The bank’s Adtech Ascendency report invited marketing leaders to discuss issues in the advertising sector, which largely revolves around Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google – or FAANGS – which continue to dominate the digital space in marketing services.
Trends in digital advertising were also highlighted, especially where automation and programming allow more flexibility with digital advertising. “Flexible buying, whereby even a specific ten second spot on a single billboard can be bought, will be a reality in the near future. It will be almost like a Tetris game to slot in all the spots. That’s where programmatic automation comes into its own,” says Justin Cochrane, chief executive officer of Clear Channel.
Netflix and Amazon are leading the way with personalised content – a trend that appears to be cropping up in many sectors, not just advertising.
Cochrane continues: “Personalisation has great potential in outdoor, but it must be balanced to avoid alienating consumers. For example, a past advertising campaign that was targeted at Yorkshiremen drilled down to individual towns and even individual streets. While people were proud to be associated with their Yorkshire identity, they found street level personalisation a bit creepy.”
Personalisation has great potential in outdoor, but it must be balanced to avoid alienating consumers”
The report concludes that the growth of digital OOH is set to continue, as is its effectiveness. It reads: “The advent of digital OOH has almost doubled the effectiveness of the medium and capitalises further on OOH’s unique reach. 2018 marked a tipping point for the industry, with digital OOH advertising surpassing traditional outdoor for the first time.
“Billboards have unparalleled reach in the fragmenting digital era with the classic version still reaching 98% of the potential UK audience while heavy investment means digital panels now reach 65% of that audience as out-of-home networks are expanding digital signage as fast as they can.”
The likes of Facebook and Netflix are still spending money on DOOH however, with Netflix recently spending $150m for 32 billboards on Hollywood’s sunset strip.
“Getting too close to the FAANGs takes away your objectivity and discretion – it’s important to take a pragmatic view of the relationship,” says Luke Smith, chief executive officer of digital marketing agency Cround. “We have the expectation to build solutions seamlessly across all platforms.”
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