Media & Me - Delivering Better Advertising - UK - Social Web Promotion
Target sensibly - Keeping advertising on the right side of the line
The Headlines
Target sensibly - Keeping advertising on the right side of the line
Restore consumer confidence - Let’s make advertising great (trusted) again!
Act responsibly - Advertising in a privacy-safe way
Make the most of your data - Creating value across the whole business
Get involved! - Re-engaging in the media process
A new context
Fieldwork for this report was conducted before the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) became a global health emergency that changed the lives of consumers across the world. At the time of publication, restrictions to freedom of movement have altered our media and consumption habits. It remains to be seen how deep these changes go, and how long their impact will be felt.
For our clients, COVID-19 presents innumerable challenges not only to ways of working, but also to the ability to reach audiences with timely and relevant messages in a responsible, meaningful way.
While the consequences of the outbreak continue to unfold, the fundamentals of effective media and communications planning remain unchanged. As social distancing, self-isolation and quarantine measures become the norm in many markets for the foreseeable future, this report’s findings, examining key considerations for brands and organisations wanting to navigate the risks of personalised channels, could never be more relevant.
We remain committed to helping our clients adapt and respond to the changing media and communications landscape.
Great advertising is about getting it right – the right message, at the right time, in the right place, to the right person.
As consumers use more and more connected personal devices to organise, curate and discover media, so the opportunities to reach them through advertising explodes.
Advertisers and their agencies are continually seeking new ways to reach them through these environments and devices.
Data is at the heart of making this happen.
As online inventory increases so too does the tsunami of data available.
Introducing a degree of personalisation into both the message and the way in which it’s targeted can improve relevance, reduce wastage and drive efficiencies.
But there’s a central dilemma at the heart of personalising advertising content.
While consumers welcome relevance, they’re concerned about data privacy and being tracked online.
With the opportunity comes risk.
Certainly, more relevant advertising is to be encouraged. But if advertisers go too far, reaching people over and over again to the point of annoyance, it can backfire.
The cynicism consumers feel about online advertising, particularly on social media, is driven by excessive frequency, unsophisticated retargeting, an over-enthusiastic use of data, and consequent concerns around data privacy.
This report uncovers considerations for brands and their agencies seeking to reach consumers and engage with them. It examines where data can best be leveraged in the pursuit of delivering better advertising.
Target Sensibly
Keeping advertising on the right side of the line
Addressable advertising online brings greater opportunity to target the right message to the right person. But there’s a fine line between relevance and an unwelcome pursuit. Excessive frequency and inaccurate retargeting can turn consumers off and reflect negatively on your brand.
Consumers can find advertising intrusive
Over half of the connected consumers (54%) we spoke to agree that it’s intrusive when they receive advertising as a result of their past online activity. The aggregate response to this question in 2019 was also 54%, suggesting the situation isn’t improving.
While there’s no marked difference by demographic, connected consumers aged 65+ are more likely than younger age groups to be concerned about their online behaviours being used to target them.
But younger audiences desire relevance
Among the connected consumers we spoke to across eight markets, there’s no overwhelming vote for or against relevance when it’s based on online browsing activity. But the younger the connected consumer, the more they’re in favour of relevance.
Consumers’ attitudes to relevant online advertising
’I like to see relevant advertisements based on my previous web browsing activities’
Our eight markets cover over two thirds ($400 billion) of global advertising spend. Consumers in China and Brazil are most likely to claim they appreciate relevant advertising based on their online activity. Those in the European markets tend not to be so appreciative.
Advertisers face a real dilemma between increasing relevance and avoiding intrusiveness. Getting that balance wrong can mean overstepping a very fine line.
Consumers generally welcome relevant advertising, but those aged 35+ are concerned about how that relevance is achieved. Any privacy concerns the 18-34 age group may have are set aside when weighed up against the perceived benefits of more relevant advertising.
Consumers’ attitudes to relevant online advertising
’I like to see relevant advertisements based on my previous web browsing activities’
Changing perceptions
Is there a lack of understanding among consumers as to how their online data is being used?
The benefits of data use is something that at least one of our leaders feels will eventually become more widely understood by consumers.
A campaign that’s been poorly received may have been poorly executed; it may not necessarily be a bad idea. It might just be something simple like forgetting to cap the frequency, or a retargeting message which follows you round the web after you’ve bought the product.
Phil Jones, Head of Partnerships – EMEA, Google
If consumers can see a tangible benefit in the resulting advertising – a combination of strong creative and responsible use of data – perception could change.
Creative connections
Our analysis of 151 campaigns through our Kantar CrossMedia database finds quality of creative to be the largest driver for media effectiveness.
Stronger connections between creative output and campaign activation have never been more important.
We need to work hard to connect the media agency’s work with that of the creative agency in order to deliver a coherent connection plan. There are still gaps between translating the plan and media execution. There are connections; we just need to find them.
Marco Frade, LATAM Marketing Director, Diageo
Geo-targeting
Geo-targeting enhancements, for example, allow more accuracy and opportunity to satisfy consumer desires and behaviours.
Personalised targeting works very well for tourists visiting a new destination. In Japan, you arrive at a hotel and are given a smart device. On it, you can access maps, the local weather and receive appropriate advertising directing you to a restaurant, a department store or ticket booking, etc. For consumers, that’s not creepy – it’s valuable because it’s in the right context at the right time.
Christine Removille, Expert Partner- Global Customer & Marketing Excellence, Bain & Company
Respecting the consumer
A greater personalisation of advertising can backfire though, with consumers feeling uncomfortable with certain aspects of online advertising. One common criticism (expressed by 71% of respondents) is excessive frequency.
It comes back in the end to respect for the consumer. We realised we were reaching some consumers far too frequently. If you don’t respect them and you create an annoying advertisement experience, that’s bad for the consumer, bad for advertisers, and bad for the industry in general.
Alejandro Betancourt, LATAM Brand Director, P&G
Sometimes this ‘annoying experience’ manifests itself as a blunt use of retargeting – messaging those who have already bought the product (something 56% claim to be familiar with). Retargeting can work well, but if done insensitively it can annoy.
Data can fuel great advertising. But it must be collected and used with care. Ignoring consumer concerns and the consumer take-out can have very negative repercussions.
Ad blocking is prevalent among connected consumers. In 22 markets, half of consumers always or sometimes use it. (Source: Kantar TGI Global Quick View, 2019)
Restore consumer confidence
Let’s make advertising great (trusted) again!
Excessive frequency and the insensitive use of consumer data have damaged consumer trust in advertising. How can we rebuild that trust?
The most trusted channels
With so many options for sourcing information, where do consumers go to find out about your brand, and do they trust the information they find there? With the issue of trust now central to many brands’ thinking, where you say it is as important as what you say.
We’ve created a Trust Score to interpret our connected consumers’ responses. This takes the proportion of consumers who say they access certain media forms for brand information and sets that alongside the proportion who say they trust that media source for that purpose.
For example, while 60% of connected consumers claim to speak to friends and family to source brand news and information, the percentage saying they trust this means of sourcing brand news and information is actually 56%, leading to a trust score of 93.
Trust Score (brands and services)
There’s a degree of cynicism about paid-media forms, like advertising, and the rise in the use of influencers and social media platforms.
We have a problem and that is how the public feel about advertising. They simply don’t trust it in a way they once did. Without trust, advertising has no future. A brand without trust is simply a product, and advertising without trust is just noise. We urge all who work in our industry to look at our Trust Action Plan and join us in our efforts to rebuild the public’s trust in advertising.’
Keith Weed, President, Advertising Association and Former Chief Marketing Communications Officer, Unilever
Trust Score (brands and services) – by age
Great advertising must be trusted to be effective
The extent to which a medium can be trusted by consumers is an increasingly important consideration for advertisers, as is how well it fits with their own corporate values.
We need our advertising to appear in a trusted medium: it’s delivering our message and must be delivered effectively. If we appear in a medium that’s not trusted by its audience, consumers aren’t going to trust our message.
Micaela López Parma, Regional Media Lead – Southern Cone, Colgate-Palmolive
It’s a fine line between not wanting to interfere in editorial freedom and exercising the advertisers’ right to spend their budgets in the most appropriate contexts.
Trust matters, but it’s complex. For instance, if a news title has a large readership but has strong political views not aligned to your company values, is it our job as marketers to pass judgement on that or not? There’s a difference between untrustworthy and just a differing opinion. We want to be in high quality environments and we have a moral responsibility as advertisers to avoid funding truly untrustworthy sources. It’s clearly nuanced.
Jerry Daykin, EMEA Media Director, GSK
The whole area of trust and responsibility is more of a priority than it was 10 years ago. I can’t imagine having conversations back then on whether or not to recommend a newspaper on the basis of anything other than the metrics. Now those conversations are being had.
Stuart Bowden, Chief Strategy Officer, Wavemaker
Advertisers need audiences to trust their commercial messages, and making the right choice of medium plays an important part in that.
Trust is crucial to the programmatic planning process
While programmatic systems and data management platforms (DMPs) can help ensure data is used to build the most efficient media plan, they can easily ignore the inclusion of qualitative factors like trust.
Trust in the medium and the context of a campaign are fundamental to its success. It doesn’t matter how compelling the data appears – without creative factors, trust and other qualitative considerations, consumer trust is very much at stake.
The context in which our brand will be shown or heard is obviously a growing issue. I’d like a mechanism that guarantees that “planning” is not only about volume and audiences.
Hubert Blanquefort, Director Innovation & Digital Communications, EDF
We know from experience that context for TV advertising is important and has an influence on the viewer’s perception. This has been completely forgotten in the digital world. We’ve just been chasing the consumer no matter where they were, making sure they saw the banner or video ad as often as possible.
Gerhard Louw, Head of International Media Management, Deutsche Telekom
We have clients who operate very strict white-lists on everything they buy, and they hold to the same principles within broadcast and press. We hold online properties to a higher account than we used to.
Stuart Bowden, Chief Strategy Officer, Wavemaker
Advertisers and agency partners are now taking surrounding content into account, and holding data owners and publishers to a higher degree of scrutiny than ever before.
Advertisers and agency partners are now taking surrounding content into account, and holding data owners and publishers to a higher degree of scrutiny than ever before.
Bridging the gap
Data management platforms alongside programmatic tools and techniques can offer an efficient way of ensuring that all available datasets are brought into play. But with so much data available, it’s increasingly difficult for agencies and brands to get the edge on the competition and make an impact.
Grounded in consumer intelligence, our Kantar Audience Activation solution bridges the gap between media planning and programmatic media buying. It uses targets built on Kantar TGI, WorldPanel and ComTech consumer data and carries them through into the online media activation systems.
That's what it's all about: integration of data, integration of the message with the channels, and working together to pull all the strands together.
Gerhard Louw, Head of International Media Management, Deutsche Telekom
But having access to such systems allowing the handling of huge quantities of data, however smart, is only part of the job.
The best context might surprise you
Our ad testing (Kantar’s Context Lab) uses advanced techniques to test the same execution within different contexts, guiding advertisers towards the best combination of ad and surrounding content. A recent study with Teads for Airbnb, for example, found that their online ads performed less well in a travel setting (+5% awareness), but better in news and lifestyle contexts (+25% and +19% awareness respectively).
It’s essential to understand the context and how it fits with your campaign objectives to avoid joining a conversation inappropriately and damaging your brand. Testing theories can help refine your strategy and ensure you’re getting the most from your media investment.
Addressable advertising may be an obvious way forward, but there’s some way to go in ensuring consumers don’t feel stalked by advertisers. Avoiding this negative, while pursuing all the positives of relevance, is vital if advertising is to regain consumers’ trust.
Advertising in a privacy-safe way
If we’re to make advertising great again and regain consumers’ trust, then the advertising industry must act responsibly.
We need to question the extent of ad personalisation. How much is enough and how much is too much? We must avoid the consumer feeling like they’re being followed. We don't like technologies thinking they know us better than we know ourselves!
Gerhard Louw, Head of International Media Management, Deutsche Telekom
Consumer ambivalence
Consumers are conflicted. They support the idea of greater personalisation and relevance, but they are worried about data privacy and ‘intrusiveness’.
- 54% prefer to see ads that are relevant to their particular interests and needs.
- 56% are concerned that more tailored content might compromise their privacy.
(Base: 8,002 connected consumers; Source: Kantar DIMENSION study 2020)
Relevance and privacy are two sides of the same coin. To deliver relevance, we need data that defines what’s relevant and what’s not, and to whom.
We also have some way to go to understand consumers’ motivations when they’re using different media forms, which is essential if we are to deliver relevance.
I love advertising, but when I'm doing something on my mobile, I don’t appreciate an ad interrupting me. We're forgetting that consumers’ behaviour and experiences across different screens are not always the same. We need to find new formats for different screens, and we’re far from being able to deliver that.
Marcia Esteves, CEO, TBWA Brazil
Privacy is a serious consumer concern
Consumers must be confident that brands, their agencies and partners are using appropriately gathered data that doesn’t compromise their privacy.
We must be clear, honest and straightforward when it comes to how we collect and use data.
Consumers submitting themselves to a survey or a panel do understand, or have the opportunity to find out, how the data will be used.
But tracking behaviour online is blurrier. With increasing amounts of data generated automatically through web traffic and clicks, and then analysed through systems driven by algorithms and artificial intelligence, it’s by no means clear to consumers that their data is being collected, let alone what it’s used for. Only those reading the lengthy terms and conditions of the platforms collecting the data will have a clear idea.
Both play an important role in the opportunity to deliver advertising through addressable means. But many advertisers suggested that in their early experiments into addressable media channels the pendulum swung too far towards the ‘what’ and away from the ‘why’.
We're in the middle of a major change. We need to understand what is the right message, the right context, the right channel, the appropriate creative. We have been progressing, but we still have room for improvement.
Marcia Esteves, CEO, TBWA Brazil
Are we over-obsessed with online tracking and the deterministic data it generates?
While online behavioural data is clearly of some value, it can only ever provide half the story – what people do as opposed to why they do it. Many marketers feel the pendulum has swung too far towards the ‘what’ and away from the ‘why’.
When we talk about achievable goals to drive business, there isn't one answer. It isn’t just about brand or performance, it’s about how we work together. It's not “either or”; it’s “and”. As marketers, we’re struggling to provide that “and” answer.
Gerhard Louw, Head of International Media Management, Deutsche Telekom
Can those who use behavioural data be confident that the provenance of this information is a true reflection of reality?
In many cases, the data still sits within a walled garden, closed to any detailed, objective external verification, analysis or examination. The reluctance of platforms to share this data stops advertisers using these media forms to the fullest extent. It leads to bad practices and ultimately helps explain consumer nervousness around online advertising and data privacy.
I do believe that if advertisers, agencies, platforms and research companies work together collaboratively, we will co-create a solution for a cross-media measurement built on the principles of transparency, privacy-safety, comparable metrics and independent oversight.
Luis di Como, EVP Global Media, Unilever"
Brands, agencies and media owners must act responsibly. With a shared goal towards restoring consumer trust in advertising, all data, regardless of source, must adhere to the highest research standards. It must be collected in a privacy-safe way that respects the rights of consumers.
Kantar Audience Activation enables a new level of precision for addressing the right people on the right media channels in a privacy-safe way. Already available in the USA, France, Germany and UK for a number of industry verticals, it empowers media buyers to drive and analyse campaign performance integrated through DMPs, DSPs and client-proprietary platforms.
Make the most of your data
Creating value across the whole business
Recognition of data as an asset for the whole organisation is growing.
As brands take increasing control of their media output, more stakeholders throughout the organisation will need access to the data being used. Released from the confines of a silo, the data can add value and efficiencies in areas never traditionally considered.
Advertisers are becoming adept at maximising use of their data assets – a trend that’s leading to a more integrated and joined-up approach to marketing.
Data navigators
But, for all of this potential, there are challenges. Advertisers must navigate the deluge of data, the regulations that increasingly govern consumer data use, the permissions required to ensure compliance – and whether to trust external users with such a valuable company asset.
Media currencies play an important role in fuelling the ad technology used in advertising and media today. Kantar can help ensure that the data built into the various systems and working methodologies is collected and analysed to the highest possible standard.
This is increasingly important as general management becomes more involved in the detail of advertising organisations’ marketing spend. This growing involvement is partly driven by a generational shift as ‘digital natives’ move to senior positions within the C-Suite.
We may see a seismic shift in marketing strategy over the next five years or so as knowledge of digital performance management starts to percolate into the boardroom. I think we’ll see a more strategic and integrated approach to digital marketing.
Phil Jones, Head of Partnerships – EMEA, Google
Improving data access and analytics
If addressable advertising is to reach its full potential – going beyond campaign targeting to impact across every aspect of the business – the industry is going to have to get better at data access and analytics.
We have designed Kantar Advertising Insights to fit all business needs. Tracking, qualifying and estimating all ads, it now presents a customised dashboard giving clients easy access to accurate and comprehensive advertising intelligence on brand, competitor and industry advertising activity.
Some 232 million ads go through in-depth analysis on our Kantar Advertising Insights platform every month.
Re-engaging in the media process
Advertisers are re-engaging in all aspects of the media process, from the way in which data is used in plan creation to the negotiating and placement of campaigns.
This involvement is a positive that can only lead to more effective advertising.
Back to the floor
For every advertiser there’s a different, bespoke solution – based on their own priorities, their internal culture and organisation, and their relationship with their various agencies and specialist suppliers.
To an extent we now have the technology to enable advertisers to take more control in media planning and buying – an area previously delegated to a third party. In short, they're really going back to where they should’ve been all along.
Tom Denford, CEO, ID Comms
The often negative noise around media and technology – from ad fraud to unpalatable headline-grabbing online content – has increased the pressure on marketing teams. There’s a growing sense that advertisers need to get more involved in the whole process.
This involvement frequently translates as a greater degree of in-housing – but this brings its own challenges.
According to our data, 65% of advertisers who use programmatic buying techniques actively do so in-house. But you need to be able to manage what is an ongoing process of innovation, as well as the career paths of the specialists you bring in.
Christine Removille, Expert Partner- Global Customer & Marketing Excellence, Bain & Company
In-housing is a bespoke solution
In-housing is a rather misleading catch-all term for what can actually take myriad different shapes and forms. But the principle of advertisers engaging more in advertising and media processes is a positive one.
In-housing aspects of the media and data roles doesn’t mean a split between advertiser and agency, but rather a resetting of the rules of engagement between two sets of professionals.
In-housing is a really unhelpful term. It suggests you don't have faith in your agency and are just taking over the reins.
Tom Denford, CEO, ID Comms
Different companies naturally do different things for their own different reasons.
We’re starting our in-house journey by focusing on the areas closest to our business strategy: channel planning and top-line control of our media investment. These focus more on the fundamental decisions for our media investment activities.
Jerry Daykin, EMEA Media Director, GSK
Advertisers certainly involve themselves more than they used to in agency and partner negotiations, perhaps because they feel it allows them to react quicker to performance marketing metrics than if they were outsourcing to a third party.
Others take a different approach, in-housing elements of technology to deliver a more integrated data solution internally.
The development of technology gives us the opportunity for integration across CRM, digital and programmatic, among others.
Richard Pennant Jones, Head of Marketing, Co-op Insurance
One solution much in fashion is taking data analytics, and certain aspects of media output that can be driven by that data, in-house.
We differentiate between and undertake both in-housing and co-location. In-housing is when we take full ownership over planning & buying, and co-location is when we bring our agencies into our offices so we can work more closely. This allows us to be more agile, drives a better understanding of the strategies, and ultimately achieves better results.
Alejandro Betancourt, LATAM Brand Director, P&G
Clients increasingly use our Brand Guidance systems for continuous brand and campaign measurement. We integrate social, sales, advertising and survey data, analysing thousands of datapoints from multiple sources to help brands and their partners understand the holistic returns on their media investments. This allows our clients to quickly course-correct and optimise their campaign performance – both in the short and long term.
The trend towards in-housing elements of the media process, however it’s done, is now well established. If advertisers and their partners use data better, all become informed and engaged in the process, ultimately leading to the creation of relevant, powerful and effective advertising.
How we can help
We hope you’ve found this report useful as we’ve explored where data can best be leveraged in the pursuit of delivering better advertising.
With increased advertising inventory, brands and their agencies need consistent, trusted datasets.
Our syndicated consumer insight study, Target Group Index (TGI), available in over 50 markets, gives a complete profile of media consumption, product and brand usage, attitudes, motivations and other consumer behaviours. TGI can be ready-to-activate segments through our programmatic partners in many markets too.
We analyse 232 million ads every month and understand how advertisers are reaching and engaging target audiences. Covering paid, owned and earned media and reporting on a range of important metrics including creative monitoring and ad expenditure, Kantar Advertising Insights enables brands to build and activate better advertising strategies.
Connected media intelligence
Brands are increasingly looking for an integrated approach to campaigns across paid, owned and earned media. We offer a connected intelligence approach with a range of solutions that support campaign planning, measurement and effectiveness.
Learn more about how we help clients to make smart media choices and grow brand strength, market penetration and sales by visiting our website or getting in touch with a member of the team.
About DIMENSION
DIMENSION is Kantar’s latest thinking on some of the biggest communications planning, buying and measurement issues faced by the media industry.
This year’s study – Media and Me – investigates how brands, media owners and agencies can all win in an increasingly personalised media world.
As consumers use more connected personal devices to organise, curate and discover media, the industry is increasingly designing products and services to revolve around their personal preferences. This trend towards greater personal curation presents enormous opportunities and challenges to the industry that need to be understood.
Uniquely, the study reflects the response and attitudes from twin perspectives: those of the industry’s practitioners and those of the consumers they are trying to reach.
We have two additional reports forming the DIMENSION 2020 study, view them via the links, right.
About the research
We interviewed 8,002 connected consumers in eight markets (Argentina, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Spain, the UK and the US: 1,000 respondents in each). Collectively, these eight markets cover over two thirds ($400 billion) of global advertising spend.
Connected consumers are defined as those over the age of 18 who use at least two of the following: a PC or laptop (at home or at work), a smart TV (internet enabled), a smart speaker or voice-activated device, a personally owned tablet or smartphone to connect to the internet. We believe this sample to be of the greatest interest and relevance to our clients. The data produced is not, though, comparable with any data gathered from a sample designed to be representative of a total adult population.
Interviews of connected adults were conducted online using the CAWI (computer aided web interviewing) technique by our Profiles Division between 11 November and 4 December 2019. Because a technical issue affected the responses to one question among the German sample, 75% of the original respondents were re-contacted over the period 4–10 February 2020. All numbers quoted in this report are based on this sample unless otherwise stated. A full fieldwork report, complete with methodology and country data, is available here.
We also interviewed 37 industry practitioners to elicit their opinions and perspectives. These included senior figures from brands, agencies, media and platform owners, trade bodies, consultancies and adtech businesses. Attributed quotes have been approved for use by the individuals concerned.
About Kantar
Kantar is the world’s leading evidence-based insights and consulting company. We have a complete, unique and rounded understanding of how people think, feel and act; globally and locally in over 90 markets. By combining the deep expertise of our people, our data resources and benchmarks, our innovative analytics and technology, we help our clients understand people and inspire growth.
Written and published by Kantar, April 2020 © All rights reserved.
