insights from OpenX’s roundtable discussion at Advertising Week 2020 and put the spotlight on a broad panel of experts across the media and marketing landscape.

Why It’s Still Important To Take Part In Industry Events

Despite the pandemic, the benefits of attending conferences – albeit virtually or in person – have never really changed. Here, industry trade show regular, Josh Paterson of Grammatik Agency explores the benefits of the future of events and how a hybrid experience will be the way forward in the months ahead.

Businesses That Help Boost the Circular Economy

The business world is moving towards sustainability. The benefits are clear: you can help the planet and help your business. In fact, one-third of consumers prefer sustainable brands according to a report by Unilever.

What Drives Brand Loyalty?

A key goal for any business is brand loyalty. While one-off sales are always positive, it’s a loyal customer base and repeat business that truly sets a brand up for success.

Reactive Marketing: Why Timing Is Everything

Reactive marketing is the effort by brands to quickly produce content that responds to a current event, talking point or faux pas in a clever or thought-provoking way. It has roots in the newsprint advertising industry, but social media has been instrumental in its meteoric rise.

Referendum. Again.

Nicola Sturgeon is probably rubbing her hands together in glee right now. She’s pumped up, ready to take on Westminster with what she will no doubt argue is a renewed mandate for a second referendum.

B2B, Hold the Cookie

B2B marketers need to think ahead in order find their direction and navigate tomorrow’s privacy-compliant cookieless world.

6 KPIs to Monitor the Success of Your Business

You will never know whether or not your business is thriving or heading in the right direction unless you measure the effectiveness of the strategies you implement. Key performance indicators or KPIs are essential in measuring your organization’s efforts in achieving its goals.

What Are The Most Sought-After Products in the UK?

Another year brings another year of new products. Once upon a time, queuing for the newest game console or camping outside a retail store for a pair of celebrity designer trainers was an unusual event.

The Creative Lens: A Special Kind of Agency

New Zealand-founded agency Special Group has recently taken out Campaign UK’s Global Creative & Independent Agency of the Year award. Founder, Tony Bradbourne, reveals some of the secrets of its internationally renowned creative.

5 Smart Ways to Increase the Profitability of Your Business

Global competition is fierce. And, for new businesses, it can be intimidating. Whether your business succeeds or fails comes down to profitability (the amount of money remaining after all business expenses are paid). That’s the only way to build a sustainable business.

Why TV Ads Are Still King

Consumers are devoting their time to an ever-more diverse portfolio of devices and formats, so it can be tempting to assume that traditional formats must have lost some of their shine; mass digitization during the pandemic has only fueled these assumptions.

The Future of Live Events

2020 marked a trying time for us all. As we inch closer to the pandemic’s end, can we look back and call out the inspiring moments associated with it too?

Apple’s SKAdNetwork vs. Google’s Privacy Sandbox

The ad tech industry has spent the past year closely monitoring and digesting updates around Apple’s SKAdNetwork and Google Chrome’s Privacy Sandbox, knowing that both carry dramatic implications for how our industry will gather consumer data.

Driving Client Growth in 2021

Here are 5 significant commerce media opportunities that you can try with your clients – all with multiple important benefits.

B2B Marketers’ New Job: Listen

To better understand the rise of intent, B2B marketers need to think about their core function: listening to what their prospective buyers are looking for.

Content Marketing Is Not For Everyone

Content marketing is, however, the most sustainable way to grow demand and a loyal audience. If you’re in need of immediate results, content marketing is not for you. But if you’re after long-term success and growing your audience base, you’ve found your match.

Why Email Became the Channel of Choice for Audience Engagement

Over the years we’ve heard lots of debate about the viability of email. As social media steamrolled onto the scene, many people in the industry even wrote email off as “dead,” proclaiming that social would make email irrelevant, especially for younger generations.

Three Ways the World Could Be

Optimism, properly channeled, is a powerful catalyst for change. And if you can retain your sense of optimism even amidst a pandemic, you possess a marketer’s most essential quality.

A Sustainable Planet Leads to Sustainable Profit

There are plenty of lessons to take to heart from 2020.  Both the pandemic and the social justice movements ignited by the death of George Floyd in the U.S. have cracked open the protective shields many brands had been hiding behind.

Watch Out Social Media: Gaming Is Coming

Social media has been the dominant media channel for around a decade, and for good reason. The sheer size of social media platforms’ audiences (Facebook alone counted 2.7bn users) and the rich data they collect have created an advertising bonanza.

Great Minds At Work: Streaming

In a panel by Advertising Week, presented by Magnite, we get an inside look into the billion-dollar growth of the company Pluto, which was recently acquired by ViacomCBS, how Roku navigates viewer and brand relationships, and how CTV opens a world of opportunities for live sports advertising.

Meaner and Nicer: Reflecting on 20 Years in Communications

The title of this article, Meaner and Nicer, expresses the realities of starting and owning a business. It reflects the advancing and changing environment in which my firm was built, as well as the marketplace’s reaction to the evolution in needs, attitudes and world views that span two decades.

How German Publishers are Taking Matters Into Their Own Hands

The German market has a reputation for being a little slower to develop than other parts of the world, with a longer adoption cycle for new products/features, hesitancy to work with international players not based in Germany, and sensitivity around data privacy.

Connection, Culture And The Rise Of Online Community

Need help mastering a complicated recipe? Inspiration for up-cycling old furniture? Tips on how to homeschool while working a full-time job? Advice for re-entering the world as it slowly starts to open back up? There’s an online community for that on Reddit.

Tourism Ads Coming Back

Tourism analysts see hopeful signs in theme park bookings, airline traffic, and more. Leisure travel is recovering first, ahead of business trips, experts say.

Connecting A Brand’s Agency Roster

Working as part of an agency roster is tough at times, but it can equally be exciting. At Dog, we’ve had over 20 years of practicing how to navigate and get the best out of cross-agency partnerships and learned a lot along the way.

Purpose On The Rise

Not much is guaranteed in a post-Covid world, but we’ll tell you one thing: Gen Z wants action.

The European Super League – More Than Just An Own Goal. A Marketing Strategy Disaster.

It’s not often a news story unites so many diverse figures and groups across society. But from Boris Johnson, Jeremy Corbyn and Prince William to football pundits, ex-players, current managers and rival football fans across the land, the world spoke up together this week against the newly proposed European Super League. And the answer was categorically, no.

No Consent Doesn’t Mean No Conversion

Marketers and publishers are burning the midnight oil to figure out how to keep their revenue from pancaking as we move into the post-cookie/IDFA reality, especially after Google’s recent unsurprising “bombshell.”

What Will Creating A Company’s Culture Mean in 2021?

Nurturing and sustaining culture and its values are important for any leadership team, but 2021 will be a uniquely critical time to support employees, as the definition of “company culture” continues to shift.

Transforming Organizations for the Modern Day Ad Exec

From the Mad Men era to the creative zeitgeist of today, the ad industry has experienced quite the transformation. The industry as a whole, the work it produces, and its clients are frequently studied and discussed.

Ad Pod And Its Friends: Delivering The Best CTV Ad Experiences

Aiming to stand out from the crowd and surpass consumers’ expectations, CTV advertisers have to be allied with publishers and very savvy at applying innovative advertising techniques, like frequency capping, competitive ad separation, and deduplication.

Zero-Party Data: How To Leverage It And What To Avoid

Marketers have become obsessed with zero-party data — and rightfully so, as it’s the “holy grail” of consumer information. Savvy marketers use zero-party data to improve the personalization of their brand communications and, ultimately, to deepen their relationships with customers — a high priority these days.

Amazing Ways to Schedule Your Posts – 4 Simple Steps

Social media plays a very important role for businesses in almost every industry. It offers them several benefits from expanding their reach, to building a community and dozens of others. It gives you instant access to your customers and helps keep them engaged with your company.

Humanising Experiences

Culture is what differentiates us from the other living creatures on earth. Learning how to communicate with others is a social process regardless of the channel.

Connected Consciousness

It’s the curious nature of humanity, when these x-in-a-lifetime events arise, to look downwards and backwards, at our dashboards, in our rearview mirrors. But eventually, we realize we must look through the windshield and, once again, beyond the hood and to the horizon.

Why the Cookiepocolypse Actually Affirms the Open Web

In a blog post, a Google leader stated that, once cookies are phased out, “we will not build alternate identifiers to track individuals as they browse across the web, nor will we use them in our products.” 

Advertisers, Do You Know Where Your Audiences Come From?

The looming end of the third-party cookie has pitched the marketing industry into crisis mode. Advertisers and agencies are well aware that the data they collect and the third-party audiences they rely on will change in the near future.

Why the Nostalgia Social Media Trend Is One to Watch in 2021

During 2020 and 2021, we’ve seen nostalgia everywhere. It makes sense, right? There’s no better time to pine for the past and relive happy memories than when we’re stuck at home during lockdown. Nostalgia has made its way into every walk of life, from our wardrobes to our Instagram feeds.

How Chatbots Help Small Business Owners To Increase Conversion Rate

Customers are the lifeblood of every business. That is why it is important to put a modern strategy in place to keep them happy. In this modern-day and age, many businesses consider automating their processes and one of the aspects that they are focusing on is customer communication.

Taking The Handbrake Off: Putting Brand At The Core Of Digital

In a digital-first world shouldn’t your digital experience be completely cohesive with your brand? I explored this recently in a webinar called For Tech’s Sake: Where Does Brand Sit In Tech Obsessed Digital Marketing and that led to an interesting conversation with Dom Boyd, MD of Insights and Offer at Kantar UK.

What Do Consumers Actually Think Of Ads?

To align with new habits under lockdown, budgets have been shifted into more mobile-friendly digital media. Traditional channels have taken a hit. But consumers still value traditional ads, and brands would be unwise to assume they’ve become stale.

3 Tips to Get Creative with Ad Measurement

While “data-driven insights” has been a buzz term for years, it received heightened focus in 2020 amidst the pandemic and as companies began to measure customer sentiment more frequently.

14 Words To Take Out Of Your VC Pitch Deck

With all the pressure to make an impact quickly, founders spend an incredible amount of time on the design of their slides. Less consideration, however, is usually spent on the words on the slide. That’s a mistake, especially when you only have 170 seconds.

Authenticity Sells: How to Use It to Drive Conversions

It’s clear that brands need to work on authenticity, but that can be easier said than done when you’re promoting a business on social media. The bar is high, and distrust is the default setting for most media users.

October 2020: Olympic Champions in Conversation

Apolo Ohno, America’s most decorated winter Olympian, chats with world champion Olympic wrestler J’den Cox and 23-time Paralympic medalist swimmer Jessica Long about how mental health and social injustice are paramount to elite athletes.

Cracking the Code to Amazon: How Brands Can Market Smarter

With many of today’s consumers opting to shop online and Amazon’s vast inventory and quick logistical services, there is a clear appetite for brands to claim a stake and sell. But, what do brands need to know to do this right?

Female Voices: How Retail Leadership Is Evolving With Changing Times

While the future of retail remains unclear, there’s no denying that more changes are on the horizon. By accepting that things won’t go back to how they were before the pandemic, retail leaders can stay agile and ready to meet the needs of both customers and employees.

How Better Understanding Fans Can Help Festival Brands Recover From the Pandemic

While it’s disappointing that festivals and concerts haven’t been able to attempt hosting events in-person amid the pandemic, it’s important to remember the struggles and lessons that various sports teams have learned throughout the process and how they’re essentially paving the way for other industries to successfully commence again.

Introducing AWMoms

AWMoms are women focused on creating conversations, increasing collaborations and supporting actionable initiatives which will help find real solutions to parenting issues in the workplace.

Probabilistic vs. Deterministic Intent

In order to reach audiences with something stronger than a numerical probability, advertisers are going to have to look for entirely new ways to connect with individual consumers.

How To Take Your Agency’s Strategy From Fuzzy To Future-Proof In 2021

The impact COVID-19 had on business rendered agencies’ strategic plans obsolete and disrupted their clients’ pre-existing marketing and branding roadmaps. After spending the past year scrambling for new business and adjusting to remote work, agencies finally have a little breathing room.

Listen Up: Mental Health is the New Wealth

This past year has forced me as a founder and CEO to redefine several constructs I used to regard as dogma. Take the concept of wealth: in the traditional sense, wealth is an abundance of money or earthly possessions.

The Ultimate Guide to Video

Global online video views are at an all-time high and rising 100% every year. The widespread accessibility of high-speed internet allows users to watch live and on-demand videos more than ever before.

Audio OOH: Ads That Don’t Overstep

The privacy bubble is starting to burst and advertisers and marketers alike are quickly pivoting their efforts to include Audio OOH technology in their marketing strategies to reach customers in a privacy-conscious world.

Executive Q&A: Up Close and Personal with Lenovo’s Ajit Sivadasan

As Global Head, Vice President, and General Manager of eCommerce at Lenovo, Ajit Sivadasan is focused on managing the customer’s experience with the brand as well as the purchasing experience on Lenovo.com. We sat down with Ajit to ask him about Lenovo’s experience over the past year and what challenges and opportunities lie ahead.

All You Need to Know About Building a Powerful Brand Identity

Branding is the way a business owner communicates his or her business’ identity to customers. It’s beyond what you sell; it’s your mission, company values, aesthetic, and tone of voice. It’s essentially how customers emotionally experience your company.

The Economics of Marketplace Ad Monetization

When considering the ways marketplaces can generate revenue, there are three basic options available to operators: subscription fees for membership (for buyers or sellers, or both), transaction fees (charged to buyers or sellers, or both), or advertising/media fees.

Build Your Communications Strategy Around the Customer Journey

Back in March 2020 when the pandemic first forced businesses to shift to WFH and brands were examining how they talked to customers that demonstrated empathy, clients started asking a lot larger purpose-related, brand strategy-type questions. 

Amazon’s Goal Isn’t to be the World’s Biggest Store

The parochial view of Amazon is they’re a high-volume store that struggles with thin profit margins. Water cooler stock experts marvel at its high stock price and crow about its measly profits.  Here’s some free advice: don’t listen to the arm-chair experts.

graphic of people as a pie graph

Six Ways Marketers Can Use Segmentation to Improve ROI

In marketing, the more precisely you can define your audience, the more accurately you can predict whether that audience contains your best prospects – and the more quickly you can use that knowledge to find and convert more customers. And one key tool that helps you do that is segmentation.

Women In Leadership: Redefining The Language Of Success

Last year, on International Women’s Day 2020, a female-led team at AnalogFolk launched BigUp.AI – a digital language tool that gives women the confidence to get ahead in their career by helping them express their strengths with impact instead of downplaying them.

How Your Brand Can Empower Wellness in 2021

What can brands and marketers do to benefit consumers during this crucial period of their lives? Our friends at Healthline Media have created their 2021 Fitness Forecast to answer that very question.

Black History Month Is Not an Activation

In years past, diversity, equity and inclusion were causally applied in the experiential marketing industry. The social events of 2020, however, have created a spirit of intentionality.