In this exclusive “Masters of Media” series, Integral Ad Science (IAS) speaks to the Movers and Shakers of the APAC advertising industry on all digital matters.

Isabella (also known as Bella) Spragg is the Director of Partnerships, APAC, at Media.Monks. After almost a decade of commercial lawyering, Bella moved into the digital media/advertising world, joining the American digital media start-up, MightyHive, as its first operations focused employee in APAC. Over 6.5 years with the company (now called Media.Monks), Bella has been a media trader, led account management teams and focused on growing the business through its tech vendor relationships.  In her current role as Director of Partnerships, APAC, her focus is managing Media.Monk’s regional corporate relationships with key strategic technology partners to drive growth and maturity for the business (and its clients). In December of 2022, she was also awarded Google Marketing Platform’s Practitioner of the Year and is an inaugural member of the Tealium Partner Advisory Board.

Outside of work, Bella is a wife, mum to two little boys, deeply obsessed with her ageing (gracefully) aussie bulldog named Meatball, a book lover, gigantic sweets lover and, most importantly, a Survivor fanatic.

Questions:

IAS: Please tell us about your journey in digital media and your current role at Media.Monks

Isabella: My journey into the digital media/ advertising world started as the fun police ensuring the copy on advertising campaigns wasn’t breaching any laws, and the ‘Terms & Conditions’ listed at the bottom were jam packed with all the good legal stuff. At that point in my career, I had no value for how powerful those M-RECS were and how many more I’d see in my life! I’d been lawyering for almost a decade and was feeling super burnt out when a friend was approached to open the APAC office of an American digital media start-up focused on reselling and servicing Google Marketing Platform (at the time it was called Double Click). He was just beginning his search for staff and I’d decided I was ready to jump ship into something different. Seven interviews later, copious amounts of research into what digital media actually was, how it worked and trying to understand why there were so many acronyms – I landed myself a job as the first operations focused employee in APAC (and I think I was within the first 40 employees globally). We swiftly hired a bunch of smart folks straight after me and boom, shots fired – our race was off! 

What “they” say about joining a rocketship start-up during the tech boom is true. Within a year, I had been to Mexico for the weekend to celebrate the company’s birthday, multiple trips to San Francisco and all around Asia. My career progression was equally as crazy – within about 18 months, I was leading a team of 6 people working with all sizes of businesses (from small to enterprise) and independent agencies educating and activating digital media campaigns for them.

I’ve also stepped out of the hustle and bustle twice to have my little boys. During one of those times, MightyHive was purchased by an even bigger rocket – S4 Capital. And with that, came the name change to Media.Monks plus new friends, new businesses with different tech vendor relationships, almost 10,000 incredibly talented people, a clear POV on market trends/topics and strong messaging around our direction + future. 

After 6.5 years and a few grey hairs – I’m still here! My current role is Director of Partnerships, APAC. In conjunction with our global partnership team, relevant go-to-market teams, capability leaders and epic growth team, I am developing our APAC partnership offering. My focus is on growing and maturing our regional corporate relationships with key strategic technology partners plus identifying and building out new service offerings alongside innovative independent tech players within the media, data and creative space. 

IAS: AI-powered platforms such as ChatGPT have created a lot of buzz in various industries across the spectrum. How do you think AI will influence digital media, and transform the industry in the near future?

Isabella: Evolution is inevitable, right? It transforms our industry, pushing it to change and grow. When programmatic hit our trading desks, people proclaimed it would be the end of thousands of jobs. Whilst some may have shifted roles, it made us better, smarter, and more efficient media traders. Inefficient workflows were reduced and people were able to access more data to make educated and strategic decisions. I take a similar view with Generative AI and its powerful necessary impact on our industry – across all disciplines from data, media, and the cool stuff happening with creativity. Again, it’ll work to make us better at our jobs – leading to a pivot and upskill in labour, maturation of industry needs, shift in priorities, increase in efficiency but ultimately, it’ll result in better work being done. 

The real concern for our industry is not how AI impacts it, rather it’s how brands are being educated on what this change actually means (and it’s certainly not operational efficiency meaning fewer people and translating to a healthy bottom line) as well as completely understanding Generative AI beyond buzzwords. No point hiding in the shadows with this one i.e. our industry needs to be upskilling and creating a point of view on how generative AI can assist brands. Agencies/consultancies providing services around the adoption or incorporation of Generative AI – (through education, implementation, change management, efficiencies and upskilling of labour, etc.) are sure to not only win this transition phase but be market leaders embracing the future. 

In the spirit of inclusivity, I asked ChatGPT what it thought of its impact on the digital media industry: “AI is already transforming the digital media industry and will continue to do so in the near future. Through personalised content, content creation, enhanced user experience, better data analytics and improved search and discovery. Overall, AI is likely to play an increasingly significant role in the digital media industry, helping companies create more personalised and engaging content, improve user experience, and streamline processes”. 

IAS: What advice would you give to someone starting their journey in digital media?

Isabella: Hold on tight – this industry is a wild (often fun, sometimes stressful, but generally great) place to be. There are constant evolutions, huge pieces of work to be done, you’re surrounded by some seriously smart people across data, strategy, media, and creative who do work that drives consumerism whilst invoking all the feels with customers. The people in this industry know people/customers. They know what we want, what motivates us, how we want to spend money, where we want to spend it and when. It’s pretty amazing to watch the impact of the work we do and realise how powerful it is. 

Plenty of folks laugh whenever I say I’m in the advertising industry; then I laugh at how the beautifully engaging ad they saw this morning whilst scrolling on social media coming into work, which lead them to check out the brand’s website or research the product further, will continue to resurface at all the right times until that person decides to purchase it and absolutely none of that was by coincidence rather, it was completely strategic and planned. Watch their eyes light up with a touch of intrigue mixed with fear! 

IAS: Since brands are now bringing trading in-house, many parts of the industry are pivoting to a consultancy framework. How do you see the media landscape evolving with respect to this?

Isabella: It’s that same old story of evolution. Here the industry is successfully maturing from being the “doers” to utilising that tried and tested expert knowledge to educate others to “do”. The whole ‘give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime’ concept is playing out. This movement allows brands to have more control, whilst leaning on experts to provide strategic input, training, education coupled with, no doubt, short term bursts of ‘hands on keyboards’. It’s a win that builds trust through transparency. 

We will also see the creation of new service avenues around publisher relationships. As inventory quality will be assessed more deeply (i.e. due to an increase in data requirements, and publishers needing to understand their buyers more due to working directly with them). Direct sales will evolve from working with a handful of agencies to hundreds of individual in-house teams. Will this lead the industry to shift towards partners who work with brands to assist with inventory deals? Or, do publishers become far more accessible through increased awareness campaigns, easy to use self-service platforms and education pieces? 

IAS: In your opinion, what measures can the advertising industry take to combat the trust and transparency challenges in the digital supply chain?

Isabella: Before we turn to the continued changes required, acknowledgement of the great strides already made in our industry is necessary. Over the last few years, the industry has put this issue front and centre and we’ve seen a strong evolution and improvement in trust and transparency across our supply chain; bolstered by both legislative changes and deep commitments from Vendors. 

But, the key to maintaining the momentum comes down to accountability from agencies and brands. In my opinion, both are now aware of what to ask, educated on what good looks like and, often, demand more from inventory partners or DSPs. 

Continued transparency will be driven as publishers prepare for the impact of cookie deprecation and how these supply chains are enhanced to maximise the connection of 1st party data sources; solving for addressability between logged in on site audiences and brand customers. Another initiative in combating trust and transparency issues comes with everyone speaking the same language. Standardising industry terminology, especially in reporting, reduces those pockets of misalignment, misinformation or reduced information sharing that result in a weakening of trust. 

IAS: Any advice for leaders on talent retention and supporting/ encouraging diversity at workplaces?

Isabella: I recently read that most people leave a job due to their direct leader. Our industry has its fair share of awesome leaders, so my advice for any business would be to stop and take stock of your leaders (from middle management to c-suite) – who could do with a little additional support/coaching that allows them to invest time in growing their people, who is doing a wonderful job at retaining talent and deserves a shout out for it and where are the up and coming superstars in the business that management should nurture.

More importantly, don’t be scared of the “mum returning to work”. I can guarantee she will work 5 times more efficiently and effectively whilst, probably, leaving at 4:30 to get her kids from day-care/school; but the job will be done with serious dedication. Obviously coming from a position of total bias. 

IAS: What’s your favourite book/podcast/movie and why?

Isabella: I am a book nerd and always have something on the go. I recently finished Bewilderment by Richard Flannigan, which I highly recommend. Otherwise, my other current favourite is Educated by Tara Westover. 

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Our ANZ Country Manager Jessica Miles was honoured to join a fantastic webinar in association with National Online Retailers Association (NORA) alongside Nicola Clement of Myer, Bronte Jackson of Miss Amara, James Perry of Woolies X and Laura Kleiman of Crimtan, that explored how to drive the best results and increase new customers, convert existing ones and grow customer lifetime value with a lifecycle marketing approach through the following key topics:

• Media quality and how it is a critically important consideration for all retailers
• Learning how to buy digital media efficiently and reach quality targeted consumers
• Learning what are the key factors when selecting your programmatic partner

You can watch this webinar on the NORA website here.

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In this opinion piece, Jessica Miles (pictured), country manager, ANZ at IAS discusses the importance of finding inefficiencies in your supply path and optimising outcomes in the world of programmatic campaigns.

A recent JAPAC report by OpenX showed buyers are investing more heavily in programmatic than publishers see revenue gains via the medium, with 72 per cent of buyers reporting an increase in programmatic spending compared to 56 per cent of publishers reporting an increase in programmatic revenue. Agencies are particularly bullish on programmatic, with 12 per cent reporting that they had boosted their programmatic spending by over 75 per cent.

As more brand advertising spend flows into the programmatic ecosystem, players on both sides of the industry are beginning to rebel against complexity and demand transparency and efficiency across the supply chain. Over the past few years, media buyers have put a microscope up on their supply paths to ensure that each dollar of ad spend is as impactful as possible.

The digital advertising industry, especially ad tech, has its fair share of challenges. From the plethora of vendors involved in the ad serving process, potentially “clipping the ticket” whilst arguably not adding significant value to the quality vs value of the actual media bought. As we face financial headwinds and a potential recession, marketers must justify their ad spending decisions at every step. Who are you buying the ad from? How much of my spending does the publisher receive?

A simple yet effective solution to these questions is Supply Path optimisation (SPO). If you Google the meaning of Supply Path optimisation, it tells you that SPO is about simplifying the supply chain between advertisers and publishers by cutting out unneeded intermediaries and reducing redundancies. In marketer lingo, SPO is about making smarter choices about which auctions to participate in and which ones to ignore.

SPO has gained popularity, allowing media buyers to focus their bids on the most efficient, scalable and transparent supply paths. As advertisers push for greater transparency in their programmatic buys to ensure that they get quality inventory from their ad spend, SPO becomes clearer. Integral Ad Science’s (IAS) Perfecting your Supply Path research found that 95 per cent of ad buyers are implementing or planning to implement supply path optimisation technology in 2022.

Let’s take a look at how marketers and digital advertisers alike can harness the power of supply path optimisation to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of programmatic advertising campaigns:

When it comes to buying leading ad formats, programmatic is the undisputed choice

The Majority, i.e. 71 per cent of ad buyers, currently buy social video ads programmatically. This also means that most ad buyers execute half or more of their advertising budget using programmatic technology, especially video in social and mobile environments. SPO helps to ensure transparency in the ad buying process, thus extending the impact of a buyer’s ad spend.

According to our research, 95 per cent of ad buyers are implementing or planning to implement supply path optimisation technology next year. Of these, 54 per cent say maximising audience reach and scale is the primary benefit of programmatic advertising.

Monitor global insights to ensure high performance

To implement an SPO strategy successfully, it is important to keep track of global and market-level media efficiency. Leveraging market insights to inform strategies allows marketers to change their global strategies and adapt to current trends. As brands connect with consumers, marketers must leverage global relationships to drive local efficiency.

Leverage quality & financial data in partner negotiations

As a marketer, the pressure to deliver value on your ad spend has never been greater, and with the right data, you can ensure you are getting the most out of your publisher partnerships. The right SPO data brings greater transparency, enabling marketers and publishers to negotiate partnerships effectively. Advertisers should be mindful of media partners they partner with since the cheapest media partner isn’t always selling the highest quality inventory. This is especially true when using an SPO tool that only looks at cost.

Media buyers want to find the sweet spot between cost and quality to ensure they are only bidding on the impressions that will deliver outcomes, and they want to find these impressions at the most efficient price. 42 per cent of ad buyers say the lack of transparency is the primary challenge with programmatic advertising; IAS’ Total Visibility, an industry-first solution, provides full programmatic supply path transparency with real-time and impression-level financial reporting to help advertisers optimise their media spending.

Analyse data to set realistic programmatic goals

We live in a day and age where data is the answer to all questions. Similarly, for digital advertising campaigns, brands and agencies must create quality and financial benchmarks for their programmatic strategy. Interestingly, the IAS research found that brands and agencies do not see eye to eye when it comes to who should take responsibility for monitoring media quality. When asked about this, 47 per cent of brands and 38 per cent of agencies agree that brands are responsible for day-to-day SPO activities; by contrast, 29 per cent of brands and 38 per cent of agencies believe that agencies are responsible for these tasks. This disconnect highlights the importance of greater alignment between media buyers to fully achieve the benefits of supply path optimisation.

Therefore, brands and agencies must work together to optimise digital ad campaigns based on the quality and financial benchmarks agreed upon in their respective strategies.

As programmatic advertising continues to evolve and grow, so will the solutions that help ad buyers see the transparency in the ad-buying process. This will help marketers make better decisions when implementing digital advertising strategies. Until then, the onus rests with brands and agencies to communicate effectively with each other and partners alike to harness the true power of SPO.

The article was first published in B&T.

The post Here’s How Marketers Can Create Outcomes For Programmatic Campaigns appeared first on Integral Ad Science.

In this exclusive “Masters of Media” series, Integral Ad Science (IAS) speaks to the Movers and Shakers of the APAC advertising industry, on all matters digital.

Azmat Habibulla is the Chief Marketing Officer of South Indian Bank. She is a marketing leader and digital enthusiast who, in a career spanning more than 25 years, has led business transformation at some of the leading brands in the country in the FMCG & BFSI sectors. She is an expert across a wide spectrum of domains such as digital marketing & business generation, marketing communication & branding, experiential and knowledge events, strategic partnerships, community building and thought leadership initiatives. Azmat is passionate about mentoring and investing time in nurturing talent.

IAS: Please tell us about your digital advertising journey and your current role at South Indian Bank

I consider myself a thoroughbred marketing professional and digital enthusiast, who has led business transformation at some of the leading brands in the country. The digital way is the new constant while being dynamic in its ever-evolving form. As a marketer, especially in the BFSI segment, it is not only unavoidable but also a growing part.

In the fascinating world of digital, I’m especially passionate about the use of digital technology as a tool for business growth. I have driven business acquisition and revenue generation by developing a robust digital marketing ecosystem across various channels. I have also launched innovative digital engagements, including the creation of many digital communities.

Being future-focused, I have a keen eye for emerging trends and have leveraged them effectively and have been the driving force to launch many digital industry-first initiatives, such as automated chatbots, instant lead calling, click-to-call, multi-channel communication media (MCCM), IP-targeted banner communications on the organization’s website, enabling customized videos and banner communication basis user behaviour and location and many more.

As the Chief Marketing Officer at South Indian Bank, I lead the South Indian Bank’s marketing and communication function. Enhancing the brand value of the bank is one of my key responsibilities. My team and I strive to create the right perception of the bank, manage media relations, scale up our visibility through our branch channel as well as other media, and design new channels of communication for younger audiences. We also manage the customer experience across various touch points over multiple channels.

Additionally, driving sales through digital marketing, adopting new digital technologies, and managing data-driven segmented personalized campaigns are also part of our core responsibilities. We constantly delve into customer insights digitally and through market research and deliver customer campaigns, both through on-ground activation and digitally.

The key focus area for me is to increase the awareness of the bank pan-India by communicating our inherent strengths of being a trustworthy, digital and tech-savvy bank catering to all demographic profiles. I am also focusing on scaling up our digital presence towards becoming a strong alternate acquisition channel.

IAS: Has consumer behaviour changed when interacting with banking products?

The Gen Z generation, born in the internet era, has embraced mobile banking and fintech in a way that previous generations did not and is open to experimenting with financial tools. With this digital-first mindset, the new digital-native consumers opt for personalized banking that comes with speed, convenience with simple yet efficient tech-based functionality. In this sense, the consumer experience in all digital interfaces becomes critical.

We are looking at a segment that has a limited attention span, so much so that they are popularly known as the Gen Now generation. We need to communicate with short DIY video formats and long emotive videos to narrate a story. Voice-based searches are growing, especially in tier-2 cities and the use of voice technology is growing fast, even in banking. We need to capture this opportunity. Rather than product-based, our marketing efforts need to be purpose-led.

The expectation from a bank has also changed for the current customer. The bank is now more like a financial partner, who helps the customer with all his/her financial needs and beyond. The newer generation expects to have a deeper, more meaningful relationship with their financial partner or bank.

Loyalty is at a decline when it comes to banking, a category which enjoyed strong brand loyalty in the past. Customers are now looking at multiple banking partners to satisfy their evolved requirements and for diversification of financial products.

While digitisation in banking is imperative, the human touch remains vital for customer engagement. We, as human beings, still strive for human experiences, connections, and that empathetic emotional touch, especially in the BFSI sector.

IAS: What are some challenges Indian marketers face in digital advertising?

As the digital marketing environment continues to ebb, flow, evolve and grow, it is important to stay abreast of the critical trends and major changes, both at the customer behaviour level and at the digital media execution level. This dynamism is what makes the digital world so exciting as well as challenging for marketers like us. The challenges for marketers in digital advertising are many:

• Attention and engagement – Many brands want to capture the attention of Gen Z, but the short attention span among this digital-savvy generation makes it quite difficult. Therefore, creating engaging short brand content that creates maximum brand engagement will be one of the biggest challenges for any brand.
  
• Catching up with trends of the ever-evolving tech – Technology is growing faster than human needs and cognition. So, staying on top of marketing is incredibly challenging; especially, as the MarTech landscape continues to grow rapidly as there are constant feature changes across channels. The frequent changes in the platform/ digital channel’s algorithms, further add to this complication.
  
• Personalisation at scale and segmentation – Today, the customer expects more personalised messaging from his/her brand. Personalisation at scale and effective segmentation for relevant messaging have become critical.
  
• Right digital tools to deploy and justified investments – A heavy investment in building CDP platforms has become essential as the use of cookies will cease soon. All brands are investing heavily to build sufficient first-party data.
  
• Attribution –  With so many digital tools in the game, attribution mapping has also become difficult as more and more variables have come into play, such as: traditional vs digital, omnichannel, multiple touchpoints at a customer journey, unable to identify the primary source of conversion, etc.
  
• Humanizing the tech – There is a clear need for making technology and digital interactions more human to help us do things faster and smarter. Our recent inventions have always been too fast for human needs, in terms of their cognitive ability and their ability to adapt. Technology has evolved enormously, but it seems to have lost the human aspect. It is our responsibility, to not outcast the human in this race to make everything technically advanced.
  
• Transparency and trust challenges in digital – With digital ad spending reaching $500 bn. Globally, combatting ad frauds to minimise budget wastage has become exceedingly important.

To conclude, on the customer side, keeping in mind the digital nativeness and changing behaviour we need to serve personalised and relevant communication only. We need to serve this as a partner and beyond a bank, looking at everything digital-first with the highest level of customer experience. This new generation of customers seeks a partner that is experiential and one that resonates with him/her. On the other hand, we need to deploy the communication through digital medium and counter execution challenges like ad frauds, attribution and the choice of tools to be deployed for the expected delivery at the right investment which justifies ROI.

IAS: If there’s one myth related to programmatic you’d like squashed, what would that be?

Programmatic marketing is basically about using technology to automate ad delivery such that the right TG is served with the right message while all of this happens in real-time.

There are many myths regarding programmatic such as

• Mainly for conversions – Many consider programmatic buying as a tool for optimising clicks and conversions but along with such optimisation, it also plays a larger role in the customer journey. Programmatic advertising eliminates the need to retarget at the end stage entirely. It brings the company, product, or services, to the forefront of qualified customers and initiates the purchase cycle instead. Advertisers will get better ROI because their ads get shown to people who are most likely to click on their site or purchase their products and services.
  
• Real-time bidding (RTB) and programmatic are one and the same – In reality, RTB is a real-time auction mechanism to discover the right price in real-time and thus is just one part of programmatic
  
• Ad frauds are only prevalent in programmatic – Ad fraud is prevalent in today’s digital world across mediums and not only in programmatic. At its core, programmatic buying, in fact, promotes transparency and increases the number of control buyers have when it comes to when and where their ads are displayed. Buying ads for programmatic advertising isn’t any riskier than if you make general market buys.

However, the one critical Myth that I would like to dispel is that programmatic is mainly for conversions. Many consider programmatic buying for conversions but it plays a larger role in the customer journey. Programmatic buying can serve customers on digital platforms by providing meaningful communication at various digital touch points. With programmatic ads, we can create an omnichannel presence for the customer with the right placements across different mediums thus creating a better customer experience from an awareness stage to final conversion. It in fact addresses the entire marketing funnel.

IAS: In your opinion, is the industry doing enough to combat the trust and transparency challenges in the digital supply chain?

Interestingly, when the advertising ecosystem started witnessing a shift towards digital advertising, transparency was believed to be a key differentiator. Now, as digital continues to dominate a major chunk of ad revenues, the question is whether it is transparent enough. With increasing digital spending, comes a greater amount of digital ad fraud.  According to Juniper Research, ad fraud reached $42 billion of ad spending in 2019 across online, mobile and in-app channels. Advertisers are made to pay for impressions and clicks that never took place, using fake audiences, fake installs and conversions.

Marketers have been wondering for a long time about the complex and ‘not-so-transparent’ digital ad tools used by various digital platforms. The entire digital ecosystem — from the tech giants to data mining companies to supply chain intermediaries — is now under the scanner due to its complexities and lack of transparency. Such is the trust deficit that most brands have started using third-party tools to get a clear picture of their ROI. If you deploy the right tools, your trust in the overall digital system will grow. Since these tools increase advertising costs considerably, it is not an easy decision for many brands.

IAS: Any advice for leaders on talent retention and supporting a hybrid workforce?

Remote work is increasingly being accepted as the industry is moving towards the “new normal”. Firms are restructuring their operations and systems as they see the preferences of the employees evolving.  

While at one end employees are seeking positions that allow them to achieve better work-life balance — cut some unnecessary expenses, remove the daily commute, and free up more time to spend with their families or friends — on the other side, physical connections and social engagement go a long way in making work fun, efficient, impactful and inspirational. Today, a hybrid workforce model correctly fits in such a dynamic ecosystem.  Personally, the pandemic has taught us how one can effectively work remotely. Also, I think we should harness this into developing a hybrid work culture which effectively balances the conveniences of working from home as well as the social integration and efficiencies of working from an office. Needless to say, the heightened motivation of employees will also help in talent retention.

IAS: What’s your favourite book/podcast/movie and why?

My favourite movie has been “Life is Beautiful”. This is a very emotional film shot against the backdrop of the world war. It is about a loving Jewish family, where the father and his son become victims of the Holocaust. The protagonist, Guido, the father, uses a perfect mixture of will, humour, and imagination to protect his son from the dangers around their camp.

Love and hope are key messages in the movie. When the father and his son were taken to the concentration camp. The father, Guido’s love for his son Joshua, kept him alive when he smartly hides their terrifying circumstances from his little son, presenting the whole affair as an elaborate game with the end prize of a tank. He manages to convince his son that every situation is part of the game: the kids who told Joshua there is no game, that’s just their strategy to win; the Nazi guards who shout orders, that’s so the game will be difficult; the children and men who leave and never return, that just means they’re out.

In the end, due to his wit and love for his son, Guido manages to save Joshua’s life. Joshua eventually reunites with his mother, Dora. Guido depicts persistent hope throughout the film.

The narrator, Joshua makes his grand return, revealing himself to be the adult Joshua. He informs us that this is his story, a story about his father’s gift to him.

The message and the emotion throughout the film brought tears to my eyes. It’s been 20 years since I watched the film and I still remember every aspect of it and still remains my favourite.

IAS: What is your advice to the fresh talent in the industry?

The advice I would like to give to the young talent is to believe in themselves as well as in their dreams and go all out to achieve them. Hard work, dedication and persistence pay off. There are no shortcuts; working with dedication and with the highest level of integrity is the winning combination.

It is important to have a fulfilling role which is fun yet one that you are passionate about. Seek this richness in your job profile rather than the remuneration and rewards, which will anyways follow.

In this new reality, one might find it more challenging to excel in their careers since the world is dealing with uncertainty with the future stepping into the ‘unknown-unknown’ quadrant. Seeking mentorship and garnering the required support shall give you confidence and set the right momentum for the career ahead.

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In this exclusive “Masters of Media” series, Integral Ad Science (IAS) speaks to the Movers and Shakers of the APAC advertising industry, on all matters digital.

Tim Whitfield is the General Manager of Technology at WooliesX. He is an integral part of the technology team that is involved in streamlining tech-based processes that deliver a great digital experience to everyday Australians when it comes to food and groceries. In 2016, Tim was also selected to the AdNews Power 50 List, where the most powerful people in the Australian ad industry are recognised. A graduate of Macquarie University, Tim has held senior strategic roles directing operations and technology for GroupM, Xaxis and Sizmek.

IAS: Please tell us about your digital advertising journey and your current role at Woolworths Group (WooliesX)

Tim: To me, working for a purpose-driven organisation like WooliesX means that every day at work I’m trying to solve problems that will make a difference to everyday Australians. Using technology to streamline the processes which bring food and groceries to our customers gives me a buzz. At WooliesX we listen to our customers every step of the way through our digital experiences and we continuously iterate over our applications to make them better and easier to use. These improvements could be from many different aspects such as improved personalisation, better offers, streamlined app or website experience – it all triggers a deep sense of purpose of why we work here.

IAS: According to you, what should marketers prioritise in their digital advertising campaigns?

Tim: The new acronym could be “BBB” which stands for Back to Brilliant Basics. This would mean overlaying the evolution of digital advertising campaigns with the first principles of media advertising. For instance, how does the AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action) sales funnel which has existed since the 1800s relate to a modern world of Search, Social Media, Connected TV, DOOH (Digital out-of-Home) and fragmented attention metrics?

Marketers should use tools like MMA (Media Marketing Analytics) that uses media mix modelling, and MTA (Multi-Touch Attribution) to build their own internal proprietary algorithm to assign value to each part of the sales funnel. This algorithm should have a deep resolve to knit together each of these digital platforms into this model. It’s all about getting access to the atomic data units and stitching them together in a meaningful way. The era for siloed data is over.

IAS: Which key changes do you anticipate taking shape in 2023 with regard to digital advertising?

Tim: Let’s consider a few things. There are two groups of marketers: those that have a solid first-party data set and those that are scrambling. For those marketers that are still scrambling, the key is to realise that the cookie has already crumbled and it’s time to move to a unified dataset. Double down on a unified ID for all advertising and cross reference if your media channels support that ID. Once that is done, the task for 2023 will be to build the integrations between these media channels.

IAS: If there’s one myth related to programmatic you’d like squashed, what would that be?

Tim: Programmatic is not cheap, there is a difference between inexpensive media and cheap media.

IAS: In your opinion, is the industry doing enough to combat the trust and transparency challenges in the digital supply chain?

Tim: The industry will always continue to drive initiatives which promote transparency in all aspects of digital media. The depreciation of the cookie and the subsequent migration to first-party data is a key unlock for being able to see an end-to-end transaction ID in the digital supply chain. Specifically, it will enable us to have personalised and meaningful digital interactions with our customers. This will not only help drive a tangible and quantifiable result but also understand the cost breakdown of each step in the interaction rather than just dealing with a bunch of random IDs and cookies.

IAS: Any advice for leaders on talent retention and supporting a hybrid workforce?

Tim: Hybrid is here to stay — work from anywhere is table stakes for any company — the goal now is to look at the type of work being performed and match the environment to the work. For instance, working from home is perfectly acceptable for individual contributor activities whilst group activities continue to have a performance lift when facilitated by face-to-face meetings.

IAS: What’s your favourite book/podcast/movie and why?

Tim: My recent favourite book is Reinventing Organisations: A Guide to Creating Organisations
Inspired by the Next Stage of Human Consciousness. My take on it is that we have all heard
about Unicorn Talent and this book talks about the sense of purpose, achievement, clarity
and belonging that comes from working for a Unicorn Company.

IAS: What is your advice to the fresh talent in the industry?

Tim: There is lots of good conversation going on about the contents of a Specialist versus a
Generalist. There is a good book called Range that looks at leaders who start their life as an
SME (Subject Matter Expert) and also leaders who move around inside a business. The

advice to fresh talent is that it’s okay to have a fluid career pathway. Don’t be afraid to take a
sideways look at a new role as a career pathway is seldom linear.

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In this exclusive “Masters of Media” series, Integral Ad Science (IAS) speaks to the Movers and Shakers of the APAC advertising industry, on all matters digital.

Joshua Lee is the National Head of Digital & Data at Zenith Media Australia. He is responsible for leading the ongoing product development of Zenith’s specialist digital and data solutions whilst ensuring that they are constantly identifying commercial and innovation opportunities for their clients. Joshua has an extensive agency and digital background, five years in Head of Digital roles in Canada and Australia. Before joining Zenith, Joshua worked in digital and programmatic-focused roles, including Dentsu’s Group Investment Director role.

IAS: Please tell us about your digital advertising journey and your current role at Zenith media?

Joshua: Originally I wanted to get into creative advertising but fell into the digital media arm of Ogilvy Melbourne called Neo@Ogilvy. I was a Campaign Executive in a small team of 3 sitting adjacent to the TV production team. Still, amidst all the creative types and big TV spots, I was instantly hooked by the media’s analytical and data-driven side. 

After 2.5 years at Neo@Ogilvy, I joined Media Contacts (Havas) as a Digital Executive and remembered gunning for a manager role but was told I wasn’t ready. It was the best thing for me as I still had a lot to learn about honing my craft, leading in all directions, and adding value to a team. Over four years, Media Contacts merged with its offline counterpart MPG and rebranded as Havas. Shortly after, we dropped the Havas name (ending its license agreement with Aegis Media) and merged with a digital creative agency (Rodeo), becoming a full-service agency called Huckleberry. By the end, I had worked my way up to Digital Director, grew my experience in digital planning, performance media, team management, and organisational change, and had a seat on the senior leadership team.

With programmatic on the rise and searching for a new challenge, I moved to Toronto, Canada, as Director of Client Services at Amnet (Dentsu’s trading desk), managing a team of 8. The experience taught me so much about adtech, data and the future of our industry. Then, focusing on integrating programmatic into traditional digital planning and buying, I was promoted to Senior Director of Programmatic and Digital Investments at Amplifi. A significant turning point in my career was when I left Amplifi and joined Zenith as their Head of Digital in Melbourne. The culture at Zenith was so down-to-earth and presented an excellent opportunity to return to digital strategy, planning and cross-channel buying.

In my current role as National Head of Digital & Data at Zenith, I am a member of our national Executive Leadership Team and responsible for driving our product and solutions, thought leadership, training and development initiatives and creating a connected national digital community. Looking back on 14 years, I am very fortunate to still work in the digital and agency side with some of the best people I know in the industry.

IAS: What are some key priorities for Australian brands during the upcoming holiday buying season?

Joshua: As e-commerce behaviours and online retail spending continue to grow, delivering a positive online shopping experience will be vital in reinforcing brand trust and loyalty. Furthermore, as many brands focus on accelerating their e-commerce roadmap, leveraging offline channels in the overall omnichannel experience will be critical. Therefore, one of the upcoming priorities will be striking the right balance between brand and performance spending. 

As a competitive time of year, brands must also go the extra mile to cut through and increase the value exchange for consumer attention and share of wallet. For example, we will see greater use of shoppable video advertising and digital creative experiences offering entertainment or utility value that can inspire or help simplify the pressures of the holiday buying season. Immersive experiences that leverage AR can also be a great way to blend offline and online experiences to drive product discovery, engagement and buying consideration. As a result, these high-value exchange experiences will encourage users to share their data, allowing brands to build up their first-party data to drive more customer insights and deliver better personalisation.

IAS: If there’s one myth related to programmatic you’d like squashed, what would that be?

Joshua: Programmatic has come a long way in overcoming legacy myths such as cheap, low inventory quality and a performance media channel. However, I’d love to squash the myth that programmatic lacks creativity. In reality, programmatic is a significant enabler for delivering immersive and personalised experiences through innovations like dynamic creative, shoppable ad formats and high-impact rich media executions. Most people forget that programmatic is a data-driven method of reaching users at an individual level, at scale. However, the data behind it holds programmatic back from being able to deliver true personalisation. 

Instead, the limitation originates from signal depreciation and our overreliance on third-party cookies, as they were never a stable identifier. When we can get to a place where we are leveraging persistent identifiers (at scale), this is where programmatic advertising will be able to fulfil its calling of mass personalisation through creative storytelling and experiences.

IAS: In your opinion, is the industry doing enough to combat the trust and transparency challenges in the digital supply chain?

Joshua: The programmatic supply chain has always been complex, and we have made much progress in bringing more trust and transparency to the fold. Some of those means include industry body whitepapers and guidelines, technical standards for authorised sellers, 3rd party ad verification SPO tools like Total Visibility by IAS and other reporting and buying controls within DSPs. Even Google has developed a new transparency tool, ‘Confirming Gross Revenue’, which is an excellent step in the right direction as it allows both publishers and buyers to verify that the full media spend reached its destination with no hidden fees taken along the way.

Unfortunately, due to the complexity, sometimes these means aren’t always fully exercised due to a lack of education, skills empowerment, and process reinforcement. As an industry, to ensure we can consistently build trust as the landscape evolves, we must pursue these three things to level-set comprehension and embed best practices into our culture and ways of working.

IAS: Any advice for leaders on talent retention and supporting a hybrid workforce?

Joshua: Due to the great resignation, we know the market has completely changed where salary expectations have inflated by up to 10-20%. In the short-term, this problem isn’t going away, and while salary is a crucial factor, it’s not the be-all-end-all as candidates are still looking for workplaces to meet their holistic life needs. For leaders, this means investing more into automation, training and development and connected experiences.

Automation tools will allow you to look at job descriptions differently regarding where to take out as many manual, repetitive and time-consuming tasks. This will free up capacity so staff can re-focus their energy on higher-value work, L&D and achieving work-life balance and purpose. Operationally, this requires time, effort and removing financial barriers, so it’s essential to be open to the available solutions in the market and bring staff along that journey for input, buy-in and visible progress.

Leaders must differentiate their training and development offering to attract new talent and provide long-term growth. For example, L&D is a passion of mine, and at Zenith, our insights showed that lack of training wasn’t the issue; it was more about the inability to navigate all of it. As a result, I lead ZenAcademy, our approach to simplify and personalise the media learning experience for junior staff. In 5 months, ZenAcademy has advanced 23 graduates, awarded 17 pay increases, fast-tracked 12 promotions, unlocked 47 industry certifications and amassed 750+ hours of training across digital, traditional, strategy, data & analytics and soft skills. As leaders, it’s our job to try and clear the path for staff to access relevant training and have a reasonable capacity to complete them so they can pursue the career pathways they are most passionate about.

Through Publicis Groupe’s flexible working framework, Publicis Liberté, we were already ahead of the curve in embracing flexible working before the pandemic. Now, it’s clear that remote working is here to stay, but working from home cannot replace the benefits you can get from being physically together, such as collaboration and improving staff happiness. Therefore, offering connected experiences prioritises quality over quantity, for example, initiatives that foster social interaction, ideas and knowledge exchange, staff recognition and reinforcing vision and values. Most companies have landed on a 2-3 day in-office expectation, so what you do on those days counts to driving culture and performance. 

At Zenith, we’ve been fortunate to experience strong retention and happiness scores where we’ve placed #1 and #2 happiest agency in each market, as well as scoring well below the Media I industry benchmark for staff actively looking for a job in the next six months. However, achieving scores like these can’t be taken for granted. Leaders must have a feedback loop and consistently drive initiatives that close the gap between life experience expectations and their place of work.

IAS: Any advice for leaders to support equity in agencies?

Joshua: To me, equity means embracing and encouraging the diversity of backgrounds, skills, experiences and knowledge. At Zenith, we celebrate the diversity of our staff and strive to create an inclusive and equitable environment. Our agency has been working on embedding DE&I into our every day through education programs such as the SBS Inclusion training program (of which our agency had the highest national attendance across the entire industry) and Employee Resource Groups such as Viva Women and Égalité (LGBTQ+). My advice for leaders is to lead by example and ensure that what’s in their value statement and policies are consistently reflected on the floor regarding language, behaviours and action.

IAS: What’s your favourite book/podcast/movie and why?

Joshua: Barak Obama and Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Renegades Born in the USA’ is a favourite that got me into podcasts and through Melbourne’s lockdowns. For those who haven’t listened, it’s a 10-episode series of the two discussing their vastly different backgrounds but how they have commonality across music, fatherhood and enduring love for America despite its challenges. I found the conversations between the two fascinating as they grappled with America’s racial history and current political divisions. Right now, I’m thoroughly enjoying Simon Sinek’s podcast,’ A Bit of Optimism’, which he is using as a platform to connect with people who inspire him about life, love, leadership and silver linings.

IAS: What is your advice to the fresh talent in the industry?

Joshua: Whilst it can be tempting to gravitate to digital, which is growing the most and dominates how we consume media, do not forget other channels will continue to make up the total media mix. So, lean in and learn about the other side of the fence to start your career with a strong foundation that will round out your overall skills, as this will make you indispensable and open more career pathways in the long run. 

Understandably, everyone is motivated by that first promotion, but it’s also crucial to remember that cultivating long-term skills and a solid reputation will propel you further. As a fresh talent, you are a dry sponge, so learn as much as you can and while it is tempting, try not to constantly compare yourself to others as this will only eat away your self-esteem. Instead, compete with yourself and seek ways to add value so that when new opportunities arise, you will be prepared with the right skills and resilience to take on increased responsibility and workload pressures without getting caught in the trap of over-extending yourself by a shiny title or salary.

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In this exclusive “Masters of Media” series, Integral Ad Science (IAS) speaks to the Movers and Shakers of the APAC advertising industry, on all matters digital.

Ravi Rajotia is the Associate Vice President, Media Planning at OMD India. He helps businesses achieve their ROI in marketing through media management, investments in sponsorships, defining media strategies, seamless implementations, marketing surveys, and planning touch points to gain & leverage marketing trends to tap potential audiences. A graduate of the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, Ravi has 15 years of experience in media management.

Please tell us about your digital advertising journey and your current role at OMD:

I have been a traditional media planner, but I’m more into client servicing. As the shift in media mix started towards digital, I was bound to learn & understand digital media to address business queries. 

Digital media looked similar to any other medium. Here, logic is more important to achieve the objective or KPIs. Visualising the consumer journey on digital platforms has been the key to understanding the digital medium & platforms. Reading, reading, watching, meeting etc. 

Importantly, one becomes more explicit about what needs to be done by being sure of what DOES NOT need to be done owing to issues in the medium such as BOTS, brand safety, viewability etc.

Renault has been a relatively newer entrant in the market and focuses on value rather than volume. Currently, I lead the Renault business at OMD, responsible for a 360-degree media management mandate. At the same time, I am involved in conducting various pieces of training, managing people and participating in pitches that give me a perspective on other categories.

What are some key priorities for brands around the holiday buying season? Sampling and merchandise gifting can be an extension. 

The go-to has to be offered & discounts. Brands need to highlight how these add value to the customers’ needs. Since most people are exposed to social media, it becomes inevitable for brands to create a high presence on social media by being interactive or creating viral content. Since brands speak to customers as they try to sell, they let people share their experiences and drive positivity around the same.

Today’s consumer considers the brand value more than ever before. Therefore, awareness building and value proposition play an integral role. Brands should drive visibility so that people get to know the brands’ offerings. Online and offline, sponsorships help establish a connection with the consumer. Email and SMS marketing can also help further to personalise this connection between a consumer and the brand.

If there’s one myth related to programmatic you’d like squashed, what would that be?

With a topic as vast as programmatic, there are several myths I would like squashed. To begin with, the first would be that programmatic has low-quality inventory. Although programmatic started with remnant inventory only, it has developed and added much better inventory over the years. Over time, several features, such as PG deals, were also introduced that can be used to buy premium inventory.

Another myth about programmatic is that it doesn’t get good results, especially when programmatic is an impressions-focused tool that primarily attributes to first click/view attribution and not last click (an old industry standard of looking at performance).

There are other misconceptions about programmatic such as it is only about display and video and will never reach the TV. Interestingly, programmatic now has CTV and audio inventory with popular and premium publishers such as Spotify. In future, TV, OOH, and other outdoor advertising is also likely to turn to programmatic as technology advances. In addition, pairing programmatic with other popular 3^rd party verification tools can help make campaigns brand safe and address impressions/ clicks fraud. With the right knowledge and execution, such issues can be avoided.

In your opinion, is the industry doing enough to combat the trust and transparency challenges in the digital supply chain?

I want to address this through an example: I felt wrong about the statement being made in a larger client meeting wherein client teams were present from many countries. It was mentioned that “India is a Digital fraud market”. To address this statement, I had to highlight many examples that nobody believed. Then I realised that the primary reason behind this is – India as a market is not working diligently towards digital transparency. Once that is maintained, I believe the trust will be built and only then shall we set high standards for the Indian Digital industry.

I think programmatic maintains enough transparency. However, it is not trustworthy as other channels. Programmatic has put many measures and control in human hands to eliminate suues. Moreover, there are 3^rd party tools that can help verify the authenticity.

One significant contributor to the above myths is that programmatic experts are not growing in numbers as fast as programmatic usage. This leads to a negative image that affects campaign outcomes and inefficient use of programmatic tools. A higher need to build transparency persists in the direct buys. However, many partners do not believe in parameters such as viewability which comes under the questionable radar. It’s about everyone coming together and then winning the battle.

Any advice for leaders on talent retention and supporting a hybrid workforce?

The leaders need to understand that our industry is shrinking and that we are not being able to attract new people to it. A few reasons people are not joining our industry are payscale, stress levels, and time balance.

Above all, I believe it is more about making them comfortable. It is about telling them that we have their back. It is about ownership of what they are doing. At the same time, making them feel important. Communicate with them to understand their workload and the responsibilities he/ she is handling. Remember, retaining a person is far easier than hiring a new one.

Secondly, in this hybrid world, leaders must showcase their team members’ confidence. Don’t just micro-manage! Checking on people again and again will not help. People should feel responsible and accountable as it only works this way. This can also be applied in the physical world.

What’s your favourite book/podcast/movie and why?

Being Indian, I read literature from local authors/ writers. For example, my favourite book is Five Point Someone, written by Chetan Bhagat. There’s a simple yet exciting reason behind that — it was my first non-textbook read, and one, which I loved. I must have read the entire novel in 3-4 hours. 

Similarly, my favourite movie is – Dabangg. The novel is more about ‘it’s ok to make mistakes and helps us understand what is essential in life — experiences. I enjoy the movie as there is no logic, no application of mind – pure entertainment!

What is your advice to the fresh talent in the industry?

The most important thing I want to tell the freshers is – enjoy! They all need to understand why they are working so much. They need to know how they are moving the business through their small actions in daily life. Once they know that, I guess they will be happy working towards it.

My next advice is that they should be able to tell everyone about what they do in no more than fifty words. If they can do that, it means they understand their work pretty well.

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Gaming has emerged as a crucial format to reach engaged consumers. In fact, consumer spend for mobile gaming is projected to reach $136 billion worldwide this year alone, proving that the gaming audience is invested and shouldn’t be overlooked.

But how can advertisers be sure that they’re reaching this growing gaming audience and serving quality ads to gamers?

In an effort to ensure media quality throughout the entire digital ecosystem, IAS is partnering with Anzu, a leading in-game advertising platform, bringing quality to gaming environments. Through this integration, IAS and Anzu are allowing advertisers to unlock access to sophisticated in-game measurement and transparency for advertisers.

This partnership will provide advertisers with:

– Comprehensive coverage monitoring for invalid traffic (IVT) and viewability
– Global measurement for a holistic view of in-game media buys
– Daily reporting and insights in IAS Signal

Deliver quality ads and evaluate your in-game media effectiveness with confidence— today. Download the one sheet now to get started and read the press release here.

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Diversity and representation are currently lacking in media planning, especially in the Asia-Pacific region, where video advertisements still portray singular images of body sizes, gender characteristics and gender roles.

As only a small percentage of ads are trying to break away from body-image stereotypes, objectification, traditional gender roles and norms about gender characteristics, the World Federation of Advertisers released a guide in January 2022 to tackle diversity and representation issues in the media planning and buying process. The guide covers topics like inclusive audience planning, measuring success and many more.

While not for the lack of trying, why have brands been slow to execute an inclusive media plan programmatically? Mali Wuestenhagen, associate vice president of media services for Korea at Essence, says media agencies typically plan campaigns against provided brand briefs, which often include a definition of the audience deemed essential to achieve the brand’s business goals or the audience that the product or service has identified as relevant.

However, brands expect agencies to dig deeper through market and audience research. On the one hand, this can lead to identifying different audiences of opportunity, which would result in further diversification of communications targets beyond a given brief. On the other hand, Wuestenhagen notes it can also help to gain a deeper understanding of sub-audience groups, which may require a differentiated planning approach by building more nuanced relevance to reach them effectively and authentically.

“Media plans need to be representative of today’s society, and media needs to reflect the diversity of a brand’s customers to be impactful,” she adds.

Diversity and inclusion do not just start and end at the planning stage. Everyone in the digital ecosystem is responsible for change regarding DEI, says Laura Kusuma, senior vice president for APAC at Integral Ad Science (IAS).

She explains creative agencies must be more thoughtful by planning and thinking about particular audiences, publishers and adtech platforms. However, isolating that planning stage requires thinking outside of the norm and a nuanced understanding of the specific audiences brands are trying to target.

For example, if brands want to target migrant workers, they need to consider the magazines they read that are not in the mainstream media, the different spaces and places they are in, and consider all of these in the planning stage. 

We cannot forget, particularly in Southeast Asia and in the wider APAC region, that there is still a place for mainstream and social media. It comes down to thinking about where they are and what appeals to them. It is not just about using the same standard stock creative for every audience type, but thinking at the planning stage, not just from a media perspective, but from a creative standpoint. What will appeal to that audience? Do I need to change my message? Do I need to consider appealing to that audience at a different time in another place?

Laura Kusuma, IAS

Diverse partnerships

Data and insights can reveal how a specific audience or community can be best reached through a unique partnership that has been confirmed as highly relevant and has the power to enable brand communications to build a stronger connection.

If this enables diverse content owners to have a more significant presence in society overall, then it should be part of a plan proposal, according to Wuestenhagen.

“Yet, media planners need to also assure that additional criteria are considered, such as the possibility of measurement, and that budgets are made available to demonstrate the impact of such partnerships,” she explains.

“Evaluating the impact of diverse partnerships is imperative. Otherwise, they can potentially lose their place in plans. Demonstrating the true value that these media choices bring is key to making it a business imperative.”

Sonya David, the strategy partner at Dentsu International, notes that while many of the agency’s clients have purpose embedded into the core of their business, media is a space where they look for efficiency and effectiveness.

The balance then comes in terms of how brands try to deliver both simultaneously while also ensuring that they work with partners that help further the agenda, she explains. For example, when discussing sustainability and media, she advises brands to consider efficiency and effectiveness.

“If you can make your media work hard with minimum wastage, that is sustainability. We have scorecards that we set up at a global level to measure our carbon footprint, working very closely with IAB and other organisations to determine how we measure carbon footprint,” David says.

“However, just agencies like Dentsu doing it does not make a difference. We have to partner with our clients and introduce them to partners that can help them with those goals.”

For instance, Dentsu works with partners like Handprint Tech, Teads, and SeenThis as they can help the agency’s clients ensure that their media delivery is sustainable.

Contributing to brand safety

Brand safety must and should form the foundation of every media plan. However, brands also need to acknowledge that when overdone, it can take away funds or, in worse cases, completely exclude diverse communities.

Media agencies are responsible for contributing to brand safety input in a way that is not discriminatory by getting feedback from a diverse group, says Wuestenhagen.

She explains that while brands and media agencies still look to scale in a brand-safe and proper context, the consideration of inclusion now adds another layer to quality and effectiveness, which is the power of driving meaningful relationships. 

“When agencies can convey the significance of meaningful connections to advertisers, they can shift their focus away from just scale and towards more intimate and dynamic ties with diverse audiences and communities. This is indispensable to drive long-term brand impact while empowering diverse communities to have a voice.”

Mali Wuestenhagen

“When agencies can convey the significance of meaningful connections to advertisers, they can shift their focus away from just scale and towards more intimate and dynamic ties with diverse audiences and communities,” she says. “This is indispensable to drive long-term brand impact while empowering diverse communities to have a voice.”

Kusuma adds that brands need to understand their corporate position regarding DEI. Then, they can use tools to target or stay away from a particular group to control what is appropriate for their brand and messaging.

“These tools can help brands understand multiple languages—whether Hindi or Bahasa Indonesian—to be more inclusive,” she explains. “It is not just offering standard brand suitability segments like alcohol or hate speech but also considering culturally relevant details for practicality, such as Ramadan, Diwali or Chinese New Year, for example.”

Tracking diverse audiences

It can be challenging to track diverse audiences and their impact due to their small-scale data pools, as they often result in smaller sample sizes. It is also likely that monitoring tools will not even capture unique representative media.

For example, measuring diverse communities might only be possible with dedicated research, which often comes with an additional price tag.

However, it can very well be worth the investment, as some brands reported positive results when reaching out to specific communities in a more tailored, representative context.

“Increasing potential engagement can result in long-term brand benefits when scaled up over time, allowing to reach a broader audience of diverse communities,” says Wuestenhagen.

“Media planners should not give up on the efforts when met with initially inadequate results, but instead, continue to build on insights, improve the approach, and find solutions to challenges by working together with diverse partners and research companies.”

To measure audiences fairly, David says brands need to use data and tools to ask them the right questions.

For example, they can ask questions like who are the people who are not buying? What are the barriers facing these people, and how we can help them? What are the pain points that they have, and how does the brand find a solution that is truly unique and suitable for their consumers that address these pain points?

“When you start with these questions, you can use data to support your solutions. Qualitative data gives you textual nuance and contextual understanding of the trustworthy people’s stories,” explains David.

“But, on the other hand, quantitative information shows you how good those ideas, approaches or media strategies are in terms of being scalable, not just in terms of across a population in one market but across multiple markets as well.”

This article was first published on Campaign Asia.

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