Change is constant. Consumers’ preferences are always evolving, and this nearly two-year long global pandemic has accelerated that evolution and brought about major shifts to many elements within the digital marketing world.
Now, digital marketers, businesses, and brands alike must take bigger moves and more creative, automated, authentic, and inclusive ways to connect with their audiences.
Want to stay ahead of the curve? Read through these trends to know and watch as you strategize for a successful 2022.
66% of voters in the U.S. support adult-use legalization, and 91% support medical marijuana. As of August 2021, eighteen states have legalized adult use, and more than 40 have medical marijuana laws.
While the eventual federal legalization of cannabis is inevitable, marketers today must navigate a complex advertising landscape. Multiple sets of regulations stack up, from federal and state governments to individual advertising channels. Even if an ad passes all those layers of regulation, it can still be denied —for any reason—by a publisher.
Marketers in this space are tasked with more than just selling a strictly regulated consumer good. Their job is to educate, change minds, and reframe stigmas about cannabis use. It’s a tall order—but as the cliché goes, diamonds are made under pressure.
Read on to learn how marketers can effectively navigate the challenges of cannabis marketing in the U.S., in order to take full advantage of its many opportunities.
2021 was a banner year for consumer privacy.
Since the twenty-teens, the increasing consumer skepticism of tracking and targeting technologies, coupled with privacy protection measures taken by government bodies and tech companies, has felt like a slow but steady trickle.
In contrast, 2021 opened the floodgates. In January, Google announced public testing of its Privacy Sandbox initiative. In April, Apple released iOS 14.5, granting iPhone users the ability to opt out of app tracking. In June, Google adjusted their timeline for phasing out third-party cookies.
As consumers, tech companies, and government regulators continue to create the new normal of privacy in advertising, there’s a lot for advertisers to track and consider. If you're looking for a one-stop-shop to help you thoroughly understand the consumer privacy landscape in 2021 and beyond, start by reviewing the articles below—a comprehensive listing of Basis’ identity-related content from 2021.
Editor’s note: Basis Technologies rebranded from Centro in October 2021.
Check out this visual explanation of consumer privacy issues and solutions within the advertising industry.
In this Basis Institute webinar, Basis CEO Shawn Riegsecker and IAB Tech Lab’s Alex Cone weigh in on how marketers can harness forthcoming changes to consumer privacy.
Senior Director of Product Management at the IAB Tech Lab, Alex Cone, answers three broad questions about the future of identity.
Basis’ General Counsel, Derek Zolner, discusses frameworks for how marketers should—and shouldn’t—think about the future of consumer privacy.
Basis CEO Shawn Riegsecker penned this open letter to the industry in March, explaining why shifts in consumer privacy are opportunities to better ourselves as marketers.
In this episode of AdTech Unfiltered, Pedro Pavón, who oversees privacy, data policy, and advertising at Facebook, shares his views on consumer privacy laws and how advertisers should plan for a cookieless future.
Check out these three key points that marketers must understand in order to plan effectively for the future of identity.
Learn about three groups working toward innovative identity solutions.
Looking to understand the history of consumer privacy? Take a walk down memory lane to learn how we got to where we are now.
Here’s everything you can do to prepare your DSP, social, and search campaigns for the iOS14 and the loss of third-party cookies.
In this Basis Institute webinar, Basis’ Director of Media Systems, Ken Rood, offers specific action plans for how to prepare programmatic, search, and social campaigns for a future with different identifiers.
Is Google FLoC the replacement for third-party cookies that advertisers have been searching for?
A comprehensive guide to understanding and planning for a future with different identifiers.
When news broke that Google was delaying the implementation of third-party cookie blocking in Chrome until late 2023, Basis’ VP of Product Marketing, Aubrey Lehrmann, penned a response on what the development means for our industry.
Five quick tips for succeeding in a privacy-first future.
In this episode of AdTech Unfiltered, Angelina Eng, VP of Addressability and Measurement at the IAB, shares her thoughts on the technical maneuvers that advertisers must take on to navigate a rapidly approaching future with far fewer reliable identifiers.
In this Basis Institute webinar featuring LiveRamp’s Travis Clinger, learn what it means to build first-party relationships with consumers and why it is imperative to create an ecosystem built on trust.
The discussions at this year’s Programmatic I/O event focused largely on one theme: identity solutions for the cookieless world.
For the most part, current identity solutions fall into three categories: Addressable identity solutions, contextual advertising, and cohorts/Google’s Privacy Sandbox. This piece discusses the benefits and drawbacks of each category.
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As 2022 brings new developments in identity resolution, Basis Technologies will continue to publish analyses, recommendations, and thought leadership to keep marketers in-the-know. Here's to the privacy-first future!
Download this infographic to get the highlights from our report, “How Complexity, Job Satisfaction, and Automation Intersect in Digital Media.” Research shows that 37% of advertising professionals plan to leave their jobs within two years. Less than 25% say they are completely satisfied with any one aspect of their job – with ‘training and education’ and ‘technology to help with automation of tasks’ receiving some of the lowest ratings. The data was compiled by research firm Advertiser Perceptions from an October 2021 survey of 150 digital advertising decision-makers at agencies and brands. Learn what's driving complexity, job satisfaction and automation in digital media.
Research shows that 37% of advertising professionals plan to leave their jobs within two years. With 90% of professionals agreeing ‘that the advertising industry has become significantly more complex,’ the top factor causing this (cited by 72% of those surveyed) is ‘the increase in different transaction methods for buying media.’ The data was compiled by research firm Advertiser Perceptions from a survey of 150 digital advertising decision-makers at agencies and brands. The report includes insights on:
Want to learn about the complexity, job satisfaction and automation in the digital media industry? Download your copy of the report today.
2021: What a year. Was it only 12 months ago that we were celebrating the end of 2020’s chaos?
In the world of advertising, 2021 saw more than a few paradigm-shifting events. Google announced the delay of third-party cookie deprecation on its Chrome browser, Facebook rebranded to Meta, and Kim Kardashian started dating Pete Davidson as a PR stunt—just kidding (but maybe...)!
Through it all, Basis Technologies worked to bring you the latest news and insights from the ever-evolving advertising industry. Read on to check out 10 of the articles that most resonated with our readers in 2021.
Editor’s note: Basis Technologies rebranded from Centro in October 2021.
Basis CEO Shawn Riegsecker penned this open letter to the industry in March, explaining why shifts in consumer privacy are opportunities to better ourselves as marketers.
Learn about three groups working toward innovative identity solutions.
Here's everything you can do to prepare your DSP, social, and search campaigns for the loss of third-party cookies.
When news broke that Google was delaying the implementation of third-party cookie blocking in Chrome until late 2023, Basis’ VP of Product Marketing, Aubrey Lehrmann, penned a response on what the development means for our industry.
Advertisers must start developing strategies to reach and appeal to Gen Z, which is projected to become America’s largest generation by 2034. Here’s how.
From inconsistency risks to scalability issues, here are six of the main challenges manual data integration efforts pose for businesses.
Basis President Tyler Kelly spoke with Cognizant's Arturo Pena about the strategies of in-housing and B2B addressability in digital advertising.
With misinformation and hate speech continuing to flood social networks, here's what social media advertisers can do to protect their brands and prompt change.
New Climate Voices’ partnership with Basis illustrates how digital advertising can shift opinions on climate change, even among highly skeptical audiences.
In the face of dwindling inventory, brands are wondering if they should scale back their marketing efforts. Here’s why businesses would be wise to continue advertising through any supply chain crisis.
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Farewell, 2021. Here's to a successful 2022, and have a Happy New Year!
As the death of third-party cookies approaches, marketers are beginning to wade through a proliferation of new tools, partners, and processes that promise to pick up where cookies left off.
While the marketing world transitions away from cookie-driven advertising and forges new best practices for targeting, winning brands will leverage a mix of trusted identity solutions to mitigate the loss of cookies. For the most part, these solutions fall into three categories: Addressable identity solutions, contextual advertising, and cohorts/Google’s Privacy Sandbox. Read on to learn about the benefits and drawbacks of each category.
Addressable identity solutions take a one-to-one approach to targeting. Walled gardens such as Facebook and Amazon use these solutions, as they typically result in the highest return on ad spend. They’re privacy-friendly, easy to measure, and—contrary to misconception—they scale. While addressable identity solutions aren’t available for every impression, they’re highly effective when used in tandem with other types of solutions.
Contextual advertising sidesteps user data completely, instead using information about the content of a webpage to display contextually relevant advertisements. For example, if you’re reading an article about how to redecorate your home, a contextual advertising solution might place ads for furniture and home goods alongside that content. Contextual advertising is simple, cost-efficient, and scalable—on the other hand, it’s difficult to measure, resulting in a lower return on ad spend.
In 2019, Google announced the Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC) as part of its Privacy Sandbox initiative. FLoC promises to group users into “cohorts” that are updated each week based on their interests, leveraging user data from browser histories rather than third-party cookies. Cohorts are an efficient identity solution with a lot of potential, but FLoC itself has received criticism for its potential to create new privacy risks for users. All in all, FLoC is still untested, and it means relinquishing control of your audiences to Google.
For an in-depth look into the cookieless future, check out Navigating Identity and Addressability Without Third-Party Cookies.
For many attendees, myself included, AdExchanger’s Programmatic I/O Conference was their first in-person business event since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The energy and enthusiasm were palpable, and rightly so, as the conference offered a diverse set of topics and guest speakers to pique the interest of every digital marketer.
This year’s discussions focused largely on one theme: identity solutions for the cookieless world. Read on for my key takeaways.
With the deprecation of third-party cookies, there has been a rise in technology to manage first-party data, as well as a rise in collaboration. It was shared that 7 in 10 marketers still need to better leverage their first-party data, and that only 1 out of 10 consider their first-part data strategy to be “very mature.” That being said, identity solutions—including contextual targeting, which I’ll touch on later—need to be part of any digital marketing strategy moving forward.
When activating first-party data, marketers should now think of the consumer. The strategy should focus on quality—not quantity—because good ethics makes for good business. This is about avoiding friction and respecting the consumer.
Ideally, the publisher should be managing controls on consent, but we need to rethink consent as well. The consumer may be telling us not to collect all their data, but instead, just what we need. So it isn’t about collecting as much data as possible, but taking a step back and asking, what do we need to market effectively? What are the consumer's needs and preferences? Take time to understand your core consumer by looking at the data. It may be helpful to reverse engineer your strategy with the end in mind.
Marketers need to be part of the solution and be willing to collaborate, test and share. Testing will require an investment as you revisit taxonomy, train your teams, or partner with ad tech. Testing can involve anywhere from 10-20 identity partners to find the right combination, and by sharing our learnings, everybody in the industry wins.
AI-enabled contextual targeting is on the rise in response to the deprecation of third-party cookies. Contextual targeting is a great privacy-friendly option as it provides real-time data to understand what a user is looking at, and ads are served when a user is already in a desirable frame of mind. It’s a good low-funnel tactic that delivers the brand message to the user and can be tracked by view-through conversion performance.
When using contextual targeting in relation to the loss of cookies, it's important to understand relevant moments for your consumers. It was recommended that we optimize for results—that is, aim for maximum reach and then dial in to increase precision to drive conversion.
In a nutshell, we can look at contextual targeting with a 3-tier approach by:
To summarize, here are my takeaways on how marketers can get ahead and prepare for the cookieless future:
All in all, Programmatic I/O 2021 was a momentous occasion for digital marketers. As we look forward to forging a new, privacy compliant "normal" for our industry, it was great to be reminded of the wealth of knowledge and experience we collectively hold. As long as we keep sharing knowledge and ideas, the digital marketing space has a bright and exciting future.
Looking for more information about how to succeed in a cookieless future? Check out our guide, Beyond Third-Party Cookies: Your Guide to Overcoming the Identity Crises, for a deep dive.
Financial services is a broad term used to describe the myriad offerings within the finance sector, encompassing everything from insurance and wealth management to payments and digital banking solutions. It is an industry undergoing a monumental transformation amidst the rapid proliferation of powerful technologies in the form of smartphones, mobile apps, risk decisioning analytics, etc. With consumer expectations evolving in parallel, we’re beginning to see signs that traditional institutions with long histories are losing their stranglehold on the market as a new wave of fintech startups emerge looking to disrupt legacy systems. In short, the status quo is changing, and the established order is being upended.
From a marketing perspective, the world of finance is undoubtedly one of the toughest to navigate. Besides the universal regulations that exist across all digital marketing—from GDPR and CCPA laws to the forthcoming deprecation of third-party cookies—finance marketers face their own unique set of hurdles and stringent standards that they need to abide by. Intangible products coupled with tight governance around how products can be communicated to audiences makes it difficult to market aggressively and creatively. Then there’s the glaring problem of distrust. According to a recent report by Morning Consult, 21% of 4,400 respondents said they have lost trust in a bank and stopped using it as a result, while only 39% have a natural trust in finance companies in general.
With all these barriers to success to contend with, financial services providers must act innovatively in their marketing strategies to retain and win new business. Just how is that achieved, though? How do marketers stand out from the crowd when the standardization of financial products has made it harder to distinguish from the competition? How is it possible to avoid the unsustainable race-to-the-bottom scenario where the only differentiator is in ever-lower pricing? How can marketing organizations build a campaign that can’t be easily replicated? How are lasting marketing advantages generated?
Here, we explore five financial services advertisements that answer all these questions emphatically. Together they spotlight easy-to-use payment solutions, online investing, home insurance, mortgage brokers, and personal banking, all with a shared penchant for aesthetically appealing visuals and clever dialogue or punchlines that leave an impression. Standing on their own, they can each be viewed as a mini piece of art rather than a pushy sales pitch.
About the Ad
In the annals of fashion history, it’s fair to say the last two years won’t be remembered fondly. The world collectively underwent a period of indoor loungewear so pervasive and long-lasting that when light was visible at the end of the lockdown tunnel, every style-minded person was confronted with a nagging fear: just how am I going to dress when it’s time to reemerge from the comfort of home?
This is the question that gives life to a recent campaign from Swedish buy now, pay later giant Klarna featuring musician and style savant A$AP Rocky. In a two-and-a-half-minute short film, Rocky dramatizes the tribulations of putting together a look that feels anything other than highly controversial as he surfaces from quarantine in New York. While the rest of the city is seemingly dressed to impress, the rapper stumbles out into the streets with a less-than-polished appearance complete with white slippers and a fuzzy purple robe much to the shock, and amusement, of his neighbors. The realization dawns on Rocky that he needs to rediscover his vibe upon meeting an elderly woman sporting the same garms, and he quickly turns to Klarna to help upgrade his hibernation wardrobe into something a little suaver. The spot ends with a cameo from U.K. rapper Skepta similarly in need of a quickfire makeover, before Klarna encourages viewers to likewise drop their lockdown look and “get smooth again.”
Why it Works
As the world physically resurfaces, there are clear signs that discretionary spending is beginning to recover. A new report by McKinsey indicates that apparel stores are seeing year-over-year losses decrease, and at the same time, U.S. consumers are expressing that they plan to splurge on themselves as pre-pandemic activities continue to return to normal. Klarna’s own research revealed that 63% of consumers globally plan to dress up more frequently than before the pandemic, suggesting that people will be itching to update their closets.
With all this pent-up excitement around shopping, it was perfect timing for Klarna to drop this ad and depict the ease with which their app empowers users to pay for products in installments with zero interest. The campaign also feeds off the growth momentum experienced within the buy now, pay later category that exploded during the pandemic. Overall, consumers will make nearly $100 billion in retail purchases using BNPL programs in 2021, up from $24 billion in 2020, and $20 billion in 2019, as stated in a study by Cornerstone Advisors. Klarna itself has doubled its U.S. customer base since June 2020, reaching a record 20 million customers. In essence, the ad aligns with topical events and current trends as a means to connect with their target audience in a meaningful, relevant way. It doesn’t hurt that global icon and fashion chameleon A$AP Rocky is the face of it, as well.
About the Ad
Scenes from every parent’s worst nightmare: a one-boy tornado ripping through the house with scant regard for, well, anything. That’s what happens in the latest advert for the home insurance division of John Lewis, the undisputed King of adverts. Devised by their long-time London-based creative partner Adam & Eve DDB and directed by Tom Kuntz, the one-minute short documents the trail of destruction wrought by a young boy with a penchant for overly dramatic self-expression. We begin in a ransacked bedroom: clothes strewn all over the floor, jewelry everywhere, nail polish bottles open. The boy pops up, stares into the camera, and embarks upon his rampage during which stilettos go flying, vases get broken, paint is applied to kitchen appliances, and glitter is sprinkled over the dining table, all while his sister and dumbfounded mother look on powerless. It’s a wonderful acting performance underscored by the upbeat notes of Stevie Nicks’ classic Edge of Seventeen. The ad’s message is heart-warming and simple: “Let Life Happen.”
Why it Works
In his seminal 2012 book Seducing the Unconscious: The Psychology of Emotional Influence, author Robert Heath identified that the most effective ads rely on low attention, emotional processing. In simple terms, the less an advertiser claims, the more likely audiences are to be influenced by them. This John Lewis ad epitomizes that premise. With nothing being obviously sold to us, we let our guard down and allow ourselves to get swept away by the boy’s onslaught and the impactful music. It is a clever piece of art that injects joy, freedom, and humor into what can be considered a somewhat unexciting subject: home insurance. As is their trademark, John Lewis shies away from a product focus and instead looks to build an emotional connection between their target audience and their brand story.
About the Ad
Goldman Sachs was primarily known as a white-shoe investment bank chiefly serving corporate clients until the introduction of the Marcus Consumer Banking Division back in 2016. Now the company is in the midst of rolling out its largest campaign for Marcus with a series of short 30-second ads that iterate on the bank’s “You Can Money” tagline. The spots are fronted by Golden Globe and Emmy award-winning actress Rosamund Pike who plays the new fictional Marcus spokesperson “M”—short for Money, no relation to James Bond’s superior at the Secret Intelligence Service. Together the ads position Marcus as a one-stop consumer banking platform tailored to users’ spending, saving, and investment needs while simultaneously poking fun at other bank privileges such as free pens, low annual percentage returns, or, as in the case showcased above, complimentary coffee “that tastes like it was brewed by a bank—because it was.”
Why it Works
This ad is very much about highlighting the old way versus the new way. Brands that showcase how their product or service can fix a broken or antiquated system can be a powerful technique to get their message across. Marcus leans on this concept by ridiculing their competitors’ existing interpretation of competitive advantages—the examples of free pens and coffee are both literal but also metaphorical in that they satirize the way some banks have an inherent misunderstanding of what disruption means and what modern consumers actually want. The creative leverages tongue-in-cheek language to speak to their target audience in a way that’s intelligent and digestible, with a focus on humor to help break through the noise.
About the Ad
When it comes to the issues of home buying and refinancing, the phrase “pretty sure” just isn’t quite sure enough. Enter America’s largest mortgage lender Rocket Mortgage, who are here to help us understand the vast chasm between “pretty sure” and “certain” with a little help from superstar actor and comedian Tracy Morgan. In their latest commercial, which first aired during Super Bowl LV, a family of four confidently claim they are “pretty sure” they can afford the house they are touring before being stopped in their tracks by a bath-lounging, strawberry-eating Morgan who warns them against betting on “pretty sure.” He then leads them through a series of uncertainty-filled, high-stakes scenarios to prove that “pretty sure” is never the way to go—particularly if that involves eating wild mushrooms, fighting former professional wrestler David Bautista, or driving over an open drawbridge. The ad closes by cutting back to the scene in the house where they acknowledge the merits of Morgan’s argument and promptly agree they should use Rocket Mortgage to be “certain” they can afford the home they want. Clever.
Why it Works
The era of COVID-19 has irrevocably changed the way people view their homes. After lengthy periods of not just living, but also working, exercising, and studying at home, the pandemic has brought new meaning and significance to the place where we live. This ad taps into that sentiment and highlights the importance of home while drawing awareness to the key role that local mortgage brokers play in helping Americans realize their dream of homeownership. With Morgan at the helm supported by other celebrity cameos, Rocket Mortgage nails the cautious tone of the brand and product but still offers viewers something genuinely funny to watch—a winning combination.
About the Ad
With experts proclaiming the worst of the pandemic is in the rear-view mirror, there is a prevailing sense globally that all people want to do now is look to a better future as a way to move forward. It is a mood echoed in the newest ad by HSBC UK that brilliantly highlights how physical, attitudinal, and cultural borders can act as major barriers to opportunity. Created by Wunderman Thompson and directed by James Rouse, the one-minute spot is the successor to the bank’s successful yet controversial We Are Not An Island campaign that aired in 2017, one that many commentators felt was a clear reference to Brexit. Much-loved British comedian Richard Ayoade starred in that provocative ad, and he returns here to weave viewers through a collection of scenarios designed to underline that while some borders can be useful, it’s not always the case. There are references to racial divides, gender inequality, political diversities, and the hurdles we face within ourselves. It’s a powerful and transcendent ad that ultimately reflects a nation’s desire for change.
Why it Works
When asked about the idea behind this campaign, HSBC UK’s Chief Marketing Officer Becky Moffat answered with this: “The bank's role is to help our customers navigate the new different we are all experiencing. What we wanted was to build on what we've achieved with We Are Not An Island—brand consideration and brand power—but do it differently, and in a way that resonates both with our audience and our purpose.” It’s certainly mission accomplished for Becky and the creative team on that front. This ad perfectly encapsulates the UK’s current feeling around borders blocking opportunity and smoothly highlights that the bank isn’t too big to care, but rather it’s large enough to make a difference and level the playing field.
What these ads show is that while the financial services ecosystem itself can be complex, creativity doesn’t always have to take a back seat during the development of campaigns. Marketers in this sector are often challenged with promoting a product or end benefit that is abstract in nature, so being innovative, relatable, credible, and easy-to-understand is imperative. “Get smooth again.” “Let life happen.” “You can money.” “Certain is better.” “Opportunity doesn’t do borders.” Five wonderfully simple taglines devoid of any technical jargon that really get to the heart of the respective brand’s identity. By following these principles, finance marketers will be empowered to outpace the competition in whatever branch of financial services their brand belongs to.
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As important as it is to craft a great ad, that means nothing if you’re not getting it in front of the right people at the right time. If you’re looking for support when it comes to targeting, get in touch and have a conversation with our digital media experts.
