From policy changes to the cookie’s demise, the advertising industry is already transforming just a few weeks into 2024.
While the industry ramps up its privacy focus and strategies for signal loss, enterprises are delivering impressive innovation with data; brands are finding creative ways to use AI and verticals beyond retail are harnessing the power of media networks to expand and monetize their first-party data.
The next 12 months are certain to fuel significant industry evolution. In the following sections, LiveRamp experts predict what 2024 may have in store, from how AI will affect marketers to media measurement and what will define the industry’s most innovative companies.
AI will transform marketers’ needed skillsets and KPIs
LiveRamp’s Chief Product Officer, Kimberly Bloomston, sees an expanded place for technology in marketers toolkits this year.
“Artificial intelligence — namely large language models and generative AI — will become commonplace within ad tech, reducing the need for process-focused roles and instead rely on technology and AI to accelerate efficiencies in ad operations, copywriting, visual design and more,” Bloomston said.
“As a result, organizational structures and roles will require an increased skillset with technical acumen and data expertise, including data operations, data analysts and data scientists,” she continued. “Teams that haven’t invested in data scientists will either create those roles, hire outside consultants or seek the best tools to make this easier. At the same time, critical thinking, design concepts and influencing will become highly desirable skills to complement what AI can offer.”
Marketers will abandon third-party signals for durable, authenticated identities
According to Travis Clinger, Chief Connectivity and Ecosystem Officer at LiveRamp, marketing teams will shift away from third-party signals altogether.
“The deprecation of 1% of third-party cookies in Chrome is a significant milestone toward bidding farewell to cookies overall,” he said. “With the full deprecation of third-party cookies just months away, brands, publishers and their partners will get serious about solidifying plans for a cookieless internet.
“By the end of the year, all savvy marketers will see the benefits of the few remaining third-party signals are far outweighed by the immediate gains of post-signal identity,” continued Clinger. “They’ll be sustainably building beyond third-party signals to address other challenges.”
Vihan Sharma, Chief Revenue Officer at LiveRamp, sees 2024 as the year more advertisers demand standardization and transparency from partners and the industry.
“Signal loss is prompting advertisers to rewrite workflows they’ve used for decades,” he said. “This massive shift will have enterprises look to cloud data warehouses as the single place to build first-party identity graphs and audience and measurement workflows. As media propositions spread into more industry verticals, standardization across audience definitions and outcome-based measurement will also become a necessity. Commerce media ad spend will only increase in 2024, prompting advertisers and agencies to demand more transparency from partners to optimize media spend across a fragmented landscape.”
The next trend for 2024, as predicted by Lori Johnshoy, head of global retail and CPG strategy at LiveRamp, is that data collaboration will boost the use of RMNs.
“The next generation of RMNs will hyperfocus on providing advertisers with products and services that command them a bigger slice of ad budgets,” she said. “Unsurprisingly, measurement and proving performance will be the hottest topic, with an emphasis on providing advertisers with self-service tools that enable the flexibility to build audiences, activate campaigns and control measurement rules to compare performance across platforms and drive incremental growth. This is why we’ll see more retailers and CPGs accelerate the use of data clean rooms to safely share and collaborate.”
Regulators will focus on AI, requiring careful consideration from advertisers
The focus of regulation for 2024 will be AI, according to Amy Lee Stewart, senior vice president, general counsel and Global Chief Data Ethics Officer at LiveRamp.
“The U.S. government is taking action toward comprehensive, federal governance on artificial intelligence while local governments remain challenged in developing their state-level AI laws,” she said. “While more organizations will embrace generative AI this year, either through internal software development or third-party vendors, over the next 12 months, a significant wave of AI regulations may render current practices unstable and non-compliant. It will be critical for advertisers to sufficiently anticipate future regulations or risk leaving the future of existing programs uncertain. Those with a forward-thinking mindset will emerge as leaders in ethical data use and innovators who will unlock AI’s full capabilities.”
The increased usage of data clean rooms is the focus for Erin Boelkens, vice president of product, identity and connectivity at LiveRamp.
“As privacy-enhancing technologies and data clean rooms become more mainstream, data federation will grow in adoption as advertisers expand their use of the cloud,” she said. “Federated technologies allow brands to process data where it rests, so partners can collaborate across preferred environments while minimizing the movement of data. This will increase processing speeds, reduce storage and computing costs, strengthen strategic partnerships, maximize marketing ROI and add more protection of consumer data.”
Tara Franceschini, head of industry strategy, media and entertainment at LiveRamp, said CTV will lean on data clean rooms this year.
“Data clean rooms — increasingly used in media deals — are likely to be an important part of 2024 upfronts, especially those negotiated by agencies and brands that know data will be at the core of every big deal this year,” Franceschini said. “The marriage of CTV and retail media networks will also become more evident and impactful as each sector looks to scale and enhance performance.
“Access to previously siloed and inaccessible exposure data across media partners will allow advertisers to more holistically understand — and better target across — channels and include more enhanced cross-screen measurement capabilities,” continued Franceschini. “Data collaboration will be used to connect data across all forms of TV, CTV, social media and digital advertising, empowering advertisers to better understand media performance, strengthen partnerships and drive meaningful growth.”
The marketing industry is ripe for transformation in 2024, from increased usage of technologies such as AI to higher adoption of data collaboration-related tactics. Overall, the focus is on collaboration, getting more value out of data and maximizing the use of technology for a successful 2024.
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