We live in exciting times. Almost daily we hear of new wonder technologies, new algorithms, new ways of working and communicating, with much of it driven by the “ever so smart” phone that lets us do anything anywhere at any time.
Marketing communications continue to move to all things digital. Direct marketing, powered by Google and other search engines, is now mostly online.
In the UK, the internet accounts for 80% of direct response advertising. There is much more to go for. Even today only 16% of retail spend is online.
Brand advertising has moved more slowly, but now broadcast TV, still the dominant branding medium, is beginning to see real competition from digital platforms.
While the shift of spend out of TV advertising has been slow to date, spend on video-led advertising looks set to accelerate.
We all watch much less broadcast TV than we did five years ago. Viewing is down by a third among 16 to 24 year olds.
Netflix and NOW TV don’t carry ads (yet), but they eat into TV’s audience.
All the while, ad-supported online content continues to improve.
Digital marketing still has plenty of challenges.
The industry has made progress on brand safety, viewability and ad fraud, as Unilever’s Keith Weed said at Dmexco, but there’s more to be done. Cross-platform measurement is still in its infancy.
Gresham House Strategic PLC has a 9.5% ownership of Be Heard Group PLC correct as of 30 November 2017 month end NAV announcement, released 1 December 2017
