Vidyotham Reddi shared insights from Mars’ approach to A/B testing as their gold standard of learning. Framing it within the timely “virus” context, Vidyotham reinforced A/B testing’s dependability, versatility, and precision for marketing and understanding consumer behavior as part of Mars’ overall strategy.
This discussion addressed three presentations that described insights from surveys on how the pandemic affected consumer behavior during the pandemic and to what extent observed changes will persist. The presentations addressed trends in behaviors and attitudes regarding media (such as linear TV vs. streaming), travel, and also shopping, cooking, and education.
There are 500 hours of content uploaded to YouTube every minute. TikTok is the most downloaded social app. According to the Global Video Measurement Alliance, there was a 55% growth in total time spent on consumption of social video. Gen Z spends more time with social video than any other demographic. Kate Ginsburg, Tubular Labs, explored this coveted demo’s social video viewership, e-commerce consumer behaviors, and the opportunities for brands. Social video needs to a part of the marketing strategy. It is where brands and advertisers must be to engage with Gen Z.
Promoting diversity through creative content is the right thing to do and can be highly beneficial for brands if done correctly. It’s important for the context to be in sync with the changing context of public opinion. The study featured in this latest MSI white paper, found that Black actors’ share of ads can increase purchase intent, but only when the ads were processed peripherally. If the ad’s aim was to increase the public’s attention to inequality, this could actually inhibit the effect.
A multi-billion dollar pet food manufacturer analyzed its audience targeting strategy with the goal of ensuring efficient online ad spending, according to Souptik Datta and Zulema Doiny-Cabre of GroupM. The analysis with GroupM evaluated the performance of existing audience segments, pinpointed profiles of high-performing audience segments for additional opportunities and determined the optimal ad impression frequency.
Vera Chien of Warner Bros. Discovery gave an overview of what the metaverse is and where it’s going. The metaverse will leverage gaming, social media, cryptocurrency, 5G, blockchain/NFTs, AI/ML and more as adjacencies, but it will not be controlled by any one of these or any one industry. The metaverse will be interactive, interoperable, decentralized, and will focus on creativity. The creator economy will likely flourish there. One helpful suggestion Vera made was to leverage digital assets and find other homes for them to give consumers unique and memorable experiences. While 39% of 18–50-year-olds have heard of the metaverse, almost all consumers have had some type of experience that will be commonplace in this “next version of the internet.” Millennials, Gen Z and Gen Alpha have grown up with such experiences.
AJ Dalal of Publicis Sapient defined the metaverse and outlined some pioneering moves certain brands have taken within it. He also shared advice on how to be successful in this burgeoning new phase of the internet. The interoperability of web 3.0 allows consumers to take their avatar and NFTs across platforms, which unlocks highly personalized and unique experiences and the ability to execute instant settlement in real time. To ensure success, a brand should remember its target market, which in this space is 16- to 25-year-olds, concentrate on what value their experience brings to the consumer, be authentic and specific and consider an evolving roadmap, being transparent with users that the experience rests on new technology and might evolve and improve over time.
This panel discussion, moderated by Circana’s Michael Ellgass, discussed the current state and emerging opportunities in retail media, including measurement as well as organizational issues. The following are edited highlights from their conversation.
Jeff (Ephraim) Bander from Eye Square explained that measuring shopper behavior and decisions in context (in the online ecommerce environment in which the shopping actually takes place) is more meaningful than only surveying consumers about their online shopping behavior. Collecting in context data about the online actions of the shopper provides detailed path-to-purchase metrics, such as attention, interest and purchase behavior. Participants are not aware of what is being tested in the live environment. Additional explicit data is collected via survey.