MARCO ISLAND, Fla. – Audience measurement, climate change and consumer privacy are among the most important issues that marketers are facing in 2023. Media, marketing and ad-tech professionals gathered at the IAB Annual Leadership Meeting to not only meet others in these industries, but also to discuss trends that are shaping their work.
“What I’m hearing a lot from brands is the whole measurement conundrum is very challenging,” Sheryl Goldstein, executive vice president and chief industry growth officer at IAB, said in this interview with Beet.TV contributor Mike Shields at the IAB Annual Leadership Meeting. “Every time we think we have figured something out, some next new technology comes in and shakes it up.”
The pandemic triggered a sudden shift in how people watch television, speeding up longer-term trends. More consumers signed up for video-streaming services, including sports fans who looked for other entertainment when college and professional leagues suspended play. Advertisers faced challenges in comparing viewership of traditional linear television and streaming.
“It’s very hard to come up with a common way to track and measure and have a currency that works across the board,” Goldstein said of how media buyers and sellers set the value of ad transactions. “That’s going to be a challenge for us for a while.”
Media measurement includes analysis of business outcomes, or attributing advertising to a specific consumer action such as a product purchase. Marketers also are interested in people’s attention to advertising, especially as the media marketplace grows more fragmented among more channels and electronic devices.
“If there’s attention leading to intention, meaning something in that ad got me interested that led to an action — now, I’ve got something I could track and measure that has meaning,” Goldstein said. “In a way, that action really is engagement.”
Environmental, Social and Governance Responsibilities
Many consumers want to associate themselves with brands that reflect their values on social issues, including the effects on greenhouse gasses that are blamed for climate change. In response, more media and marketing professionals are scrutinizing how advertising activities consume energy.
“Brand responsibility has really entered into the media landscape now,” Goldstein said. “Ad Net Zero, [IAB] Tech Lab, Scope 3 are all working together along with other industry associations to find a way to reduce carbon emission coming from the adtech world.”
Consumer Privacy Pitfalls
The United States doesn’t have a national consumer-privacy law, which has left individual states to set rules that give people more control over the ways their personal information is gathered, shared or deleted. That has led marketers to apply privacy laws of heavily populated states such as California and Illinois throughout the whole country. However, the growing patchwork of laws is challenging.
“We are out there trying to push for a multi-state approach,” Goldstein said. “Privacy is important, we agree, but let’s do it in a way that’s not going to handcuff and cripple the industry.”
You’re watching ‘What’s Next: Scaling CTV Through Industry Collaboration,’ a Beet.TV Leadership Series produced at IAB ALM 2023, presented by Index Exchange. For more videos from this series, please visit this page.
