Dive Brief:
- In GroupM’s Interaction 2016 annual report, the findings uncovered six trends that are posing a challenge for marketers. Some of these include: the integrity of the digital supply in regards to ad fraud; the use of apps for advertising; e-commerce enabling transactions anytime and anywhere; TV moving toward non-liner over-the-top and live streaming on social media; and the ongoing importance of data.
- The report acknowledged ad blocking has become a significant issue for the industry, as well as the fact there are no simple solutions to combat the problem. It also pointed out that even though in-app ads may not be currently blockable, advertisers shouldn’t count on technology catching up on that front.
- GroupM also redefined the digital revolution from “broadcast to desktop to mobile” for a view that takes into account channels that lead to sites and then to apps. The marketing challenge is creating persistent relevance in-app that might require a focus on a brand narrative rather than just relying on advertising.
Dive Insight:
"The world finally went mobile. The Facebook and Google ecosystems dominate with Snapchat on the rise. Commerce, communication, entertainment and inevitably marketing are becoming pocket sized. In every area, the opportunity of mobile is immense as are the attendant challenges of measurement and creativity," GroupM Global Chief Digital Officer Rob Norman told Marketing Dive.
The GroupM report made clear that the agency understands some of the key pain points facing digital marketers and the online advertising industry overall. Particularly, it addressed the complexity of ad blocking as well as recognizing that apps, and really the entire mobile experience, is an increasingly important aspect of digital marketing.
"The rise in consumer adoption of ad blocking technology violates the inferred consumer contract with content owners which enables advertising investment to support content development," GroupM Futures Director Adam Smith said in a statement. "For this reason, and its potential to inhibit brands’ ability to reach their audiences, it merits close study and preventative measures. We have much farther to go in understanding the true impact of ad blocking as estimates of lost inventory are scarce."
As tensions continue to mount over ad blocking, and as technology evolves ever more quickly, digital marketers face numerous challenges, the main one being that they have to figure out how to adapt.