ad:tech London 2015 – What did we learn?
From innovations in mobile and out-of-home, to the ad-blocking debate, Susan Perolls and Clare Johnson, Loudmouth PR, share their key take-outs from this year’s ad:tech London.
ad:tech 2015 truly demonstrated that the UK is no longer lagging behind the US when it comes to marketing technology.
This was evidenced by the mix of exciting tech start-ups here taking part in Unilever’s ‘Next Big Thing’ challenge alongside a mix of brands, agencies and publishers who were all sharing insight on how data, content and technology can be and will be used to drive more engaging, efficient brand experiences focused around – another ad:tech theme – the increasingly intelligent consumer.
So what were the other big trends that shaped the event?
Mobile’s time is now
As ad:tech 2015 kicked off we were reminded that the ‘year of mobile’ cliché actually dates back to 1998, according to We Are Fetch’s Greg Grimmer; however, there was no denying mobile is, right now, one of the biggest triggers for innovation across the industry and causing as much excitement as headaches across the board.
Facebook’s UK & Ireland director Steve Hatch, too, confirmed the power of mobile. Sixty per cent of all time online is now spent on mobile devices, with 82% of this time spent on apps. With an average of 2.5 hrs a day spent online on mobile, Facebook has certainly tapped into how to stay relevant, with 26 million mobile users a day.
Steve Hatch, Facebook
Hatch sees the biggest changes in consumer behaviour that are driving digital as being:
1) A shift from desktop to mobile
2) A shift in the way we communicate with a move to more image-led conversations. This is coupled with user preference for visually driven apps such as Instagram which was the original ‘mobile first’ social channel
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3) A shift from search to discovery – everything competes with everything, all of the time. It all has to be about relevance and value.
With ad tech increasingly playing a part in the OOH sector, Exterion Media’s CEO, Shaun Gregory, explained how mobile is helping to grow the sector, providing greater connectivity and an effective way for brands to connect.
This is especially important for millennials who are difficult to reach with traditional media channels. Digital screens currently provide 27% of OOH revenue with this set to increase hugely over the next 10 years and exciting developments on the way including e-commerce.
DOOH campaign from Exterion for Wall’s Ice Cream – ‘Goodbye Serious’
Content: opportunity or relentless demand?
The gap between content creation and the ability to consume content will continue to widen. From the 30 minute soap opera, to the 30 second commercial, to the ability to identify an image in 13 milliseconds, media consumption is changing.
However, according to Stephen Wise, founder and MD of Trigger Buzz, on average content only lasts 24 minutes – whether you spend £1 or £1 million on creating it. The demand from advertisers is therefore for better content to be created in less time and for less money.
He believes that, with the right processes and sign-offs in place to keep agile, this can actually stimulate creativity rather than stifle it.
A campaign he created for cancer charity Macmillan as part of their testicular cancer awareness activity encouraged men to ‘check their balls‘, with tongue-in-cheek videos of tennis stars such as Andy Murray checking their tennis balls at Wimbledon. Created on a budget of £1,000, the campaign reached 1.2 million men.
He also said that, far from being stressed by the amount of content they need, marketers should see this as an opportunity.
He explained: “If you create more content then you are no longer constrained by the need for a USP; instead you can have multiple content reflecting multiple selling points for your brand and so can maximise your relevance to different audiences.”
Videos add the human factor
Another key theme was the video landscape – as well as having become the most popular content format, consumers are increasingly engaging with each other through their own videos, with platforms such as Periscope opening up this powerful channel.
Emily Forbes, founder of Seenit, explained that brands need to learn how to tap into this trend and that through using the video collaboration platform they are engaging with customers in the most human way.
Organisations and brands including BBC, GB Athletics and even many high street banks are creating communities through crowd video.
Exciting stories and perspectives captured by those living the subject matter are helping brands build consumer trust by listening and valuing the community as well as encouraging individuals from the company’s CFO and other employees, to experts and consumers to upload their own content.
It is also providing the most modern form of citizen journalism and a force for good, as can be seen when a student recently streamed herself drink driving and was arrested after Periscope users called the police department.
Ad-blocking – for good or for bad?
Once Apple threw its weight behind ad-blocking with the release of its latest iOS 9.0 software, there has been a huge debate on this topic across the industry and ad:tech was no exception.
However, the main consensus seemed to be that the debate is bigger than the issue merits.
Richie Kelly, founder and CMO of Next Big Thing finalist Adimo, believes: “The Apple move was a milestone in ad-blocking as it simplified the process massively.
“However, it’s not necessarily a bad thing for brands. It means they have to be cleverer and work harder to understand consumers and give them what they really want. If you genuinely give added value why would people block your ads?”
Keith Weed, global CMO and CCO at Unilever agreed that this was essential, especially when consumers start to realise that download speed on mobiles is faster when you don’t have ads loading, and that this means that they essentially have to pay for ads through data usage.
His view was that serving media and creative with programmatic technology based on a recipient’s profile will be key to earning the right to engage. Certainly at Unilever they are working hard on this. For example, a recent Axe (Lynx) deodorant video campaign featured 100,000 versions of the ad tailored to what they know about the viewer.
Just do it!
Craig Le Grice, founder of Hub & Lab, felt that the biggest shift between this year’s ad:tech and the last is that marketers are now much more open to experimenting with the new technology that is available now – rather than doing nothing in case something better is around the corner.
He said: “We already have amazing tools that can do really exciting things. People are starting to wake up more to this and realising that the time is now.
“Looking ahead is important, but it mustn’t trap you into inactivity. Instead it’s about testing, applying what is available now and seeing it as a building block for tomorrow.”
Unilever’s Weed had a similar viewpoint, urging everyone to engage personally with ad tech and “fill up your toolbox” with all the digital tools that are now available.
He also feels that committing budget to training in digital techniques and tools is essential for any business and for every level. This is the only way in which marketers will truly understand the opportunities ad tech gives them and get the confidence they need to give it a go.
As he concluded: “If you want to win the 100 metre race but sit on the sofa watching TV and eating chips until a few days before, it’s not going to happen! Athletes create a strategy on how to win and, within that, they train, learn, practice and test their techniques. Marketers need to think like athletes.”