brands to decide where they really want
to — and, where they don’t want to —
participate, and to inject their voices into
that conversation in order to define who
they are and what they stand for.”
The Issue of Brand Safety
As digital consumption continues to
change and as new opportunities present
themselves, Sean Peters, president of Zenith USA, says marketers are keeping an
eye on the content that’s being delivered
via platforms like Facebook and Google.
“Some of these partners in the market
are creating a lot of individual content
that is built by consumers, and not neces-
sarily built by traditional publishers in
the [usual] way,” Peters says. “As such, we
absolutely have to make sure that we’re
looking after brand safety.”
In online advertising context, brand
safety refers to practices and tools allow-
ing a brand to ensure that an ad will not
appear in a context that can damage it.
It’s an issue that more digital advertisers
are paying attention to these days thanks
to a plethora of high-profile cases (i.e.,
JPMorgan Chase’s pulling of its You Tube
ads and massive reduction in online ad
platform usage), and the fact that 78
percent of marketers believe the reputa-
tion of their brands has been harmed by
the “unintended” placement of digital ads
next to inappropriate content, according
to a CMO Council study.
Peters says Zenith is particularly diligent about making sure that ads don’t
cross any brand safety lines while also
providing solid returns on investment.
“Ultimately, these things come together
to ensure that a brand is in a positive
environment and creating a positive
consumer experience,” says Peters. “At
the end of the day, you don’t ever want
to have a potential customer alienated by
your marketing in any way.”
To make that happen, Peters says ad-
vertisers and agencies should stop think-
ing about digital as a “channel,” and start
looking at digital as being “everything we
do, with less and less of a divide between
it and any traditional media channel.”
Peters adds, “Digital is just an exten-
sion of the way that people are living
their lives. For example, I have a two-
and-a-half-year-old daughter who prob-
ably won’t ever understand the concept
of ‘going online.’ For her, life will simply
be lived online and connected.”
The Road Ahead
Baehr expects more digital advertisers to use data to optimize their creative
platforms in an effort to drive more
media through digital means. And as digital advertising continues to morph and
expand, companies will also put a bigger
effort into their mobile advertising strategies while developing more personalized
experiences for their target audiences.
“Growth is definitely going to continue on the mobile side for us in 2018, with
more attention being paid to where consumers are spending their time and how
they’re consuming content,” says Baehr.
“There’s still a tremendous amount of opportunity in digital, particularly when it
comes to using thoughtful, relevant messages in a more personal way.”
As the digital advertising landscape
continues to evolve, expect it to become
even more ubiquitous and intertwined
with any and all traditional advertising
mediums. To capture the benefits of this
evolution, Peters says companies should
stop talking about their “digital plans”
or “digital strategies” and instead focus
on un-compartmentalizing the power of
these channels.
In other words, rather than viewing
digital as a single point of entry, focus
more tightly on marketing, selling, and
delivering a positive experience for your
customers.
“Enabling that takes some reinvention,” says Peters, “and new thinking.”
MEDIA SPOTLIGHT
Online video — particularly mobile — is
changing the way society consumes
entertainment — and, of course, advertising.
In fact, mobile video programming is
becoming more social by the day.
