2017
2017 2016/2017
MediaCom 124 Theobalds Road London WC1X 8RX UK Tel: +44 (0)20 7158 5500 Web: mediacom.co.uk Josh Krichefski, CEO, UK EA: Liz Hastings Tel: +44 (0)20 7158 4539 Email: liz.hastings@mediacom.com
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Fact Book 2017 Edition
Key Media Facts & Figures
Hello and welcome to the 2017 edition of the MediaCom Fact Book. My first year as UK CEO has seen the media landscape shift at a remarkable pace and it gives me great pleasure to see how the people at MediaCom are adapting to and, in many cases, driving these changes for our clients. The aim of this book is to share this acquired knowledge with you and provide a useful reference for key media facts and figures, alongside insights into current and future trends from our in-house experts giving you the vital information you need for the coming year. If you have any questions about the content of this book, or if you’d like further details about the facts, figures or issues mentioned, then please get in touch with us. I hope you find it enjoyable and enlightening – here’s to a great 2017!
Josh Krichefski CEO, UK
Contents Real World Insight 6 Business Science 10 TV 12 VOD 16 Kids 20 Broadcast Sponsorship 24 Print 26 Radio 28 Out-of-home 32 Cinema 36 Content 38 Partnerships 40 Sport & Entertainment 42 Events 46 Influencer Marketing 48 Response 52 Mobile 56 Paid Social 60 Programmatic 64 SEO 66 Search 68 Affiliates 70 Career 74 CultureCom 76
REAL WORLD INSIGHT
Consumer Confidence Index Consumer Confidence Climate for Major Purchase Expectation for development of the economy over the next 12 months 20
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-20 -30 -40
A look back at 2016 • UK public voted to leave the European Union • Economic indicators largely positive, though uncertainty starting to affect business confidence • Brexit: a symptom of growing fragmentation across the country The UK votes to leave the EU - uncertainty ensues June 23rd 2016 saw one of the most momentous political events of modern times when the UK voted by 52% to 48% to leave the European Union. The result created a seismic shock across the country. Whilst the polls had called it close, very few people had actually counted on a Leave vote and the resultant fallout left the government and opposition in chaos. Meanwhile, the stock market and the value of the pound plummeted.
Economic indicators and business confidence In the weeks and months that followed, economic indicators were mixed. An initial crash in the markets and in consumer confidence was soon followed by sharp recoveries. Fears of a recession led the Bank of England to raise quantitative easing and reduce interest rates to a historical low. However, as more details of the government’s plans for Brexit emerged, the value of the pound continued to fall and many predicted economic upheaval ahead.
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-50 Source: GfK NOP Consumer Confidence Tracker, October 2016
Brexit is a symptom of growing fragmentation
80%
Improve Worsen
The referendum vote exposed deep divisions in British society, variously reported in the media as: Leavers versus Remainers; “metropolitan elites” versus “ordinary, decent people”; old versus young; Londoners versus everyone else. It also exacerbated a deep mistrust of politicians and the media.
58% 49%
GroupM’s EU referendum tracker has revealed the extent of this division - demonstrating a gulf between the attitudes and expectations of Leave and Remain voters - with Leave voters far more optimistic about the future of the UK outside the EU and Remain voters more pessimistic. MediaCom’s research project Britain Decoded, which launched in late 2016, also highlights a fragmented country. The Brexit vote is a symptom of this fragmentation that may continue, especially if there is a second referendum on Scottish independence. Media fragmentation has been happening for a while and is now exacerbated by the growing number of different social platforms and the individualised experiences afforded by personalisation at scale in the online space. However, this landscape opens up huge opportunities to connect with consumers. Sky’s ‘Start of Season’ campaign is a great example of how brands can personalise at scale.
44% 37%
35% 25%
24%
21%
18%
15% 9%
7%
Remain
Leave
The state of the British economy
Remain
7%
6%
Leave
The state of your own personal finances
Remain
Leave
The state of your local area/ community
Remain
6%
Leave
Your employment prospects
Source: GroupM EU Referendum Tracker, Wave 8, November 2016, n=1009
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A look ahead to 2017 • •
Article 50 will be triggered by end of March 2017 – business and market reactions will hugely impact consumer confidence and spending Advertisers must consider how to communicate with a divided nation
Article 50 to be triggered by the end of March 2017 The only certainty about 2017 is that there will be uncertainty ahead. Theresa May has now given a deadline for the triggering of Article 50 – the end of March 2017, barring any delays resulting from the legal challenge mounted in 2016. It is very hard to predict how markets will react, as much of this will depend on how negotiations with the EU progress. Many experts believe that economic slowdown is likely in 2017. Even if a recession does not occur, long periods of depressed currency values will inevitably result in price rises being passed on to consumers. This will hit consumer pockets and result in a slowdown in spending, particularly amongst those on low incomes (many of whom voted to leave the EU). Some industries may do well in the coming year. Inbound tourism has already seen a boost from the weakened pound and looks set to continue, which is good news for the pubs and restaurants of London. Although outbound tourism may well suffer if the sterling continues on its trajectory.
Advertisers need to communicate with a divided nation
can provide reassurance, great value and good quality to their consumers will do well in uncertain times, as will those who can bring people together via a sense of community. MediaCom’s Britain Decoded research reveals three key meanings of “Community” across the UK: ‘physically local’ – amenities and people nearby; ‘shared interest’ – communities of interest who may not live close by; and ‘trust’ – in information, institutions or people. These manifest differently depending on where in the country people live, however brands that can tap into these will be able to create meaning for consumers. This is particularly true for younger consumers. Many millennials and Gen Z’ers feel that their future has been taken away from them – as they are already suffering disproportionately from the effects of the last recession, with many experiencing spiralling debts, the inability to get on the housing ladder and underemployment. Providing support and help for young people, or for communities that are struggling is a great way for brands to build meaning and relevance. The Churchill ‘Lollipopper’ campaign is a great example of how brands can tap into community at different levels, in order to drive trust in the brand.
Brands will need to find a way to communicate effectively with a divided nation, many of whom feel uncertain about the future. Brands that
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BUSINESS SCIENCE
A look ahead to 2017 • • • •
AI is going to be the “next big thing” Automation will extend beyond the digital space Human touch needed - robots will never completely understand irrational behaviour Another piece of kit in the tool bag (rather than a replacement)
Machine learning will raise the bar on communication effectiveness The next twelve months will mark the real breakthrough of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in marketing measurement. The increased speed, automation and knowledge that machine learning could deliver, in terms of how communication effectiveness is understood, will be significant.
A look back at 2016 • • •
Big Measurement meets Big Data Real time measurement takes a leap forward Be wary of too much focus on short-term measurement
Measurement gets more granular 2016 was the year when the promise of big data was joined by the beginnings of big measurement. There is no doubt that huge strides have been made in the measurement industry in the last year. Measurement has gone granular, drawing on masses of data at the individual level. Digital attribution modelling, consumer mix modelling and spot level analysis all link media exposure to business outcomes at an individual level and at scale.
New technology makes real time measurement a reality There were considerable advances in real-time measurement in 2016. Powered by new technology, marketers can now measure response within hours and days of activity running, meaning that real time adjustment to plans is becoming a reality. The department has embraced these new developments as they bring quicker and more granular reporting
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on campaign effectiveness, which has been needed for years. There is, however, a watch out: all of these new developments focus on very short-term response. Use of these new techniques should not come at the expense of measuring the longer-term effect of communications. What is needed is a balance.
The importance of long-term measurement A wholesale switch to measuring very short-term effects will only mean one thing – businesses will not achieve their full growth potential. What works immediately, in terms of comms channels and messages, is not usually what builds brands in the longer-term. By focusing on immediate response, there is the risk of being optimised into a suboptimal position. Measuring the longer-term impact of communications has always been a key focus for this department, as it provides clients with a balanced view of how to reactively optimise their sales this week, next month and next year.
Anything that can be programmatically bought will benefit from this process - digital is the obvious starting place, but this will quickly extend into other ‘offline’ channels. TV is also an area for development where individual spot measurement will soon automatically link with buying platforms.
Human intervention is still needed The human touch should not be overlooked, as the robots aren’t quite ready to take total charge just yet and engagement in these measurement tools will be needed to get the most out of them. This will include the setting of clear, tangible objectives in order to fully evaluate success. It will also require continued refinement - these robots will be able to account for many factors but won’t, initially at least, acknowledge those wider as-of-yet unexplained external factors that may influence performance and decision-making i.e. how does anyone or anything predict the likely impact of Brexit?
It’s a complement to existing analytics rather than a replacement This automated, real-time approach does inherently bias the focus on measuring and optimising the immediate benefit of communications. Therefore, a further element of leveraging this AI revolution effectively will be how well it integrates with existing
analytics, which provide the full perspective on system performance. The move towards AI should be seen as an opportunity, rather than a threat to the current analytics approaches prevalent in the marketing measurement world - the likes of econometrics and accompanying optimisation tools. However, these will continue to require updates and modifications to keep them relevant in this ‘new’ world.
The Game Changer In 2016, there have been major improvements in the micro-measurement of marketing data, resulting in the ability to provide very granular level insights on the effectiveness of the marketing budget. Expect these improvements to continue in 2017, as machine learning becomes more entrenched. It is clear that the most successful insights need the human touch. The analytics partners that will rise above the rest will be those that understand how to bridge the gap between the different measurement techniques. To deliver the best bang for the marketing buck, the analysis needs to optimise within channel, across channels and right to the top level, across portfolios and markets. It also needs to balance the short-term gains with the long-term brand building. The insights need to work across the communications system and ensure that new technologies are usable day to day. MediaCom is well positioned to play a leading part in this measurement revolution – there is the right talent to build, implement and action systems measurement. The company’s existing techniques continue to be market leading with 2017 seeing further advances, including the launch of the latest iteration of the leading Media Optimisation Tool.
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TV
A look back at 2016
A look ahead to 2017
• • •
• • •
Early revenue growth reversed in the second half of the year; the effects felt by broadcasters with revenues tightening in Q4 ITV feel the pinch but Sky gains momentum Pay TV viewing is holding strong; ‘cord-cutting’ threat yet to materialise in the UK
Economic uncertainty contributes to slight growth in TV revenue predictions, meaning relatively flat TV pricing Online video is set to continue growth within the AV market We will see increased addressability and personalisation through programmatic buys
Early revenue growth reversed in the second half of 2016
Contrasting fortunes for ITV and Sky - cord-cutting yet to materialise
Economic uncertainty means relatively flat TV pricing
2016 has been a relatively flat year for linear TV. Revenues matched 2015’s all-time high of £5.27bn across linear, sponsorship and broadcaster VOD, and audiences held steady off the back of some drops the year before. Overall, this is a positive picture for advertisers after inflation in TV since 2010. As a result, prices have been relatively flat after some volatility over the last few years. This means advertisers have not had to chase a late market in order to deliver TV plans.
ITV was an early victim of reversed revenue growth. Although the broadcaster continued to purchase production outlets, there was little organic growth and their heavy reliance on advertising revenue means that they will need to cut costs in 2017. Sky acquired the Channel 5 sales contract and with a more successfully diversified business, have stated that Brexit “doesn’t really change [their] thinking”, in part because people stay at home and watch TV when finances are tight. This resilience is evident in their reported full-year operating profit, which rose by +12% to a record £1.56bn.
Whilst the economy is currently continuing to grow, there is still uncertainty around 2017. In the UK TV market, revenues are expected to increase by +1% next year and viewing will remain stable with commercial content remaining strong.
The year got off to a strong start revenue-wise, and in the lead up to the Brexit decision in June broadcasters were talking up the market. However, since September the reality has seen the number of advertisers on TV decrease and consumer goods groups run fewer campaigns to focus on their core brands. ITV Chief Executive, Adam Crozier, has said the impact has been on “short-term ‘late money’, rather than advertisers ripping up long-term plans and that the fundamentals of TV advertising remained strong”.
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Sky’s strong results are interesting in their sharp contrast to the US, where pay TV has been suffering. Major differences in the UK pay TV infrastructure have meant that the market here is less exposed.
Indeed, post-Brexit programming budgets have remained relatively unscathed; evident in some high profile “snatches” from the BBC that should help boost commercial viewing figures next year and beyond. A recent first glimpse of the revamped The Voice revealed that it has been given the ITV X Factor treatment with a brand-new logo, presenter line-up and high-tech set design. Meanwhile over at Channel 4 HQ, initial celebrations at winning Bake Off have been somewhat dulled by contractual wrangles which currently rule out a new version airing until at least 2018.
Online video will continue to grow In this country, the most significant perceived “threat” to linear TV (from both a revenue and audience perspective) has come from the growth of online video and subscription based viewing; with the likes of YouTube, Spotify and Netflix now major features of the AV landscape. Yet as Thinkbox’s Tess Alps points out “the ‘direction of travel’ is not from TV to online video. It’s from static textbased advertising to all forms of video advertising”. And this will only lead to expanding budgets for AV advertising. Scott Ferber, Chairman & CEO of Videology, talks about sight, sound and motion and how companies need to produce great content in order to follow the consumer journey across devices to maximise communication with audiences. The more investment in this area, the more the quality of content will grow.
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Addressability and personalisation increases through programmatic buys Looking to the future of TV, along with the growth of non-linear viewing, there is a lot of noise around programmatic and addressable TV. With Sky AdSmart currently the most well-known example of advances in linear addressability, 2017 is certain to see significant new offerings in this area from both traditional broadcasters and key online players.
2017 will see an exclusive On Demand option Alpha Catch-Up - that will be available on Connected Devices, to be followed by a Live Addressable option later next year. Addressable TV allows the unique targeting of audiences by postcode in a real time TV environment, fully completing the viewers’ TV experience. People are consuming TV in a different way to five years ago, let alone ten - and an addressable product ensures that advertisers reach their core audiences with the best content outside of traditional TV viewing.
PROGRAMMATIC MARKETING “ “
“I believe television will change more in the next five years than in the last 50” Brian L . Roberts, CEO , Comcast
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VOD
Video increases by 69% since H1 2015 H1 2011
H1 2012
H1 2013
H1 2014
H1 2015
H1 2016
£54m
£83m
£128m
£187m
£284m
£474m
Viral Video & other: £7m, 1% Outstream/in-read: £189m, 40% Pre-post roll: £279m, 59%
Source: IAB/ PwC Adspend H1 2016/Warc
Top Spending Sectors FMCG 22% Financial Services 11% Automotive 11% Entertainment 10%
A look back at 2016 • • • •
Online video adspend increased +69% YoY in H1 2016 – full year expected to be worth £1bn (IAB/PwC) 63% of online video spend is now on mobile, up +137% YoY (IAB/PwC) 40.1m people in the UK watch online video each month – 76% of internet users; further rise of +3.4% expected in 2017 (eMarketer) TV viewing migration, as 20% of all video viewed as online video or VOD; 29% for 16- 24s (BARB)
Retail 7% Media 7% Telecommunications 4.5% Travel 4.2% Beverages 3.5% Pharmaceuticals 3.1% Technology & Computing 2.8% Alcohol 2.4% Home & Garden 2.1% Charity 1.7% Other 8%
Source: Videology
Online adspend shot up Adspend continued to grow, outstripping the previous year (H1 2015 was +45%) - yet the market matured and familiar names dominated. Adspend is shifting increasingly into non-broadcast, as broadcasters’ share of the market has fallen from 52% in 2012 to 37% in 2016. Further growth is expected in video from social platforms – an area not as restricted by inventory. There was also huge growth in Outstream/In-Read formats that sit within text-based editorial content and not in front of video content, which is now 40% of the online video market – up from 12% last year.
FMCG was the leading advertiser category, making up 22% of total advertiser impressions - as these heavy TV buyers used video to supplement reach gained on TV.
Largest Video Sites, % monthly reach YOUTUBE.COM
Mobile needs shorter ad content Despite the increase in mobile viewing, the vast majority of ads carried by Videology were still 30-second copy (just 4% were 10 seconds or under, despite better view-through-rates from shorter ads) – which showed that the industry still isn’t truly designing content for the platform.
Videology -Potential Reach BrightRoll Platform - Potential Reach VEVO Vimeo ITV.COM Channel4 TWITCH.TV
10.00
20.00
30.00
40.00
50.00
60.00
Source: ComScore Video Metrix
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Online video viewing numbers 76% of the population watch online video at least once a month, with the highest percentage being amongst under 34s (91%) and the lowest amongst 55+ (54%). However, this older group showed the highest growth in 2016, up +18% points. There is a distinct split between the viewing habits of 55+ and younger groups and over half of internet users watching videos online do so via a mobile device. (ComScore Video Metrix)
TV viewing shows decline As online video viewing has grown, particularly amongst 16-24s - TV viewing has declined. In fact, TV viewing is falling amongst all age groups, except
65+. 16-24s watched 10.5% less TV in 2015 than in 2014 and 25-34s watched 4.2% less than the previous year. Time spent watching TV has fallen every year since 2007. 2016 saw the growth of social video with Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat all offering advertisers video ad opportunities on social platforms. These platforms gave advertisers the potential to reach the hard to find 16-24 audiences, usually on mobile devices, which gave rise to vertical video formats that render more appealingly on smartphone screens. Video is expected to be the predominant format in social advertising by 2018.
65%
91%
61%
89%
62%
2015 2016
83%
56%
54% 36%
15-24
Source: ComScore Video Metrix
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25-34
• Online video adspend expected to surpass £1.2bn, overtaking OOH and National Print (eMarketer) • The viewing divide between 65+ and under 34s will widen with younger audiences moving away from live TV • Measurement will remain a hot topic with vendors and clients all looking to understand the effectiveness of online video; standardising metrics between AV channels will remain a big challenge • The online video industry will move increasingly into programmatic with the likelihood of more addressable ads on TV Generational divide in viewing habits
% of Total Population viewing online video monthly 91%
A look ahead to 2017
35-44
44-54
The viewing habits of 55+ and under 44s are increasingly divided, as younger audiences view video in a more flexible, non-linear way. It is believed that even as these people get older, they won’t turn into their parents and that their viewing and content expectations will reflect different viewing behaviours. Live TV now makes up just 36% of 16-24s’ viewing, down 14 points YoY - with this group switching to paid-for on-demand services such as Netflix and NOW TV. In comparison, live TV still accounts for over three-quarters of 55+ viewing.
Focus on measurement
55+
2017 will see continued focus on measurement. 2016 saw Videology work with Gain Theory, and YouTube ran research that recommended brands spend 24% of AV budget on online video for 1634s, provoking a counterargument from Thinkbox (as ever). Expect more from Google and Facebook in this space. The focus on showing incremental reach will continue, with Nielsen remaining the only in-market solution. MediaCom will continue to build
solutions in this area, whilst looking at the effect of online video on outcomes in order to understand true effectiveness. On a more basic measurement level, there are signs that broadcasters will open up their platforms to external tracking and viewability tags in the coming year, which will also help with measurement.
A move into programmatic As TV meets digital, more video inventory will become available programmatically with broadcasters moving into this space. Advertisers will increasingly have a choice between reach and relevance for their AV campaigns.
The Game Changer 2017 is likely to see TV get more addressable with a number of projects and products that will enable advertisers to deliver data-targeted video ads into catch-up services. Suppliers like Videology (through providers such as Roku and Virgin) and Sky (via AdSmart and a $10m investment in programmatic partner DataXu) are likely to lead the way.
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KIDS
A look back at 2016 • •
Kids’ viewing remained strong with impacts up +5.58% overall (Jan – Sept) However, channel performance at a sales house level showed volatility and confirmed that, overall, older children are watching TV less: - Turner and CITVB audiences were down YoY, -5.49% and -34.6% respectively - Sky Kids’ Nicktoons saw significant drop in impacts, while their Nick Jr. and Nick Jr. Too audiences increased - Disney XD also showed big drops, while Disney Junior had impressive +63% YoY viewings - CITV came back from a difficult 2015 to secure +2.3% YoY audience • BARB’s Project Dovetail captures invaluable data and nears second stage
Ofcom’s ‘Children’s Media Lives Year 2 Findings’ supported this theory and showed that children now have a broad concept of “watching TV” that includes many types of audiovisual content, viewed across multiple platforms and devices. This includes YouTube content, as well as video on demand (VOD) from services like Netflix and Amazon Prime. The frequent use of these is driven overwhelmingly by the selection of the content. However, it should be noted that children often still prefer to watch this content on the “Big Screen” - generally the main TV Set in family lounges.
BARB’s Project Dovetail gathers invaluable data Robust kids’ TV viewing and adspend Viewing on commercial kids’ channels was in rude health in 2016, with children watching TV for around two hours a day on average. Clients who spend in this area remained wedded to TV airtime and were somewhat reluctant to move spend from this medium, as it delivers significant return on investment. Therefore, demand for airtime increased as advertisers spent more money. 2015 saw a 49% increase in spend in the Toys and Games sector (source: Nielsen Ad Dynamix) and, at time of publication, last year at least matched this spend.
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More money moved into cinema and online (as kids’ advertisers began to trust that medium) however, press titles experienced decreased spend levels.
Older children moving away from mainstream TV Last year’s Fact Book suggested that older kids were moving away from controlling the main TV set (measured by BARB) and instead, were watching TV on other devices or taking part in other activities on tablets and smartphones.
BARB’s panel of 5,100 homes currently provides representative viewing profiles and a measurement of viewers per screen. Every time a home joins the current panel, BARB install software TV Meters on laptops, desktop and tablet devices to capture the non-linear data. Multi-device measurement through Project Dovetail neared completion in 2016 with BARB, Kantar and Nielsen now entering the second stage, which involves blending data from analytic tags with viewing information obtained from the panel. The more known from this study about how kids consume content, the better the choices that advertisers can make when targeting this notoriously hard
to reach demographic.
TV Advertiser spend
96% of spend allocated here in
2016
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A look ahead to 2017 • •
TV advertising will remain majority spend Kids will continue to move away from linear TV and VOD market will mature
TV spend will create neutral market conditions Market intelligence shows that clients are fully aware that TV advertising is key to getting their products onto “Santa lists” around Christmas, which is one of the main reasons why spend remains so high. In 2017, TV will still take the majority of spend – allowing for neutral market conditions, as clients remain cautious about the measurement capabilities on VOD and whether or not it can add to their return on investment (ROI). Still, many brands are coming round to the fact that older kids are viewing differently and are now preparing to test VOD versus linear TV on older products.
marketplace will remain cluttered with all parties competing for young eyeballs - removing commercial impacts from linear TV. There is a whole generation of tech-savvy children who may take their viewing habits elsewhere - away from linear TV. This doesn’t seem to be happening yet, but it is almost certainly going that way. 45% of children aged 8-12 years old are now regularly watching TV through a tablet device, according to MediaCom’s ‘Connected Kids’ survey. On Demand TV viewing is up by +4% (to 22%) in this 8-12 demographic, which will keep rising as more and more children have access to their own tablets and smartphones.
The Game Changer Linear TV will lose more kids As the VOD market for children matures, advertisers and agencies will try to match the viewing in this medium accordingly - although the legalities of advertising to children may offer up some opposition. Project Dovetail will help clients and marketers alike with this proposition, once complete and available to the market. Until then, the
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Children are more likely to be connected consumers in future than ever before.
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BROADCAST SPONSORSHIP
A look back at 2016
A look ahead to 2017
• • •
• • •
The broadcast sponsorship market has shown growth Market grown driven by sports broadcasting Consolidation of broadcast media owners has reduced overall opportunities
Market appetite for sponsorship remains high Broadcast sponsorship has always been traded very differently from other media. As a supply and demand market, it has more in common with buying a house than it does planning and buying a linear TV schedule. The more in demand properties such as soaps or flagship entertainment programmes like I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here or Gogglebox go through a sealed bidding process that often drives the price above their own market value. As the appetite for sponsorship remains high, and the incumbent sponsor locks more and more properties into multiyear deals, there is a danger that some higher profile sponsorships are going to artificially inflate the market.
Total value driven by sport The market, which looks to be worth circa £200m, has been largely driven by the growth of one genre of programming: sports. Additional money has come to the market from F1 coverage moving from the non-commercial BBC to C4, the one-off event of
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the Paralympics on C4 and from Sky splitting their Premier League coverage with the introduction of Friday Night Football - selling it as two packages for the first time in over a decade.
Limited supply of sponsorship sales opportunities What has been clear in 2016 is that there are fewer opportunities on the market than in previous years. This is not because there is less programming or that much of the programming is already sponsored. Rather, there are now only three sales house principally selling sponsorships: ITV, C4 (who sell UKTV and BT Sport outside of their own channel) and Sky who look after pretty much everything, including Channel 5 since Viacom acquired it. As such, programmes are increasingly packaged into bigger and bigger strands across multiple channels. This is potentially great for brands with deeper pockets, however it reduces the scope for brands with lesser budgets.
Acquired formats to invigorate the broadcast sponsorship market Family favourites returning; Bake Off moves to C4 Increasing activation opportunities and package costs to fuel market growth
Major broadcasters invigorating the sponsorship market 2017 is looking to be an interesting year in the broadcast sponsorship market. Already, C4 Racing has become Racing on ITV with a big-ticket price tag to match. The Voice has also moved from the BBC to ITV and a number of large properties are either definitely or potentially coming back to the market. The migration of The Voice is largely down to ITV acquiring Talpa, the production company who makes and owns the rights to the format globally. Whilst the addition of the programme to ITV’s Q1 schedule is interesting, what’s really compelling is how ITV are expanding their development and ownership of large entertainment formats that could have a home beyond these shores.
Family favourites returning or moving channel ITV has both Britain’s Got Talent and the X Factor coming back to the market for certain, with Coronation Street entering its last year of sponsorship and potentially coming back to market.
C4 are looking likely to recommission the Crystal Maze for a rumoured 26-episode run and Home on 4 will be changing hands for the first time in three years. One particular focus will be how C4 handle the transition of Great British Bake Off to their channel. Whilst it is rumoured not to air until 2018, it is likely that the package will come to market in 2017. The appetite for which will depend on the talent they recruit to replace Mel, Sue and Mary and what tweaks they may make to the format.
Increasing activation opportunities and market growth The ever-increasing number of activation opportunities for sponsorships from licensing, content, talent endorsement, social amplification, etc. will continue to grow. Whilst this does potentially create a richer brand experience, it also adds to the package costs that are coming to the market. This is how a large proportion of market growth will be earned in 2017.
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A look back at 2016
A look ahead to 2017
• •
• •
Major changes in long-established distribution models Newsbrands grew their portfolio through acquisitions and brand extensions
Newsbrands set to focus on a single sales force initiative Publishers edge closer to a single de-duped audience figure across all platforms
If content is king, then distribution is queen
Evolving brands and diversifying trading
Combining forces to deliver scale
The last twelve months have seen some of the most iconic publishing brands shift their distribution methodology, with a new ‘pop up and pick up’ hybrid model. The first major title to utilise this method was Cosmopolitan in August 2015, after which time Hearst rolled it out to their other lifestyle stalwarts Elle and Harper’s Bazaar. Cosmopolitan posted a YoY circulation increase of +60%, vindicating the publisher’s decision to change their distribution model. It should be noted that copies were not just handed out in a non-targeted manner, but delivered with innovation and precision. Hearst allowed Elle magazine readers to pre-order copies with a cover of their choice, four weeks before the September issue hit newsstands. The publisher also targeted select events including London Fashion Weekend and key summer festivals with ‘pop up and pick up’ stands distributing free copies. It has become clear to industry heavyweights that readers’ desire to consume quality content has not diminished; it is simply a case of how best to get the product into the hands of their audience.
Whilst distribution models are of paramount importance, another focal point for publishers has centred on brand extensions. News UK continued to push the boundaries in this area following News Corps’ acquisition of Unruly and the introduction of Sun Bets and Sun Dream Team. Newsbrands have one key advantage over smaller independent digital sales houses and that is the heritage and brand loyalty that readers feel towards titles like The Sun. Through additional initiatives and offerings, publishers and newsbrands have created new revenue streams and begun to amass significant volumes of first-party data that will, in turn, help improve products and offer greater insights to marketers.
The newspaper sector is in a similar position to their digital counterparts, with title consolidation becoming a prominent topic for discussion. It is widely viewed that there are too many disparate publishers competing for the same advertising pound, and this has come to a head over the past year as revenues continue to fall under pressure. Single sales/trading houses are nothing new as TV and radio airtime has been sold this way for many years. The conversation starting to gain traction is how to create a single sales team for all national press titles. The key benefit would be the ability to deliver audiences at scale with a unified sales approach, which is particularly interesting in the partnership and content space. It’s not only scale of audience that is on offer; cooperating brands would be able to exploit data at scale too. Despite the positives, there are some potential drawbacks to the proposal that centre around brands losing their identity and becoming diluted. There is no doubting that many brands would benefit from this approach, however, some powerhouse media owners may potentially lose out.
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The Sun’s digital offering is another fine example of the scale a content creator can deliver. Following the removal of the paywall, they saw figures rise from 225,000 paid-for subscribers in July 2015 to 19.4 million monthly unique users in August 2016. It’s clear that traditional media channels such as publishing can still offer scale in a contextual environment across a breadth of platforms. The ongoing issue is how media owners package this into one coherent offering.
Accurate measurement beckons for publishers The biggest misconception surrounding publishing is that all readers have deserted magazines and newspapers. The reality is that they have migrated to different platforms but are essentially still consuming a specific title’s content. The most extensive publishing end-to-end brand reporting is set to be released in Q1 2018. Named AMP (Audience Measurement Platform), it will provide a clearer indication of the scale publishing brands can offer and help arrest deflation. This survey will report and measure the net breadth (de-duped) of publishing brands against a plethora audiences for the first time. The reporting outputs are likely to be available via Telmar or IMS bureaux, meaning that this survey can be universally used to trade against.
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RADIO
A look back at 2016 • A strong year with solid growth - market revenue up +4% • Digital audio consumption grows - providing audience scale and targeting opportunities • New DAB multiplex (Digital 2) launches successfully • News Corp buy Wireless Group (owners of talkSPORT) for more cross-media clout in market Solid growth with revenue up +4% It’s been a buoyant year and estimates suggest that market revenue in 2016 will end up +4%. Radio revenue is in a good place, which is indicative of a solid audience base (90% of the population continue to listen to radio across BBC and commercial) and ongoing investment from media owners in station brands, talent and new technology - allowing greater access to consumers.
Digital audio consumption grows Digital audio has reached critical mass and is a key environment for both consumers and advertisers. Almost 6 in 10 adults aged 15+ are listening to radio via a digital platform; around 32 million people tuning in via a digitally enabled receiver each week. This growth doesn’t cannibalise radio listening but actually compliments it. In the past year, listening
hours have decreased for owned music (-36m total hours*), yet music streaming services (Spotify, Deezer, SoundCloud, etc.) have increased by +44m hours*. Therefore, there is clearly new appetite from listeners and hence, greater opportunity for advertisers.
The launch of DAB multiplex The second national commercial radio DAB multiplex was awarded to Sound Digital (a combination of Arqiva, Bauer Media and Wireless group) and went live in Q1 16. Bauer launched spin-off brands such as Mellow Magic and Kisstory. Wireless group launched three stations: Virgin, and two original speech stations - talkRADIO and talkSPORT 2, which has increased choice and variety for speech stations and challenged the BBC’s dominance in this sector.
The much-anticipated return of the Virgin Radio brand caused a stir in the market as the original Virgin Radio had been rebranded to Absolute in 2008. There is no doubt about the brand’s heritage but the new version is smaller scale (digital only) with a more female line-up (e.g. Edith Bowman and Kate Lawler).
TalkPORT bought by News Corp In June 2016, News Corp bought the Wireless group (owners of talkSPORT) for a reported £220m in a bid to curtail falling print revenues and sell crossmedia solutions. Their first set of RAJAR results were a success as both talkSPORT2 and Virgin recorded higher listener figures than predicted. The Sun and talkSPORT brands, for instance, are an easy place to cross promote their own products and talent - advertisers can tap into a cross-platform solution with print, radio and digital offerings.
Digital audio has scale and continues to grow
10.8m Autumn 2012
21.7m Summer 2016 Source: IAB 2016
*Source: MIDAS Spring 2016
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UK radio sales, % share of listening
45% Global
40% Bauer
8%
First Radio
5%
talkSPORT
2% Others
A look ahead to 2017 • • •
Radio’s good health to remain with revenue increase of +4% predicted New tech advances will help audio become more accountable for advertisers Changes and new opportunities expected with Wireless Group’s new owners
Continued revenue growth predicted Increase in demand for premium digital audio will drive price inflation and should see market revenue increase by +4% in 2017. Radio will experience an acceleration of investment into Digital audio, closer in line with consumption and a potential expanding market with new players.
Technology will help audio accountability Digital audio growth means greater scale of audiences, which will encourage new product development and investment in 2017. With products like DAX and Xaxis audio, there are increasingly sophisticated targeting options and creative routes that provide opportunities for advertisers. DAX highlighted its capabilities with its new Listener Insight ID, which enables user behaviour to be tracked from audiences using mobile. Dynamic ads and geographical targeting will also allow brands to target consumers – audio ads can be adapted in real time through mobile based on users’ behaviour or combined with out-of-home campaigns, serving ads with users literally on the move. Xaxis’s cross device will try to expand audience reach on mobile and other ‘non-cookie environments’ too, and help reach users in different moments of their days. 3D audio, which is an
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immersive surround sound experience delivered through headphones, is a new format on mobile that the company has begun using, following its own insight that found a 60% lift in people’s emotions while listening to audio through headphones.
New opportunities for Wireless Group There has yet to be any noticeable difference to talkSPORT after its recent acquisition from News Corp, as the deal was only finalised in September 2016. However, this will be another interesting place to watch for 2017. News Corp are likely to wait to learn about operating a radio business before making any fundamental structural changes, but there is no doubt that the company’s leverage and expertise in the print market will also help the radio brands.
Commercial radio still delivers large scale Each radio station taps into the audience’s passion point - their taste in music – and can deliver targeted messaging at scale. The Syndicated Networks transmit a solus spot across all 250 commercial radio stations. Delivering stand out, relevancy and 48% higher ad recall than ads within standard commercial ad breaks.
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OUT-OF-HOME
A look back at 2016 • • •
Media owners consolidated new tender wins: JCDecaux and TFL won London 6 sheets; Exterion and the London Underground Digital outdoor continued to grow across all environments in all major UK cities The industry focused on tools and systems to deliver automated content delivery
Year of consolidating new tender wins The JCDecaux takeover of TFL London bus shelters, and subsequent digital roll out in 2016 - set the precedent for further digital expansion across the industry. Other media owners also consolidated new tender wins, including Exterion who retained the London Underground contract and embarked on a programme of rationalisation and renewal of locations across the network.
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Digital Out-of-home (OOH) drove connectivity across media channels The growth of digitisation is allowing brands to reach consumers dynamically in real-time, better targeting audience behaviours than ever before. A great example of this in 2016 was a dynamic feed that linked the Capital FM studio playlist to Outdoor Plus sites across London, which determined in real-time when a track from Justin Bieber’s album was playing on Capital FM. A custom-built code simultaneously triggered the Justin Bieber creative to be displayed on the DOOH screens for the duration of the track’s airplay. Each song triggered its very own creative, pushing his album launch in the run up to the Brit Awards.
Digital OOH - A National Footprint
Focus on new tools and systems The potential reach of digitisation has seen all media owners invest heavily in new tools and data sources to work alongside ROUTE, in order to map and target audiences with greater efficiency and effectiveness. However, it is important to consider that the cost and limited number of digital OOH sites means that brands cannot solely rely on this medium for reach and must continue to look at classic formats to deliver scale and mass awareness.
2,056 in 2008
6,181 in 2014
16,852 in 2016
50,000+ locations expected by 2021
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ATM - 5947
Taxis - 3500 Internal
Total UK OOH revenue in 2015 Malls - 1590
Bars - 1,587
A look ahead to 2017 • •
Huge investment in data will help OOH deliver more efficient campaigns and drive further growth Programmatic OOH will become focus topic
Digitisation and investment in data
Focus on programmatic OOH
A tipping point has been reached, which has seen certain environments become digital in the majority. This trend should continue into 2017, not just in London but also across cities up and down the country.
In 2017, MediaCom will endeavour to discover what programmatic means in OOH and how to define it. Some of these considerations will include deciding when and how automated trading is a good solution, determining how MediaCom can recommend the planning of automated trading campaigns and understanding how programmatic will change the role of OOH in integrated campaigns.
Media owners will really get to grips with how to combine and layer data feeds in order to deliver smarter planning, which will allow clients to optimise campaigns – making them more targeted and relevant to their chosen audiences than ever before. These changes in the market are bringing the capabilities of the medium closer to those of online advertising. 2017 will see more and more hypertargeted campaigns, running different messages based on location, time of day, projected audience and more. The most agile clients and creatives will be best-placed to take advantage of these changes and will lead the way in delivering innovative campaigns.
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£1,058b DOOH accounted for
Airports - 1042
Taxis - 1000 External
£337m Total ad revenue
Roads - 991
Gyms - 729
£20.1b OOH
Digital
5.2% 1.6% Rail - 552
LU - 295
Football - 211
Cinema - 128
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CINEMA Paddington 2 expected £40m
Guardians of The Galaxy Vol 2 expected £35m
Star Wars Episode VIII expected £110m
Fast & Furious 8 expected £35m
Jungle Book predicted £20m, earned £37.5m
Deadpool predicted £10m, earned £37m
A look back at 2016
A look ahead to 2017
• Gold Spot remains strong; DCM sold over 87% of Gold Spot admissions in H1 • 5% brand count increase year on year (YoY) – influx of new brands coming into the market • Kids’ films exceed expectations; target of 38m admissions achieved before Q4 2016 releases • Industry revenue expected to be up +4% YoY; box office revenue hit £1bn, two weeks earlier than 2015
• • • • •
Cinema’s story in 2016 Following on from a Bond year in 2015 where revenue was up +25%, 2016 was predicted to be a difficult year for cinema. However, the market held strong – mostly driven by kids’ films and blockbusters. UK box office revenue reached £1bn two weeks earlier than 2015, meaning that films took more than in 2016.
Innovations in cinema advertising Innovative campaigns have shown that advertisers are starting to push the limit of traditional spot advertising in cinema. A prime example of this would be Airbnb, who embarked on the first ‘37 Degrees’ campaign in the UK with DCM. This utilised 3D glasses technology, which enabled cinemagoers to see two completely different creatives on screen
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– showing advertisers going beyond spot within airtime ad breaks. Further to onscreen innovations, outdoor cinema continued to grow in strength during 2016 with more sites offering brands the opportunity to connect with cinemagoers in a totally different environment.
Strong year for kids’ admissions Kids’ film admissions went from strength to strength in 2016, as children and families continue to go to the cinema. This was particularly evident when the 38m yearly admissions target was achieved before Q4 releases. This strong trajectory should continue into 2017, with the releases of the eagerlyanticipated Despicable Me 3, Paddington 2 and Beauty and the Beast set to make it a big year for kids’ films.
Forecast looks strong with revenue at +8% and admissions at +3% YoY expected Cinema chains are reinvesting in cinema sites to make the cinema-going experience more “premium” Cineworld heralds the launch of 4DX screens across a number of sites DCM are partnering up with mobile display suppliers such as Mobsta, following successful campaigns in 2016 Pearl & Dean are looking to launch a companion app in 2017
Cinema site reinvestment to create “premium” cinema going Once again, cinema is expected to grow in terms of revenue and admissions in 2017, with the return of fan favourites to the big screen such as Star Wars, Guardians of the Galaxy, Despicable Me and Fifty Shades. More innovation is expected within the year, with cinema sites being revamped to create a more “premium” experience and the increasing digitalisation of the cinematic experience both within and beyond the big screen.
Cineworld to launch several 4DX screens Increasing the cinematic experience in 2017 will not stop short with on-screen only progress, but the way cinema is viewed will change. VUE Cinemas’ seating is going ‘business class’ and arthouse cinemas like
Everyman and Picturehouse will expand to more sites across the country. 4DX screens will also roll out across a number of sites, taking cinema going a step further. Visitors will benefit from a full 4D experience that uses moving chairs, smells, lighting effects and much more to engage all senses.
Cinema partnering up with other advertising mediums DCM are partnering up with mobile display suppliers such as Mobsta to reaffirm the effectiveness of coupling cinema with mobile retargeting, following on from some successful campaigns run with MediaCom clients in 2016. Pearl & Dean are also looking to take advantage of mobile retargeting by launching a companion app.
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Content What is it again? And so we enter 2017 - and still we’re talking about content. One thing that hasn’t changed in the last few years is that the industry continued to spend a lot of time grappling with what content is. If they could define it they thought, they might know who should produce it. Those who say it’s a completely different discipline to traditional communications, unsurprisingly, support the need for specialist content agencies, companies or creators. Other commentators suggested the likes of ‘content marketing’ and ‘branded content’ are just new names for the same stuff we’ve been doing for years. Or as Mark Ritson subtly put it: ‘a load of bollocks’. There’s truth to both sides of the argument. But what is undeniable is that the way people are consuming media has changed dramatically over the last few decades and much of the ad industry has been slow to adapt. Treating content as a separate entity has at least given brands greater choice in their agency partners and put more focus on the ever-growing number of methods in which to target a continuously fragmenting audience. One high profile example towards the end of 2016 was Unilever’s announcement about their in-house solution, U-Studio, with partner agency OLIVER.
Content is everything Of course, at MediaCom we remain clear that ‘content’ encompasses all forms of brand-funded messaging. The lines are so blurred these days - and the way people view content across so many platforms is so varied that the argument about what is and isn’t content feels little more than a distraction. That is why this Fact Book includes sections with many types of content including Partnerships, Sports & Entertainment, Events and, new for 2017, Influencer Marketing. The last of these you could also argue have been around for decades: we used to call it “endorsement” and the only real thing that’s changed are the ways brands are being endorsed and by whom. But it’s a big focal point for the industry that we feel warrants its own section.
Content designed with the connection in mind
of goldfish. By 2016, some were looking back at the previous year as the year of ‘peak content’ - supposedly the tipping point when the amount of content became unsustainable for human consumption. But you could argue that this happened years ago when the number of ad messages thrown at an individual every day (often suggested to be “between 2,000 and 5,000”, depending on the source) was met with the anecdotal response from most people that they couldn’t remember any of them. The simple fact is that brands need to be much cleverer with the content they choose to make. The dramatic advances in distribution have meant that one edit of a 30 second TV spot is simply not fit for purpose for multiple platforms – not when the vast majority of content in mobile newsfeeds, for example, is viewed without sound. In 2016, Facebook became very vocal about how video should be designed for its platforms, citing numerous statistics about engagement on newsfeeds. Later in the year, it turned out Facebook hadn’t been including videos that were watched for less than three seconds in its reporting. Although this shouldn’t distract from the argument. At MediaCom we became even more focused on producing, what we call content designed “with the connection in mind” and launched our ‘Feed Ready’ service in October. Feed Ready offers clients the opportunity to edit an existing video asset to ensure it is suitable for the multiple platforms it is distributed on, as well as storyboarding from scratch where necessary. We anticipate many other brands and agencies will begin to switch their focus to this in 2017. Add to this the explosion in the ways and means to produce content, and 2017 is going to be a very interesting year for the marketing industries. Predictions about the growth in VR (Virtual Reality) and AR (Augmented Reality) vary dramatically, but the opportunities for brands are likely to stay fairly niche in the short term at least. At the forefront of the change though is crowdsourcing. Companies like Talenthouse, Genero and MoFilm are turning the traditional methods of content production on their heads. The result is the democratisation of content – which will continue apace in 2017. Brands and agencies need to be alert and ready for seismic shifts in the advertising industry over the coming years.
The much-quoted statistic of 2015 claimed that people’s attention spans had become less than that
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PARTNERSHIPS
A look back at 2016
A look ahead to 2017
• •
• Audiences are already ignoring bad content, so partnerships that put the audience first are key • Agencies and partners must raise the bar to prove brand growth and merit increased investment • Media agencies are best placed to lead this part of the industry forward
Increased prominence and recognition for partnership work Delivering brand growth through shared purpose, audience and understanding of real value
Media partnerships are by no means a new phenomenon The basic principle of working closely with media brands that mean the most to consumers is well established. The majority of partnership work that is delivered today is underpinned by the same insights into audience affinity and brand tone that have been understood by media marketers for many years.
The year that partnerships finally got recognition Despite a well-trodden legacy, 2016 was the year that media partnerships rose in prominence and became top of the media agenda. According to the CMA, 66% of UK marketers expect partnership budgets to increase in the next twelve months. In times of budgetary pressure, most successful media brands are reporting double-digit growth across partnership business and are investing significantly in their expertise and resource in this area. At the same time, the industry is increasingly acknowledging the value that partnership work delivers, with over 60% of agency gongs at this year’s Media Week Awards going to
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campaigns that have partnership activation at their heart. One thing is for certain - no conference, seminar or panel discussion took place in 2016 that didn’t mention partnership work at some point.
Great partnerships will deliver brand growth through purpose, audience and value affinity This is the first year that Partnerships have been given a dedicated section in the MediaCom Fact Book. Despite all of this focus and attention, the industry has yet to come up with a definitive answer to what “brilliant” really looks like. And most importantly, not enough focus has been given to the single objective that should drive every partnership campaign – business growth for the brand. MediaCom’s position on partnerships is very clear and gives clients a distinct market advantage. A great partnership is ultimately built on a shared understanding of three key factors: Shared purpose – do they share a common goal, ethos and understanding with our brand? Shared audience – do they have the audience profile, affinity and scale to make a real difference? And shared value – do they add value to a brand’s wider business (and bottom line) above simple media efficiencies?
Good content remains vital 99.9% of branded videos on YouTube have less than 1m views. Kantar and TNS reveal that 26% of users actively avoid brands on social media. Therefore, the belief that branded content is a simple answer to grabbing audience attention is misguided. What really matters in 2017 is whether or not campaigns are created that consumers want to spend time with. Media brands have decades of proven experience in delivering cultural traction for their audiences, which should be leveraged. Great partnerships like the End the Awkward campaign created between Scope and C4 delivered unprecedented scale and audience engagement because it sought to entertain and educate the audience, instead of just advertising to them.
Agencies and partners will need to prove brand growth Next year will also see agencies and media owners stepping up to deliver a better product to brands through partnership ideas built on audience data and insight, and not just creative hunch. Measurement of outcomes and audience action, not just media value; service and delivery that reduces complexity and alleviates the drain on client’s human capital.
Media agencies to lead In 2017, media agencies will want to lead the industry forward. Strategic understanding of consumer behaviour and planning rigour means that clients’ needs are already well known – and will require collaboration with partners in order to deliver results.
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SPORT & ENTERTAINMENT
A look back at 2016 • • • •
A huge sporting calendar of events gave athletes - and brands - a chance to shine on the world stage Andy Murray and Chris Froome gave the country something to celebrate with wins at Wimbledon and the Tour de France, respectively Team GB smashed their medal target for the 2016 Olympics, causing a major stir by finishing second in the table above China Brands who capitalised on the emotional aspect of sport were the big winners from a business perspective
Brands and athletes given chance to shine during huge sporting calendar
Andy Murray and Chris Froome celebrate popular wins
2016’s sporting calendar gave athletes and brands many chances to shine on the world stage. While some athletes stood the test, a high proportion of brands failed to capitalise on opportunities that would have allowed them to be remembered long after the final whistle.
Just as Britons began packing away their Union Flags after an early exit from the Euros, Andy Murray gave the country something to celebrate. He ascended to a second Wimbledon championship title and established himself as perhaps the finest British tennis player of all time. Chris Froome carried on the winning momentum, as he became Britain’s first three-time winner of the Tour de France when he crossed the finish line of the 21-stage race in Paris.
The sheer scale of events such as the Olympics and the Euros should have provided brands with an exceptional platform to drive sales, increase market share and bring huge returns to their bottom line. However, many brands were unable to stir emotions in fans in order to connect and come out as the big winners.
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Team GB finish second at the 2016 Olympics It is fair to say the Olympics were far from perfect, but Rio honoured the Games as only it could. Despite organisers facing issues including health concerns surrounding the Zika virus, the instability of the country’s federal government, Russian doping bans and pollution issues in Guanabara Bay in the run up to the event – the athletes came and gave it their all. It was hard to believe that Team GB’s Olympic and Paralympic stars could surpass the achievements of London 2012, but they delivered in spectacular fashion. Great Britain lived up to bold medal targets and won sixty-seven medals altogether (27 gold, 23 silver and 17 bronze) – the most Team GB have collected at an Olympics since the 1908 Games and the first to win more medals in the next games cycle after hosting.
Brands who stirred emotions were big winners The big winners of 2016 were those brands that recognised the need to go beyond traditional branding and communication and put audience engagement at the heart of everything. Brands that did this well were able to generate unique and emotive content which drove loyalty and affinity and resulted in significant business wins. The changes of Rule 40 from the IOC also saw a number of interesting talent campaigns from brands that were not official IOC or National Governing Bodies partners. The sponsorship market in 2016 remained very positive, with global growth expected to reach USD$60.2bn with a +4.7% increase YoY. While there’s still a long way to go, sport organisations are beginning to maximise their digital assets and act like publishers by opening themselves up to more tactical opportunities with brands.
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A look ahead to 2017 • • • • •
Growth of 4.5% forecast for global sponsorship spend Sport and Entertainment rights holders to commercialise digital assets by leveraging unique access and engaged fan base The rise of ‘Mixed Reality’ experiences Continued growth of talent acquisition to supplement platform investment Brands may seriously invest in e-Sports within UK market
Global sponsorship growth forecast Global sponsorship spend next year is still predicted to grow, but at a lower rate to that of 2016 (4.5% growth vs. 4.7% in 2016 to USD$62.9bn). Despite uncertainty in the world economy and fluctuating currency markets, the slight decline is largely due to the cyclical nature of 2017 having limited global events which will see proportionally larger spends.
Rights holders to commercialise digital assets Sport organisations are expanding their sponsorship assets by developing, creating and commercialising new inventory with behind-the-scenes access that can be distributed online to their engaged fan bases. With the US sport market typically setting the precedent for the rest of the world, expect a multitude of rights holders to look to commercialise live content and wider behind-the-scenes footage, particularly on the back of the NFL’s agreement with Twitter and the NBA with Facebook Live. Existing broadcaster agreements will, however, limit some of the higher profile sports diversifying their live platform distribution model this cycle.
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‘Mixed Reality’ to improve consumer experience Focus on driving improved experiences means that teams are investing heavily in bringing the digitally connected world to the stadium. From ordering your half-time food & beverages from your seat via an app, to being fed exclusive highlights and insight only available to the home team in the stadium - there are a raft of opportunities for brands to activate and gain credible cut through to fans. The flipside is that digital assets can be geo-targeted/ locked, allowing rights holders to resell the same assets to multiple sponsors. Reducing the cost per market for a sponsor to be involved runs the risk of competing with brands in other markets, having to buy out multiple markets to negate this or simply, confusing fans should content go global. This is also driving up the cost of an overarching sponsorship e.g. shirt/naming rights, as these span across all markets.
Traditional audio-visual will still be the most watched form of sport – from pub to living room – however, 2017 will see a huge rise in more immersive Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) bringing potential new audiences to sport and live events via ‘Mixed Reality’ experiences. Goldman Sachs predict AR/VR to be worth $85 billion by 2025 with 2017 sales set to double to 24 million headsets. Sony, Apple, Samsung, Oculus (Facebookowned), Deepon (China) and Pimax (China) are all due to launch new headsets in conjunction with social media, digital content and broadcast partners. Brands could capitalise on this boom by using their sponsorship rights to offer access to players, help fund hardware for consumers or bring a new angle to content providing the much sought after “money can’t buy” experience for their consumers.
Talent acquisition and social influencers Next year will see the rise of brands utilising talent from celebrities, current/ex-sports professionals and social influencers. When sourcing talent to support a campaign, the current default is still TV celebrities or current/ex-professionals. However, a growing number of ‘social influencer’ ambassadors have fame, reach and engagement way beyond that of a traditional celebrity. With millions of subscribers to their channels, and growing up in a world funded by brands - bloggers and vloggers are perfectly placed to give brands/sponsors access to a younger, harder to reach audience.
From a media perspective, these deals can be an easier sell to brands with subscribers, pay-per-view modelling and those with the ability to track and retarget viewers with programmatic ads. They can also offer a ‘rights free’ link into sports, films and popular events, as often the influencer’s following has been built organically from commenting on current affairs, giving a fan’s eye view, or even getting their own press pass to give backstage access to their fans. All of this comes with no rights fee, which can allow challenger or competitive brands to activate and associate themselves with some of the biggest events happening.
Serious e-Sports investment within the UK With top event prize purses at over $18m and with 213 million individuals watching competitive gaming this year (growing by over 50% YoY since 2013) e-Sports cannot be ignored. 2017 is set to be an even bigger year with more stadium-based events, investment from broadcasters and development in technology driving interest, awareness and reach. Although large, the current audience for e-Sports is quite narrow: 75% 18-35 and 82% male. Brands looking to be involved in this space need to be either credible (tech, snacks, etc.), or bring new experiences to these often cynical and outspoken fans. Significantly larger investment from brands in the UK is forecast for 2017.
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EVENTS
A look back at 2016
A look ahead to 2017
• • •
• Technology continues to be integral, whether used to enhance an event or take the leading role • Embracing active audiences and creating powerful relationships – will see increased user participation and the rise of crowd-streaming • Mobile event apps are on the increase and will be more commonplace in 2017 • Audience increasingly crave exclusivity and desire to feel special
Events and experiential embraced the latest technologies; VR and AR-led campaigns prolific and constantly evolving Sensory and immersive campaigns brought many brands to life, creating original high- level emotional connections Audiences craved authenticity and bespoke, personal experiences; pop-up installations more popular than ever
Events were technology-led and sensory campaigns resuscitated brands 2016 was an extremely exciting year for experiential and events. Experiences became even more integrated as the latest technologies, and increasingly sensory and immersive bringing campaigns, brought brands to life more than ever before. Save the Children’s ‘Forced to Flee’ event at 12 Sans Walk in Clerkenwell really embodied this immersive approach. Guests were taken on a journey that aimed to replicate the experiences of children subjected to violence and conflict. Visitors were guided through the experience, given a number, a child’s rucksack and a headset, which enabled them to listen to stories of children’s real life experiences. Guests passed through camps, a gunshot classroom and eventually reached safety in a play area, which represented the work Save the Children does in areas of conflict where the charity brings play to children.
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Audiences value authentic experiences
VR & AR set to dominate events arena
The past year has seen active audiences provided experiences that engage them, encourage participation and make them want to share what they see or experience, including crowd-streaming. A fantastic example of embracing an active audience was the Xbox Survival Billboard. Survival Billboard was a poster site on which eight gamers stood in a test of strength and determination. The prize was a trip inspired by Tomb Raider and the gamers experienced snow blizzards, torrential rain, wind and heat – with conditions controlled by the public via a live stream. This event was a massive success with the public and won many awards.
Latest technologies will continue to be showcased in abundance into 2017. Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) suppliers are constantly vying to distribute the latest tech experiences. This is particularly apparent in the VR landscape with HTC Vive dominating at the end of 2016 into 2017. The Wired Audi Innovation Awards event in November 2016 included an Audi A4 Virtual Showroom. This was an exploration of room scale VR, using HTC Vive as a means of exploring the latest Audi models. This technology uses the same 3D models that engineers use to build the cars and can bring any model, with any configuration, to any location. This initial proof of concept enables the consumer to interact with and explore the Audi A4, in this instance - to change the colour palette, open the boot, or even sit in the driver’s seat. As VR and AR technology and innovation continues, consumers will increasingly be able to experience small and large-scale events and experiences, at any time, from any location, in any form. This is a truly exciting and remarkable prospect.
Audience participation and the rise of user generated content Going into 2017, there will be an increase in crowdstreaming and more thought will need to go into deciding what a specific audience wants to see, do, hear and feel to make their experience even more incredible and immersive – and therefore more sharable, as users create their own content from the environment they are introduced to. An example of this is Lego’s Imagination Factory, which incorporated an AR photo area including an interactive Lego minifigure character, a Lego brick graffiti wall and an area where younger builders could turn their ideas into brick-based artworks in the Duplo section. Events like this allow brands to mine a great deal of invaluable content and will become more the norm.
The rise of experience economy By engaging consumers through experiences, brands are breaking down the traditional transactional relationship. Consumers are actively embracing brands and participating in experiences in return for more than just a product. A powerful emotional relationship is beginning to emerge through this as consumers start to consider what a brand can do for them.
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INFLUENCER MARKETING
A look back at 2016 • • • •
82% of marketers in the UK are using influencers as part of their campaigns today Brands got bolder and invested in long-term influencer strategies that went beyond one-off pieces Integration with other marketing activities really helped brands set their influencer campaign apart from competitors Disclosure took centre stage with the ASA continuing its crackdown on brands that flaunt the rules in this space
Influencer marketing goes mainstream
The death of the one hit wonders
2016 was the year that influencer marketing went from being ‘nice to have’ to an integral part of the marketing mix. Google classifies the term as a “Breakout”, meaning that the keyword is experiencing growth greater than 5000% - and brands really wanted to get it right.
If 2015 was the year the brands dipped their toes in influencer marketing, then in 2016 they really took the plunge. Brands went from commissioning one-off pieces with select influencers to investing in long-term strategies that were an integral part of their content strategies.
This new channel came of age last year and is decidedly here to stay. A recent survey of over 500 marketing professionals in the UK found that 82% were using influencers in one form or another.
The Rennie Mystery Box Challenge saw the Bayer brand partner with SORTEDfood to create a 10part content series that delivered the reach and awareness of a traditional ATL plan but with innovative content and targeted efficiency to meet the business goals – a strategy that has increased market penetration by 6%, along with increasing communication awareness to a four-year high.
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Connecting the dots
Disclosure takes centre stage
Influencers work across multiple channels and multiple platforms. Last year saw brands really adapt system not silos thinking to create truly integrated campaigns that touched multiple points from SEO to experiential and everything in between – a trend that will continue into 2017.
With influencer marketing taking a bigger slice of brand budgets, 2016 saw the rules around branded content disclosure take centre stage. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) continued its crackdown on brands who flaunt the disclosure rules that make it clear when influencers are paid for creating content. This included advice around Instagram ads being more clearly labelled and more clarity on the rules around editorial product placement.
To help transform brand perceptions amongst a millennial audience, Shell assembled the Shell Influencer Collective, a selection of ultra-relevant vloggers, social-only news publishers and native content producers who created 73 pieces of content that worked across multiple channels and multiple platforms – a truly connected campaign.
Last year also saw the government division, Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), issue an open letter to marketing departments following its first ever investigation into misleading influencer campaigns. As always, it is important to keep up with the changing guidelines as this marketing channel continues to evolve.
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Digital Influence Score
Rosie Thomas
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SEARCH - 40%
SOCIAL - 30%
A look ahead to 2017 • • • •
Influencers increasingly appear as brand ambassadors in mainstream channels like TV and OOH Brands will start engaging with micro-influencers, as their highly engaged audiences offer higher ROI compared to traditional influencers Brands will look beyond basic metrics like reach and engagement to make sense of what success “looks like” using smarter data touch points Influencers are going to look beyond YouTube to grow their audience – including podcasts, books, TV shows, etc.
Klout Score No. of Active Social Channels facebook (Likes & Shares) Instagram (Likes & Comments) Pinterest (Pins & Repins) Twitter (Tweets & Followers) YouTube (No. of Views & Subscribers Sentiment Analysis
CONTENT - 30%
Domain Authority Page Authority Organic Search Visability No. of Links per Post Trust Flow Citation Flow Geo & Demographic Data
Content Relevancy Score Rich Media Presence Content Frequency No. of Blog Comments Social Media Shares Content Recency
Influencers as brand ambassadors
Micro-influencers will add scalability
It’s all about the data
Going beyond YouTube
When using a brand ambassador, it is important to ensure that they are instantly recognisable to the target audience, add credibility to the product and are culturally relevant. Traditionally, this has led to models, actors and sports personalities being chosen. However, in 2017 more brands will wake up to the fact that YouTubers and online influencers are recognisable faces to an increasingly digitally savvy audience.
Brands with advanced influencer marketing programmes will start engaging with microinfluencers as they form an integral part of their plans. Though no clear definition delineates “microinfluencers” from traditional influencers (even the line between digital stars and traditional celebrities is now steadily eroding), an influencer with a relatively small follower base (less than 10,000) would usually fit the bill.
L’Oréal recently chose five British beauty vloggers to become brand ambassadors as part of their 2017 strategy. Patricia Bright and her influencer friends stand alongside Blake Lively, Helen Mirren and Cheryl as faces of the global beauty brand.
Micro-influencers’ audiences tend to be highly engaged and offer a higher ROI when compared to traditional influencers. A Digiday study recently concluded that Instagram influencers with fewer than 1,000 followers reported an 8% engagement rate, while those with over 1 million followers only engaged with 1.7% of their audience. Microinfluencers will also bring the much-needed breadth to influencer marketing programmes and make them scalable.
Influencer marketing has evolved to be more objective than subjective with data playing a bigger role in identifying the right influencers and measuring success. In 2017, this trend will continue with brands keeping a close eye on ROI as investment in influencer marketing increases. Brands will look beyond basic metrics like reach and engagement to make sense of what success looks like. Identifying both qualitative and quantitative data touch points and making them work in the context of the KPI will be the key to success.
Next year influencers will truly break out of the digital bubble. 2016 saw them pursue a diverse range of opportunities, both offline and online, to expand their already significant reach. Some of the largest YouTubers in the world are launching their own podcast series, publishing books, appearing on traditional TV, recording music, being seen on the front covers of major fashion magazines and starring in feature films. All of this will add profitable strings to influencers’ on-demand content bows – a trend that is going to continue into 2017.
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MediaCom’s proprietary influencer identification tool, Digital Influence Score (DIS), rates an influencer on a scale of 1-100 across three pillars – Search, Social and Content. It helps identify the right influencer for a campaign by tapping into over 50 qualitative and quantitative data touch points.
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RESPONSE
A look back at 2016 • • • •
Use of both first- and third-party data became increasingly useful digital drivers for response clients Increased opportunities for digital data to drive wider channel planning Direct TV response (DRTV) maintained its importance as a channel for most outcome- focused clients; increased demand led to pressure on daytime availability for all contractors and increased pricing Brand response TV (BRTV) and radio continued to show strong performance for several clients with increased reach and broad audience more than offsetting the increase in CPT compared to DRTV
Digital drives incremental business performance Digital (social and display) has seen the largest performance gains of 2016 compared to other communication channels. The major performance gains are driving incremental business volume, which have been proven by econometrics and regional uplift analysis. The primary improvement has been achieved through the use of onboarding first-party data alongside third-party targeting data focusing on in-market buying triggers at an individual level. The interim optimisation variables included exclusion and restriction parameters to ensure incrementality.
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Overall In Market In View Audience
Regional Split
Sky Customer All details are recorded including: date, time, program, etc.
Conversion Direct Line records details of the completed quote
Watched a TV advert
Customer match Direct Line and Sky match their customer data
MediaCom and Sky produce a suite of optimisation recommendations based on people who watch an advert and quote
Data-driven TV driving performance through understanding All time TV has been a significant part of the response media investment in 2016, typically the third most efficient channel from a cost-per-response and volume perspective. A major step change has happened through improvement in targeting and understanding of what individual creatives and campaigns are delivering in terms of response. MediaCom and Sky have empirical evidence on over 400 variables against a campaign and creative to offer responsiveness insight for creatives, planners and effectiveness teams.
Search & Affiliate Audience Exclusions
Addressable Audience
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A look ahead to 2017
The continued strength of DRTV DRTV continues to be a core driver of sales performance for a wide range of clients, driven by how daytime TV response impacts across all stages of the consumer journey - web and store visits, alongside phone response. The impact of this performance however, is the increased demand that sales houses are struggling to fulfil during daytime hours. As a result, strong inflation in costs has been seen in late 2016 – up to 4-5%.
Broadcast channels working well alongside DRTV Both peak TV and radio (as highlighted last year) continue to be efficient drivers of performance, with radio working for some clients within 10% of the CPS that DRTV delivers. Despite the higher pricing for buying airtime within peak, the impact of delivering an extended response creative to a broader and more affluent audience outside of working hours’ dayparts for some clients - is proving up to 15% more effective in driving sales.
Programmatic Buying Unit DSP - buying platform
Demand Side Platform
Audience Targeting
Creative/ tactics
Standard IAB creative + DPMU
Sequential targeting
Reporting and insight fed back into campaign setup
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Measurement
Viewability Linear CPA Incremental CPA
• Brands will focus on improving the responsiveness of their digital infrastructure, to fulfil potential against in-market customers and drive incremental business • Increased growth is possible through data insight - allowing brands to gain greater understanding of what types of customers their TV and digital campaigns are turning on/off • 2018 EU data protection reform - brands will align their one-to-one response activity to ensure compliance with new law • Response TV and all time buys to play an even bigger part of response media investment
Developing digital infrastructures to maximise market conversion Maximising a brand’s presence during the purchase journey is going to be a major development for companies wishing to outperform trading conditions. Improvements within onboarding of first-party data will result in greater one-to-one marketing opportunities - typically running at 30% match rates with improvements in matching methodologies expected to increase to 45%. The design of the programmatic infrastructure in-line with the campaign and strategic objectives will determine success factors at driving incremental response. Increased growth will be possible through data insight which will allow brands to gain greater understanding of what types of customers their TV and digital campaigns are turning on/off.
Data-driven response analysis The increase in planning insight from TV, social and onsite is expected to significantly increase the segmentation and creative requirements to ensure brands are maximising their appeal and conversion of all potential customers. The challenge for a brand will be how to execute the volume of creative requirements at scale, whilst balancing the reach vs. creative asset costs and the volume of propositions.
Consider the data regulation changes coming In 2018, new data laws will come into effect under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) governing consumer rights with regards to personal data being used for marketing purposes. The impact of this is likely to change how data can be used for the planning of digital campaigns, notably limiting the use of third-party data such as behavioural or profiled targeting for advertisers. Across 2017 the IAB is likely to put guidance in place for advertisers outlining what restrictions this will cause.
Integration of TV planning to drive response For advertisers, the addition of all time buys through DRTV and full integration with peak or brand TV buys will allow for much greater returns across 2017 - a 26% increase in spend outside of daytime periods from core DRTV advertisers is predicted as a result. Those that already plan a mix will need to ensure they use a wide range of distribution routes across both traditional TV and digital routes, such as DRTV Extend, to have maximum sales impact against their different target audiences.
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MOBILE
A look back at 2016 • • • •
The smartphone became the most popular device to access the Internet with Mobile video adspend is now over a third of mobile spend, reflecting consumption habits Adoption of wearables in the UK has been lower than expected Mobile payments grew rapidly, especially amongst 18-24 year olds
The growth of mobile Smartphone penetration in the UK jumped from 52% to 81% of the population in the four years to May 2016. However, adoption has now begun to slow down significantly, rising by 7% in the year to 2016 (Deloitte). The improvement in functionality of smartphones, together with the development of 4G technologies, has led to them becoming the most popular device to access the Internet on, with 45% of total time spent accessing the Internet being through a smartphone. These devices have enhanced social lives but have also been labelled as antisocial.
UK adults (18+) spend per day
41%
on PC or laptop devices
45% on mobile
15% on tablets
Source: IAB, UKOM/Comscore MMX Multi-Platform Jan – June 2016
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Mobile video and adspend reflects user habits There are more digital video viewers in the UK than ever before, as 63% consumed video this way in 2016 (eMarketer). This growth has been driven by the amount of video content made available online and also by smartphone users, of which 68% watch videos on their smartphone. This trend has been reflected in mobile adspend, with the IAB/PwC adspend report for H1 2016 showing that mobile video made up over a third of mobile display spend. With large players such as Facebook and Google introducing video products such as AutoPlay and 360 video, consumers are now exposed to a lot more organic and paid content, which counts in the mobile video spend. It is expected that this growth will continue, particularly with more interactive formats.
Wearables growth less than expected Overall, wearables did not take off quite as expected within the UK. Even though adoption doubled, penetration is only at 9% for fitness bands and 7% for smartwatches (International Data Corporation). Cost and ease of use act as barriers and these devices tend to have limited appeal. Even though keeping fit is a mainstream need, measuring and being reminded of one’s lack of fitness can be offputting and sharing this data with others another obstacle.
Mobile payments show strong growth Apple Pay launched in 2015 with Android Pay following in 2016, both making mobile payments accessible to the masses. UK mobile payments are projected to hit over £1.2bn a week by 2020 with 60% of the UK population expected to use these payments at least once a week by this time. 18- to 24-year-olds engage most readily with mobile payments and 94% of this group have used this method, as well as having used contactless debit cards (Visa Europe).
Content & Native inc. in-feed
£802m H1 2016 display total
Remaining display formats**: 1%, £7m Standard display*: 18%, £141m Mobile video: 37%, £298m Content & Native: 44%, £357m
Source: IAB/ PwC Digital Adspend H1 2016 *Standard display includes standard banners, rich media banners, interitials and MPUs **Remaining display formats include music and tenancies
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My home, connected
$149bn by 2020
$38bn Smart meter $37bn Remote home control $74bn Remote home security Source: PwC, mylifeconnected
A look ahead to 2017
Growth in voice searches
The advent of ‘Smart Homes’
• Ever-advancing software and hardware amongst the smartphone manufacturer competitors • Augmented and Virtual Reality breaking into everyday life • Changing the way we search through increased use of voice • Connecting the home – new devices will become household essentials
Search is ever changing with new tech and consumer behaviour and voice search, in particular, seeing unprecedented growth thanks to the development of mobile assistants such as Siri, Cortana and Google Assistant. Google have also announced their SEO split for mobile and desktop search to show different results, which highlights the importance of mobile-specific strategy.
Last year, wearables were the big news - becoming more accessible to consumers with lower price entry points. In 2017, this explosion of connected technology is expected to translate into the ‘Smart Home’ market.
Smartphone hardware and software A development in smartphone assistants is likely to take place in 2017, as Google kills Google Now and moves to ‘Assistant’, which will integrate the newly launched Allo messaging app. It will be interesting to see how Google’s smartphone Pixel, launched in October 2016, will perform as it replaces the Nexus phone. Google have designed some of the hardware, however it’s not especially differentiated from other smartphones. Samsung’s next move will be one to watch, after the exploding Samsung Galaxy Note 7 has been discontinued; and Apple are set to reap iPhone 7 sales, despite concerns over removing the earphone jack.
Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality will become everyday Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) are starting to make headway in the UK, however they are both quite different technologies. AR overlays virtual 3D graphics onto views of the real world, whereas VR immerses users in 360 degree views of new worlds. The launch of VR headgear such as HTC Vive and Oculus Rift offer a high-quality virtual
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reality experience. Barriers do currently exist such as high costs, comprehension of technology and lack of portability – however, hard core gaming audiences will overlook these. Companies are trying to make VR more accessible with SONY PlayStation’s VR headset (removing the need for expensive hardware if a PlayStation is already owned) and the creation of Google’s Cardboard VR viewers. The launch of Pokémon Go also brought AR to the mainstream in 2016 with 7.5m downloads in the first seven days, although usage has dropped significantly since. There is considerable debate over which one technology is the future. Apple CEO Tim Cook says that AR will be bigger than VR, which isn’t surprising as you couldn’t wear a VR headset all day, whereas you could wear AR glasses. This technology is set to develop significantly over the next five years seeing much more functionality, improved resolution and a greater field of view.
Voice queries are up seven-fold since 2010 according to Google trends, and this is expected to rise further in 2017 with more advanced assistants and continued uptake of wearables. This will change search, as consumers search differently with voice than with keyboard, due to navigation interfaces that users have become accustomed to. The advent of voice search makes natural language queries more common. Often, the voice search will contain a “near me” query, indicating that the consumer is looking for local businesses. The increasing rise of voice search brings with it a wealth of new data on user intent, habits and preferences. All of these elements need to be considered for businesses, ensuring site set up and analytics are reflective of this new way of searching.
The introduction of devices such as Amazon Echo and Google Home, that act as a central hub for all devices, and others like Hive that control utilities remotely, mean that it will be more manageable to be connected at home. Still, there is consumer hesitancy in smart home technology, which suggests that the benefits of the tech need to be communicated, to build up trust with consumers and grow adoption in 2017. Adoption is still fairly low in the UK – only 14% of UK adults have a smart kitchen appliance and even fewer (7%) own a smart thermostat, although 35% have a smart TV (Mintel). A PwC study shows that the connected home will reach 35% average annual growth by 2020, which suggests that it needs to be a consideration for developing brands and tech strategists. The real game changer, however, will be when all the devices work together – culminating in a truly connected home.
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PAID SOCIAL
A look back at 2016 • • • •
Social messaging eclipsed social networking in terms of regular usage Social pushed itself down the funnel Pinterest & Snap Inc launched their Application Programming Interface (API) via third parties in the UK market MediaCom took the lead in fit-for-purpose social content
Social messaging has overtaken social networking Messaging Apps are the next cross-platform, crossdevice, context-driven communication hubs. 94 trillion+ messages were sent via social messaging, outnumbering emails for the first time in 2015 - a trend that has continued throughout 2016. The top four global messaging apps - WeChat, Viber, WhatsApp, FB Messenger - recently eclipsed the top four social networks in global active users. 2016 saw the UK start to tap into the opportunity the APAC market has been capitalising on for some time now. More and more brands are considering how they can use social messaging to educate, entertain, offer services or actually drive trade.
Social’s disservice to itself Last year’s Fact Book discussed the disservice the social industry was doing by relying on inadequate tools and misleading KPIs to prove success. 2016
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has seen a great stride forward in education, strategy and implementation - resulting in some market-leading branding campaigns. However, in the last year social has also pushed boundaries with bottom of the funnel outcomes. MediaCom’s client Tesco successfully tested Facebook’s Dynamic Ads for Retail product after over a year of championing dynamic product ads and geolocation-based mobile targeting. This new product allows the retargeting of users viewing shopping items online, based on their current location and proximity to a Tesco store. It offers directions and opening times, but only if that item is in stock in the given shop. Instagram, too, have turned their attention to focus more heavily on Direct Response (DR) with their new shopping tag ad format; given that recent research suggests a high proportion of users learn about products in the app and take actions from the ads they see.
Pinterest & Snap Inc launched their API In 2016, Pinterest also launched their UK ads product. For those in the industry expecting a very upper funnel proposition, the potential power of their DR opportunities has surprised some. As a self-titled catalogue of ideas, the brand has been bringing out new products and targeting options at a rate of knots - offering through the funnel metrics as a customer is still searching for inspiration, idea conception, consideration, right through to buyable pins (currently US-only) where consumers can purchase in situ on the platform. The real game changer Pinterest have brought to the table is via their search offering, which allows top of the funnel explicit intent to be tapped. The real potential of their visual search functionality is still yet to be fully realised; an area both Facebook and Instagram are starting to capitalise on as well. The recently rebranded Snap Inc. also launched their API this year via partner third parties, allowing inventory to be bought on a biddable, self-serve basis. 2016 was a strong year for Snapchat with increased advertising opportunities becoming
available, as well as their leading the way from a full screen, totally immersive mobile experience point of view. The controversial Instagram Stories was a hat tip to the successful formula Snapchat had built up; a fun, quick and raw way for users to share without having to curate beautiful, glossy images only worthy of note if the calibre was high enough.
MediaCom leads in fit for purpose social content 2016 was also the year that MediaCom made a stand about social video. It’s not news that in the digital world, mobile by design is a critical component of a successful campaign. However, with the obvious synergies between social and TV, repurposing TVCs for feed based, mobile-only platforms hasn’t been working. In the Content section, Tom Curtis discusses the rationale behind MediaCom’s approach and the truths acknowledged about social video being short form, sound-off, brand upfront and not waiting for the big reveal in the last few seconds.
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A look ahead to 2017 • • •
Opportunity for advertisers within the social messaging space is set to scale Video’s stellar rise brings increased opportunities for Live streaming New product innovations, AR products and ad formats are set to be expanded
Opportunities in social messaging space is set to scale In their Q3 earnings call, Facebook announced that more than 33,000 chatbots are now live on the platform. However, FB Messenger hasn’t just focused on the world of bots this year, but rather started to introduce an e-commerce element in early alphas, which will continue to be tested in 2017. With the recent updates Apple made to their iMessage set-up, it’s clear the direction the technology industry is moving in; creating personalised content over and above simple text and linking this to other app based services and in some cases AI (Artificial Intelligence). Facebook have already started testing the opportunity for users to tap into local business and order food, request an appointment, get a quote or get tickets to movies/events. With recent Facebook results pointing to 59% of all their users only ever accessing their platform via a mobile device; this all points to a shift in the UK messaging space in 2017 to the WeChat model which has been so successful in the APAC market in recent years; a one stop shop for social connections and ecommerce, both providing huge opportunities for advertisers.
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Video is still rising at a stellar pace 2016 was an interesting year for Twitter, which saw them reposition from a pure play social media product to a news discovery portal. As with the wider social industry, there was huge emphasis placed on Live broadcast, streaming and content discovery. Twitter used the US market as a launch pad for their Live product, bagging the NFL streaming rights, broadcasting the many US presidential debates and testing live streaming in the UK during Wimbledon. The premise being that users will seek out the content on Twitter and also stay for the conversation surrounding it. The understanding that there are synergies between Twitter and TV viewing behaviours is old news. However, if according to Twitter one in two regular users are on the platform whilst watching TV; then this shift to live streaming will move Twitter from being the “second screen” to being “the screen”. Whether this repositioning gains enough traction in the UK market to be scalable remains to be seen, but it speaks volumes as to the questions currently being asked about the future of this platform. Facebook are also trying to tap into the TV buying world and both will probably look to expand their TV integration products in the coming year.
Facebook Live landed last year and in 2017 will offer an increasing number of ways to promote these ‘appointments to view’; setting the stage to offer ad opportunities around the format imminently. The quality of content will become paramount here, as established publishers offering exclusive content will be competing for space with regular users. Going into 2017, Facebook are poised to give Twitter and Periscope a run for their money. Further to this, a new camera is set to be released in 2017, touted as the ultimate replacement for the text and image-based status update functionality currently offered. In this new ‘Snapchat-esque’ full screen video option it’s clear Facebook are making good on Mark Zuckerberg’s recent statement that the platform will be mostly video by 2020.
New product innovations are underway
this move reflects the wider industry shift in social to focus on live content, whether produced and curated by users or publishers. With the launch of 360 on Facebook in 2016, 2017 will surely see it become an easier format for users to shoot and edit with on the fly. As the 360 trend gains momentum, the inevitable option to layer with augmented lenses, etc. will mean that Facebook are primed to bring this one-time gimmicky option directly into users’ newsfeeds. The combination of this Augmented Reality and the visual search Pinterest already offers, would allow products to be discovered, sourced and ‘tried’ before being purchased. This concept is still in its infancy, but Pinterest have already announced that it’s part of their roadmap. Watch this space in 2018’s Fact Book.
Snapchat has recently rebranded as Snap Inc. and launched ‘Spectacles’ as an evolution of their mobile app launching directly into camera. The premise is that rectangular technology is a blocker to the way we view the world and that ‘circular video’ is the way forward. It’s still very early days but
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PROGRAMMATIC
A look back at 2016
A look ahead to 2017
• • •
• • •
Enrichment technologies achieved greater optimisation insights Over 340 tech acquisitions should improve systems in the long term The year for mobile activity
Publishers employ enrichment technologies A surge in publisher data enrichment technologies led to more granular optimisation opportunities. Allied to this, the rise of header bidding and wrapper solutions really opened up the premium publisher space to a scale not previously seen. With the universal adoption of viewability and fraud analytics, sell side technologies who took on these opportunities saw a real resurgence. 2016 saw even more publishers recalibrate their properties to focus on fewer better placements and viewability rates. This change in approach was in response to agency insistence, as well as the looming spectre of ad-blocking.
Tech acquisitions strengthen martech offerings A drive towards consolidation with innovation saw a spate of tech acquisitions, which in turn led to a thinning out of core suppliers and a strengthening of
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martech offerings. There were over 340 acquisitions in 2016 from the small and niche to the large and game changing; these acquisitions should lead to improved systems and infrastructures in 2017.
Mobile surges in 2016 2016 saw mobile surge, as it turned the tide and outweighed desktop impression volumes considerably. This coincided with a resurgence of mobile web property prevalence, as HTML5-driven UX improvements drove more highly targetable and trackable inventory into the market. This improvement in tracking has led to mobile being dealt a fairer hand, with attribution providers now appraising the value of mobile activity beyond hard performance metrics.
Dynamic Creative Optimisation (DCO) solutions will deliver on their promise Increased programmatic spend will drive digital data OOH will adopt programmable first
DCO solutions and messaging
Programmable will extend into OOH
2017 will see a greater push towards customisation of execution, driven by more integrated DCO solutions delivering on their promise. This will be backed up by an increase in behavioural understanding - borne out of pathway and touchpoint analysis; the true scale in valid cross device will ensure the most viable message is always being deployed.
The extension of programmable advertising to traditional media will continue to gain pace. 2016 saw the majority of radio/audio and publishing brands become almost completely available through the programmatic work stream. 2017 will see this spread to more traditional media with OOH set to be the first to adopt programmable. With improved measurement via location analysis, OOH will not only be factored into digital attribution but also optimised to a much greater extent. This, of course, will be a lot more pronounced in digital OOH advertising, where real-time deployment and tracking is leading to ever more interesting executions.
Programmatic spend to increase Increased budgets will flow into programmatic on the back of greater data availability and processing. On-boarding technologies will drive even greater levels of deterministic data into digital channels leading to even more of a blurring of the lines between CRM and programmatic remessaging. This trend will also see conversations extend in a compliant way beyond the constraints of a cookie window.
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SEO
A look back at 2016
A look ahead to 2017
• Key trend: understanding searcher intent • Publishers/retailers experiment with new ways to improve site speed and mobile performance • Maintaining an always-on view of backlink profile became vital
• • •
Understanding searcher intent was key
The significance of machine learning and AI
Ensuring sites were built in the right way to deliver the right content to the right audience was critical in 2016. This is because websites that better meet the needs of searchers have a better chance of appearing on the first page of search results. Searcher intent was the key trend of 2016 and it meant building an improved understanding of how content matched the intent of the searcher who clicked through to it. Getting top ranking positions now requires a page to fulfil the searcher’s needs better than its competitors – it’s no longer enough to mention the right keywords and include a bunch of backlinks. For many queries, there was also an increase in the performance of long-form content within one web page. Longer-form content provides more information, more long-tail and conversational phrases (which lend themselves to more search queries) and help consolidate value, which provides market differentiation.
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Publishers and retailers experiment with Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) 2016 saw an increased focus on delivering content quickly. According to Google, 53% of users will abandon a website or web page if it doesn’t load within three seconds. To deliver content quicker, publishers and retailers have been experimenting with Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP). AMP uses a simplified version of HTML and content to achieve fast loading speeds and has a unique way of being presented within Google search results.
An always-on view of backlink profiles was vital A big change in 2016 was Google’s Penguin algorithm being incorporated within its core search algorithm. Penguin works in real time to demote or devalue websites and pages that use artificial link generation to try to manipulate search results. These link signals, as well as ‘over optimisation’, can result in sites or pages seeing significant reductions in ranking performance. The algorithm helps provide searchers with the best results possible and more quickly punishes sites that try to “game the system”.
Machine learning and AI to become more important Desktop and mobile search to be treated as different channels Key trend: voice search
Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the face of SEO and improvements in deep learning and natural language processing mean that AI search engines are becoming smarter and more human-friendly. When searching for something, the current results take into account a host of considerations like location, search history and what other users click on for similar queries. AI improvements mean ranking factors can change continually, as the algorithm learns from how people click on search results and decides on the most relevant factors for each search.
Differentiate desktop and mobile search More than half of search queries worldwide now come from mobile devices – with the number set to grow further. Therefore, it makes sense for Google to future-proof their product with a mobile-first index. There have been numerous indications that Google will move towards maintaining two separate search indexes; with the mobile index getting updated the quickest. Organic will stay strong as a traffic source and currently dominates local results. However, expect some pressure on organic traffic in 2017 as AdWords and paid search ads take up more mobile search real estate.
Consider treating desktop search and mobile search as different channels and, if in the process of upgrading your website – adopt a mobilefirst approach. It is crucial to develop a better understanding of what desktop and mobile customers want and how best to serve them by tailoring the experience and content to their requirements, rather than just reformatting it.
Finding your voice in search will be key The big trend for 2017 will be voice. Google CEO, Sundar Pichai, revealed that 20% of queries on its mobile app and Android devices are now voice searches. The range of virtual assistants (such as Siri, Google Home and Alexa) are also enabling people to be more conversational with search, while Google’s entry into the voice search space will boast both a digital assistant and a robust search experience powered by Google. Savvy e-commerce marketers are beginning to capitalise on this trend by offering more colloquial phrasing, more optimisation for long-tail phrases and more ‘rich answers’ that digital assistants can provide directly.
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SEARCH
A look back at 2016
A look ahead to 2017
• • •
• • •
Removal of right-side ads from Google Search Ad text expansion, improved extensions and new formats tested Audience segmentation and targeting using search behaviours are now key
Changes to search landscape Google made the first big move in 2016, changing the search landscape by removing the right-side ads on desktop devices - bringing this in line with mobile and tablet formats. The expectation was for cost per clicks (CPCs) to increase as advertisers jostled for visibility and top positions. In reality there were mixed results, with some verticals seeing CPCs drop by as much as 30% across the year, and others that increased by as much. While Google was busy revamping their look and feel, Bing announced their UK market share had reached 20.5%, making a number of people sit up and take notice.
Ad copy text expanded 2016 saw the introduction of extended text ads, increasing the total available characters by 50%. This was the biggest change to the standard text format for 15 years. Not only were text ads improved, but revisions to shopping ads, which now account for more than 40% of retailers’ search clicks, began providing a better experience for customers - especially on mobile devices.
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Additionally, a number of new formats were tested specifically for mobile searches, showing that the focus has now truly shifted to a mobile-first world.
Audience targeting with search now key As expected, audience segmentation has grown significantly in 2016 with audience depth in excess of 21% on average. With the introduction of similar audiences, search is now moving into the realm of interest targeting and bringing with it new ways to target potential customers. With the increasing availability of adjustments within campaigns (device, location and time to audience segments and demographics) the dynamics of bidding on a keyword have changed. Actual CPCs can now be significantly more than your maximum bid, which is compounded by the number of multipliers applied. While this can lead to efficiencies and can be a more effective way of targeting customers, the industry needs to be mindful of how many variables are now involved and what this means for the value of the click. A single cost per acquisition (CPA) or return on investment (ROI) target is no longer enough and ROI needs to align with an audience to truly maximise the opportunities available.
Ads will become more personalised to the search query - considering devices, intent and consumer data Automation will maximise targeting and creative options Data-driven attribution is pivotal to linking audiences with their journeys through purchase funnels and across devices
Personalised ad copy and automation Ads will get personal in 2017. User expectations are changing and will need to be matched. Google will start personalising mobile search results and paid search will need to keep up. Expect more live data to be integrated into results, particularly shopping ads where accessibility to the product will become more visible - matching the intent behind the query. Voice search continues to grow and is a key driver behind the 15% of new queries Google sees every day. As of Q4 2016, Google launched click-to-message, allowing companies to connect to their consumers over SMS. Expect millennials to be the first adopters of the new format and for it to expand to other messaging platforms. Personalised targeting, using audience insights, will be essential in helping brands resonate with potential customers. Ad customisers with real-time updates can help adapt text ads, while Dynamic Search Ads use content from your websites to target your ads to searches. All of this aims to make ads more personalised, but automation will be needed to make the most of these opportunities.
Data-driven attribution and audience journeys 2017 will see more companies talking about datadriven attribution and move away from the last-click model. Switching attribution models can more accurately assign values to the keywords bid on and the roles devices play in purchase journeys. This opens up new opportunities earlier in the journey, allowing brands to expand reach through the upper funnel and introduce terms. Automated bidding, using data-driven attribution models, will allow campaigns to draw on learnings from user activity and deliver bids and adjustments aligned with goals, in real time. Manual bidding can no longer keep up and automation at some level needs to be considered. As search adapts, becoming more personalised and utilising various signals to deliver more relevant results, automation and attribution will become essential. Automation and attribution will be the keys to success in paid search, but just as important with be the architecture of the account build. Paid search managers will be moving into the realm of architects as they build structures, pulling in various signals and technologies to deliver a tailored-to-theaudience experience.
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AFFILIATES
Mobile is once again on the rise In 2016, news broke of mobile adspend overtaking desktop adspend for the first time in history; it’s no surprise then that mobile volume is on the rise within the affiliate channel. According to research from Affiliate Window, mobile traffic (particularly non-smartphone) is increasing at pace, demonstrating rapid growth in just a short, one-year period. Despite this growth in the volume of mobile traffic, conversion rates and average order volumes are down YoY.
Mobile sales and trafic - Q3 16 vs. Q3 15 2015 2016
63.50%
47% 42% 37% 24.50%
28% 23.50%
A look back at 2016 • • •
18%
Another record breaking year in affiliates; £1.3bn spend in the channel generated £17.7bn worth of revenue Affiliate networks started to diversify their offerings, bringing API-first platforms and programmatic buying into their tech stack Mobile was on the rise again (with mobile device traffic up by +16% points YoY) but sales and conversion rates remained relatively flat
Record breaking year – 13:1 ROI
The diversification of affiliate networks
Yes, that’s right. Despite the increasing number of growing marketing channels available to clients, affiliate marketing once again hit record numbers. For the first time ever, IAB/PwC included the online performance marketing study in the overall 2016 Digital Adspend review, as the channel became more recognised in wider media. According to the 2016 report, affiliate marketing is now valued at £1.3bn in the UK alone (+9% growth YoY). This £1.3bn spend has generated 4.7bn clicks, an eCPC of £0.28, 155 million transactions and £17.7bn in revenue (+5% growth YoY). The most impressive figure still is return on investment, which now sits at a healthy 13:1 – so for every £1 spent in affiliate marketing, an advertiser is getting on average £13 back. One big issue with the 2015 report was that the number of affiliates remained completely flat, however in this year’s report the number of affiliates has risen to 12,500 (+4% growth YoY). Affiliate marketing is now 8-10% of UK digital market spend.
The role of affiliate networks has remained relatively unchanged for a number of years. However, 2016 saw the first real structural changes from a number of the key players, in an attempt to grow their market share and potentially encroach on other growing channels. The two biggest developments have been: a shift towards API-first affiliate platforms, and a movement towards programmatic.
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Affiliate marketing has always been a relatively manual channel to manage, with concerns around ‘scalability’ being asked on a regular basis. This concern has seen an explosion of self-service and API-first affiliate platforms, which have allowed advertisers to automate a number of previously manual processes, allowing time and resource to shift from admin/operations to strategy/planning. Programmatic has started to touch a number of different industries, but finally it seems to have reached affiliates. In the past year, a handful of large affiliate networks have announced their programmatic products, allowing advertisers to reach valuable inventory at scale, on a pure performance basis. It is uncertain if these strategies are working, but expect to see big things from early adopters in 2017.
% traffic from a mobile device
% traffic from a smartphone
% of sales originating from a mobile device
% of sales originating from a smartphone
AOV(3) and CR(%) - Q3 16 vs. Q3 15 £62
£63
£63
£64
£64
£65
£63
2016
£65
2.60%
2015
0.00%
£66
£65
0.50%
1.00%
1.50%
2.00%
2.50%
3.00%
3.50%
3.80%
4.00%
Mobile average order value (AOV) % mobile conversion rate (click -> sale)
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A look ahead to 2017 • • •
Performance-based marketing with influencers and micro-influencers set to become a much bigger part of the affiliate industry Sophisticated automation will become a priority for all brands, freeing up more time for strategy, planning and innovation The reinvigoration of outbound email performance marketing as a viable marketing channel, as consumers confirm trust in email
Expected growth in performance-based influencer marketing Influencer marketing is growing at an alarming pace. Whilst there is still much discussion about where the channel should sit, there is a clear need for brands to establish relationships with influencers on a performance basis – which is where the affiliate channel comes in. Content marketing makes up around 10% of affiliate marketing spend (based on IAB/PwC Online Performance Marketing research) and its popularity stems from it being seen as an upper funnel marketing source, providing brands with an alternative to heavily DR focussed sites that dominate the industry. In order for performance-based influencer marketing to work, brands will need to adopt a different set of goalposts, where the performance metrics are orientated around impression and attributed metrics, instead of looking at a pure last-click approach. A number of platforms now provide advertisers with affiliate data beyond the last click (“assists” as it’s
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often referred to), meaning that influencers can be paid on attributed performance metrics, to ensure fair remuneration. This will allow advertisers to move away from paying tendencies, allowing them to effectively monitor the value of their influencer strategy.
Marketing automation to become a priority As advertisers continue to drive efficiencies across their full media mix (including affiliates), the need for technology partners to provide automated solutions across a wide array of operational processes becomes more imperative. The affiliate marketing industry consists of numerous manual processes that can be overcome by embracing technology. The best recent example of improvements in the affiliate space are ‘automated validations’, which allow brands to validate their orders in real time, based on clear rules e.g. 30 days after the sale has happened, to account for returns. This is a process which has historically taken up vast amounts of account management time. Therefore, expect automation to play a bigger role in the industry - allowing agencies and advertisers to free up resource for driving a proactive agenda.
Manual processes such as rate setting, media plan management, budget management, communication, creative serving, text link creation, etc. - which normally involve account managers spending most of their working life in Excel reports can be overcome with automation. With the growth of API-first technologies, there will be a serious shift in operational tasks.
The reinvigoration of email performance marketing Despite numerous articles over the past few years mentioning the “death of email” - email remains the main communication tool for advertisers and their consumers. According the Direct Marketing Association, 74% of consumers are happy to be contacted by brands they know via email, with 60% happy for unknown brands to contact them via this channel. Compare this against the rise of ad blocking globally, and there is a clear sign from consumers that email is a powerful way for new brands to speak to them.
In terms of trust, email is considered the most trusted channel among consumers for data sharing (58% in total). Considering the power and value of first-party data, this is yet another clear point to support the channel. And because of this, there is a resurgence in outbound email marketing campaigns, where brands are utilising valuable and targeted email lists with appealing content and creative, to drive new users to interact with their brand and share previously unknown data. Email gets even more interesting when it is combined with other channels and incorporated into a wider media strategy. Email addresses can be uploaded into Twitter, Facebook, Google and even turned into cookie data via data onboarders for display purposes - allowing brands to nurture potential consumers across other channels. In 2017, email will stop being considered an outdated format and will be valued for its preferences to consumers - serving a purpose as the omnichannel passport across the plethora of media channels.
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CAREER A look ahead to 2017 • Companies are starting to use their employer brand to appeal to customers • As Gen Y (and soon Z) increases its number, employers will need to engage with this audience in new ways; expectations differ from older generations • Tech and media are fuelling an expectation of personalised and tailored communications • As tech evolves, candidates expect a faster and easier application process It’s all about your employer brand
A look back at 2016 • Move to performance-based acquisition; the rise of aggregators feeds the decline of job boards • Paid social promotion is more popular and successful for employers to provide cut through • Investment shifts from traditional recruitment channels to content creation and distribution • Employers look at new ways to provide cut through, rather than increasing LinkedIn spend Job board decline
Investment in content distribution
There’s been a big decline in the usage and investment in job boards - and the continued growth of Indeed has been a major factor in this. Working on a cost-per-click model, Indeed charges based on results rather than the ‘post and pray’ method of old. LinkedIn, and the increased targeting opportunities available on other channels such as social and online display, have also contributed to the decline of job boards – providing companies with a cost effective and targeted way of reaching both active and passive candidates. This trend is going to continue, which will see further consolidation within the job board space and force a change to their cost models so that it’s acquisition based (cost-per-click, cost-per-application or cost-per-offer) rather than unit price for inventory.
Continuing the theme with the rise of social, this year has seen increased investment in other content distribution channels such as Outbrain. Video is becoming increasingly important and as well as investing heavily on social to distribute content, spend has also increased across YouTube and on video seeding channels such as BeOn and Numbate.
Social is now pay to play
LinkedIn remains a key channel and provides opportunities to reach active and passive candidates. The LinkedIn space itself is becoming increasingly competitive. Rather than increase spend with the new opportunities and inventory that is offered, investment has remained static in 2016 - it has been more about repurposing existing spend in different areas, such as sponsored content rather than display.
Over the last two or three years, there has been a large increase in spend across social channels. Social channels provide companies with a great opportunity to connect with potential candidates and to use content to show the company culture and to differentiate from other employers. The changing algorithms and vast amount of content being produced has meant that social has become pay to play – therefore, the only way to ensure that your content is being seen is to invest in paid promotion.
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The shift from investment in traditional recruitment channels to channels that enable brands to buy specific audiences and distribute content will continue, as it provides employers a platform to tell stories and attract better quality candidates.
Constant spend on LinkedIn
As jobseekers behave more like consumers when looking for the right job, companies are increasingly adapting their advertising to include company culture and people alongside their products and services. The way in which jobseekers search and apply for jobs has changed, due to the rise of social media and employee referral sites like Glassdoor. Therefore, consumer and candidate expectations have changed in an age of transparency, when looking for a job or buying a product. “If you aren’t good enough to work for, why would I buy from you?” is the question companies should be asking in 2017.
Targeting passive candidates is essential It’s common knowledge that attracting passive candidates makes for better employees, however targeting this audience is no longer a nice-to-have - it’s essential for all recruitment communications attraction strategies in 2017. For employers to attract the best talent, there needs to be a shift to building more meaningful relationships with candidates - more like how brands engage with consumers, with the employer brand at the heart of all communications.
Personalisation will drive efficiencies in attracting and hiring top talent
targeting, tracking and tech advancing, companies and recruiters can deliver crafted messages that target both passive and active candidates in the recruitment process, in environments where they would be most receptive. The rise of programmatic, retargeting and tracking means that employers can deliver the right message at the right time in the right environment and, therefore, be more efficient at attracting top talent.
Technology - consumer and candidate expectations rising The proliferation of technology is driving consumer expectation of seamless online experiences, with the same expectations shared by candidates applying for jobs. The continuing rise of dark social, to put simply - private messaging – poses the question: how can employers continue to embrace this technology to attract and improve the recruitment process? There has been a decline in on-campus promotion from top graduate recruiters in the UK, opting for live video chats, live QA sessions, and even algorithm screening and assessing candidates for a non-biased view on applicants. This trend will continue to develop at speed and employers will need to keep on top of this to attract and retain top talent to their organisations.
Consumer expectation has risen in terms of how brands tailor personalised content to make it more relevant to them. Technology and media is fuelling this, enabling companies to become much more bespoke with their communications – which also applies to candidate attraction in 2017. With media
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CULTURECOM
A look back at 2016
A look ahead to 2017
• • •
• • •
Asian media and marketing raises its industry profile Evolution of ethnic trade media sector Recognition of achievements within Asian media
Ethnic advertisers to use mainstream media channels Ethnic businesses meld Asian and mainstream influences Mainstream businesses to recognise ethnicity creatively
Asian media raises its profile
Achievements in Asian media
Ethnic marketing increasingly mainstream
Recognising ethnicity creatively
2016 was a bumper year for Asian media and for its wider recognition within the industry. The firstever trade print publication focusing on the UK’s ethnic media, Media Impact magazine, launched in May 2016 as a resource for those working in the industry. This launch follows Biz Asia, which has been serving close to the same role online, albeit one that almost exclusively concentrates on Asian media. Incidentally, Biz Asia won its category at the Asian Media Awards 2015, another indicator of the platform’s success.
Asian Media Awards, now in its fourth year, seeks to recognise and celebrate South Asian excellence and achievement in media across over two dozen categories. It is the first of its kind to applaud Asian media success in this way. In and of itself, it is helping the sector establish its credentials as an essential facet and integral part of the UK’s wider mainstream media and marketing sector.
The traditional classification of mainstream needs to be contested. The Tube often has posters advertising South Asian satellite TV channels and international telecoms services all squarely aimed at this specific ethnic group. Local mainstream regional newspapers in North West London suburbs have also run cover wraps advertising ready-made parathas, connecting directly with the area’s dense South Asian population.
Many mainstream brands are recognising the need to acknowledge the diversity of their market share with inclusive advertising and marketing propositions. There are many good examples of this including Victoria’s Secret using Asian models on promotional billboards for store openings and Thomas the Tank Engine toys regularly featuring ethnic children on their packaging.
Origins of ethnic trade media During its five-year tenure between 2003 and 2008, Asians In Media was in fact the first ever trade news portal serving industry practitioners within the ethnic media business. The site was borne out of a need to report on this burgeoning sector and it laid the foundations for industry-oriented products like Media Impact and Biz Asia to follow.
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Melding Asian and mainstream influences Beyond London, small local businesses – reflecting what is going on at a grass roots level – are curating their own take on what constitutes the “new mainstream”. Frankie’s Chicken Shack in Rochdale proudly serves its own variation of Lahori chicken and chips, which offers a great illustration of how Pakistani influences are being fused with something quintessentially British. Likewise, in the same town a BP forecourt pairs Subway and Spar concessions with Ambala, a South Asian confectioners. And even some supermarkets are known to offer front house Asian confectionary pop-up counters during key gifting periods like Diwali.
Another creative example was Samsung’s Metro cover wrap that showed a Sikh chap posing in ‘Shadwell Chic’ style and targeted Metro’s core audience of young urbanites. Sony went as far as embracing India’s Holi Festival Of Colours as a central creative theme in their national press print ads for Xperia’s launch. In recent times, Holi has become an annual ticketed event in London attracting thousands from all backgrounds, not just those from the Asian community. Inclusive marketing helps normalise the way in which ethnic marketing should be approached. As the UK’s population becomes more culturally diverse, this needs to be conducted using a mainstream perspective, not just an ethnic one. Hopefully, this approach will continue into 2017 and beyond.
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Contributors Real World Insight Pauline Robson Head of RWI pauline.robson@mediacom.com
Sport & Ent.
John Scurfield Head of Sport & Entertainment, UK john.scurfield@mediacom.com
Business Science Sarah Stallwood Associate Director sarah.stallwood@mediacom.com
Events
Katie Holland Senior Events and Partnerships Manager katie.holland@mediacom.com
TV Jonathan Masterson Head of TV jonathan.masterson@mediacom.com
Influencer Marketing
Rahul Titus Head of Influencer Marketing rahul.titus@mediacom.com
VOD Tim Lawrence Digital Planning Director tim.lawrence@mediacom.com
Response Jody Aird James Hyams Business Director Business Director jody.aird@mediacom.com james.hyams@mediacom.com
Kids Sean Japp Associate Director sean.japp@mediacom.com
Mobile Lorna White Caroline Ingham Digital Manager Digital Manager lorna.white@mediacom.com caroline.ingham@mediacom.com
Broadcast
Chris Fuller Head of Broadcast Sponsorship chris.fuller@mediacom.com
Paid Social
Jenny Carrick Head of Paid Social jenny.carrick@mediacom.com
Print Chris Reed Associate Director chris.reed@mediacom.com
Programmatic Graham Field Head of Programmatic graham.field@mediacom.com
Radio Stacey Pratt Lauren Croly Associate Director Associate Director stacey.pratt@mediacom.com lauren.croly@mediacom.com
SEO Edward Cowell Head of SEO edward.cowell@mediacom.com
OOH Nate Barker Chrissy Jones Senior Planner Senior Planner nate.barker@mediacom.com chrissy.jones@mediacom.com
Search Craig Lee Associate Director craig.lee@mediacom.com
Cinema Sohini Dasgupta Chimi Nwagbara Senior Planner Connect Manager sohini.dasgupta@mediacom.com chimi.nwagbara@mediacom.com
Affiliates Daniel Lancioni Head of Affiliates daniel.lancioni@mediacom.com
Content Tom Curtis Head of Media Beyond Advertising, UK tom.curtis@mediacom.com
Celine Marshall Career Associate Director celine.marshall@mediacom.com
Partnerships Daniel Wood Head of Partnerships daniel.wood@mediacom.com
CultureCom Sanjay Shabi Head of CultureCom sanjay.shabi@mediacom.com
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About MediaCom MediaCom is “The Content + Connections Agency”, working on behalf of its clients to leverage their brands’ entire system of communications across paid, owned and earned channels to step change their business outcomes. Employing over 1,200 staff across 5 regional offices, MediaCom is the leading agency in the UK in terms of billings. Its client roster includes Sky, DFS, GlaxoSmithKline, Tesco and Cancer Research UK. The agency was named Campaign’s Agency of the Decade and received top marks in its 2016 School Report. MediaCom is a member of WPP, the world’s largest marketing communications services group, and part of GroupM, WPP’s consolidated media investment management arm.
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