Today and for several years now we have been in a transitional spiral when it comes to media. All this is driven by the digitalization of traditional media such as print, TV and radio as they have evolved towards publishing, DOOH, Video and Audio.
Before going deeper into specific media trends, it is important to stop and check what the more global/cross media trends are exactly.
Keeping media in-house
The complexity of digital media planning and buying has resulted in a huge uplift of the in-housing of digital buying going from search, programmatic, AdOps and more. From the client’s perspective, keeping all digital intelligence in-house would be a smart idea. This way we can still help the client with the implementation part of the process.
Big Tech take-over
We are facing the arrival of major media group consolidations. With Big Tech sneaking its way into the (Belgian) advertising marketing, local players are directly impacted. Moreover, with print media not being Top Of Mind anymore, a media centralization seems to be taking place.
We are holding our breath to see what the pending acquisition of RTL Belgium by DPG Media and Rossel will bring for the market. This new structure introduces a new Belgian media giant, so much is clear.
Silo Marketing is not of this day and age
We might need to forget about the standard funnels, considering the times we live in. The pressure has never been higher for agencies, and this implies we need to be able to shift as fast as possible. In 2022 there is no room for silo marketing or disconnected and isolated strategies. We need to work together surpassing imaginative boundaries that platforms, specializations, or departments might create.
Consumer in a fast consumption culture
Today, consumers are living in a fast-moving consumer society, where almost everything lies at their feet at any time. Being digitally connected 24/7, consumers have anything from food to media at their disposal within a click’s reach.
In terms of media this means that content must be available at any time, a trend highly prevalent for streaming platforms. On the downside, the subscription-based strategy makes this new evolution rather sneaky.
Data owners are king
In the advertising market you need to have access to data to collect the right insights, performances and learnings about the consumer. Today most intel lays with telecom companies and the BIG FOUR.
A cookie-less world would have a huge impact on the data collection done by agencies and media. partners. Setting up your own datasets is crucial to remain on track with the continuous evolutions we are facing.
Cross media digital measurementWe can have all the data and insights that we want but if we can’t measure everything correctly across different platforms with the usage of 1 single metric then we are blocked in both the offline and the online world.
In Belgium we are not quite there yet. Finding the best measuring modalities will give us access to the holy grail. Steps are taken with the VIA-initiative (video) to measure a part of the viewing time, but we still have a long way to go. Main blocking points remain financial and political.
Visual technologyThe era of visual development keeps on evolving going from Virtual reality and Augmented reality to image recognition and the Internet of Eyes. More everyday objects are being equipped with smart cameras and the latest visual recognition technology every day. Using this new technology creates an extra layer of creativity but more importantly pushes the immersive brand experience.
