After 2022 saw the rise of emerging channels, Yahoo’s Paul Sigaloff says the coming year will see their potential further explored as advertisers go full steam ahead.
2022 put a spring in everyone’s step. Just as people have begun to venture out of their homes, emerging channels – and the digitisation of traditional mediums – have grown in viability and transformed the way advertisers plan their campaigns.
Today’s digital-first consumers are accessing online media everywhere, whether at home or outdoors, giving rise to immense potential to reach consumers wherever they are, in moments that matter. This presents exciting opportunities for advertisers to go beyond each emerging channel and capture a bigger opportunity: the interplay among digital screens through an omnichannel approach.
Here are some of the strides emerging channels will make as they come into their own and what advertisers can look out for as they dip their toes into the omnichannel world.
Maturing DOOH with growing interconnectivity
DOOH saw its popularity skyrocket in 2022 as advertisers recognised the benefits of this high-impact screen and capitalised on relaxed COVID regulations. Yahoo saw a 6x increase in campaigns utilising DOOH in Singapore alone. While this growth will likely parlay into the coming year, brands have only begun to scratch the surface when it comes to DOOH and its possibilities.
Beyond automated buying and enhanced targeting opportunities, some advertisers are already testing the interplay between DOOH screens and other digital formats that take consumers across the entire buying journey. We’ve worked with a leading automotive brand and a real estate company in campaigns where programmatic DOOH anchored retargeting on other channels such as display, native and video, while a major telco brand amped up discoverability by adding DOOH to its media mix.
2023 is the time to further explore this interplay in DOOH strategies and push the boundaries on the seamless interconnectivity between digitised outdoor ads and the online world for full funnel campaigns.
ATV poised to steal the show
Growth for advanced TV (ATV) was monumental in 2022 amidst the streaming boom in APAC. As streaming giants drum up more interest with their ad-supported subscription plans, this will likely lead to a boost in demand for other channels within ATV, including CTV, addressable TV, OTT and ad-supported video on demand (AVOD).
Alongside shifts in consumer behaviour, here lies an opportunity for advertisers to go broader and deeper with their TV and video strategy. As the largest screen within the household, ATV provides prime advertising real estate and a massive canvas for exploration. It is also one of the best mediums to reinforce emotional connections and drive brand uplift. Leverage data-driven creatives to invoke a long-lasting connection with audiences that transcends beyond a cerebellum level.
Advances in ATV measurement will contribute to the growth of this targetable TV medium. Built-in data and audience analytics tools that provide a cross-screen view offer new insights about audiences, enabling more precise targeting, accurate attribution, better optimisation and personalisation of messaging. This will drive more advertisers to activate ATV programmatically instead of agreements through insertion orders (IO).
The gold standard will be when advertisers are able to understand and deliver the right ad frequencies between traditional linear and advanced TV tactics; leverage ATV measurement within omnichannel campaigns; and prove – through measurement – that ROI was achieved and be able to optimise for the next campaign.
Omnichannel versatility
The increasing adoption of emerging channels will give rise to limitless possibilities – an increasingly exciting yet complex matrix where advertisers have to continually test and tweak the channel mix that works best for them.
With omnichannel campaigns, activations will blur the line between online-offline worlds and also transcend typical outdoor/digital boundaries. Campaigns utilising the full digital spectrum now available, including DOOH and ATV, will be able to reach audiences wherever they are — whether at home or on the go and be discoverable during the right moments.
Here’s one example: when Yahoo partnered with Dare Iced Coffee to celebrate its Rainforest Alliance certification. They leveraged an omnichannel, immersive campaign that included retail packaging on Dare Iced Coffee bottles, DOOH, mobile, display and AR-enabled features. This allowed users to engage with the AR creative wherever they are, transporting them into a virtual rainforest where they can interact with an animated frog and become immersed in the sounds of nature.
Today’s digital-first consumer has developed a screen for every routine: they wake up and scroll through their mobile, move onto their desktop for work, listen to audio while on the go, stream their shows on tablets and ATV screens, and pass by DOOH billboards while they’re shopping.
Yet for advertisers, more screens bring added fragmentation and the challenge of connecting the dots between these channels. Doing so will require data-driven insights – a tall order within a cookieless world and changing privacy preferences.
Platforms and solutions that can offer seamless, personalised experiences for each screen and marry data-driven insights for seamless planning, buying, measurement and optimisation within a single platform will win in this new phase of advertising and channel emergence. This will also power path to conversion reporting and a unified customer view that will be key for success in omnichannel campaigns.
We’ve witnessed how seamless omnichannel campaigns can captivate and take consumers across the entire consumer funnel this year, from awareness to consideration and purchase. As emerging channels mature and consumer preferences continue to evolve, advertisers must understand the strengths of each channel at play. 2023 will be an opportunity to build a solid foundation on a media mix they can lean on, while experimenting and getting creative with the plethora of mediums at their fingertips.
