Advertisers are working through a period of major upheaval as rapid shifts in consumer habits coincide with developments in technology, media and the regulatory environment. Amid these changes, executives from a variety of businesses in the past few months have shared their insights with Beet.TV\u00a0 on what to expect \u2014 and the changes they’d like to see as advertisers aim to “break the cycle” of the past.<\/p>\n
This article and accompanying\u00a0 video highlight interviews from this series<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s time for us to evolve,\u201d Sheri Bachstein<\/a>, global head of Watson Advertising and The Weather Company, says in this highlight reel from Beet.TV. \u201cIt\u2019s time for us to leap forward. We\u2019ve been working with the same traditional identifiers and cookies for a long time \u2014 really, since programmatic came into play almost 10 years ago.”<\/p>\n She says artificial intelligence (AI) technology can help to address four key priorities for the advertising industry: first, reduce the dependence on “walled gardens” like internet search and social media companies. Second, avoid over-reliance on third-party cookies and device identifiers that are becoming less effective for audience tracking. Third, stop over-targeting the same consumers among different media channels. Finally, avoid paying fees for unnecessary tech services.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s just a lot of change that needs to happen in the advertising industry,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s not going to happen if we keep doing the same things \u2013 if we keep using the same tech, and expecting different results, which we desperately need.\u201d<\/p>\n CVS Health, the drugstore store chain with more than 9,900 locations throughout the U.S., uses IBM Watson’s AI to comb through data and help to target ads more appropriately to its customers — a key priority as the weather grew colder and flu season started.<\/p>\n “The speed of it and the ability of it to handle massive amounts of data and associations create opportunities that just haven’t been even on the radar before, ” Norman de Greve<\/a>, chief marketing officer of CVS Health, says. “We used different data to find a highly accurate way to predicting if flu is going to be rising in a locale. We can get our advertising into that locale before flu happens.”<\/p>\n Reaching consumers in a way that\u2019s contextually relevant requires a data-driven strategy for Nissan Motor, which has different car models for different segments of the automotive market.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re finally at a place where we\u2019re taking that digital-first approach,\u201d Allyson Witherspoon<\/a>, U.S. chief marketing officer of Nissan Motor, says. \u201cWe\u2019ve been talking about it for years, and based on what we\u2019ve seen and how consumers are shopping and consuming media, it\u2019s here.\u201d<\/p>\n Consumer worries about privacy have led to calls for more regulation on data sharing, such as the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) that may become a model for a federal law.<\/p>\n \u201cAs we get to a much more privacy-focused environment, how do you continue to do that with the data that you have available?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Using data for ad targeting makes investments in media \u201cpowerful and productive\u201d as part of a broader effort to improve media measurement and the walled gardens.<\/p>\n \u201cThe work that the industry is trying to do around cross-media measurement has the potential for a huge change,\u201d Ben Jankowski<\/a>, senior vice president of global media at Mastercard, says. \u201cWe believe we\u2019re making progress in breaking down the walled gardens that we\u2019ve whined about for the last number of years, and trying to make progress on: how do I really understand the consumer journey across platforms?\u201d<\/p>\n Predictive analytics to help make smarter decisions about media buying are a key advantage of AI technology.<\/p>\n “In terms of applications for machine learning in our industry, they\u2019re very rich,” Stuart Pennant<\/a>, executive director of data and product at Wavemaker US, says. “Understanding how much money or how much funds should be going into certain channels, let\u2019s say search, and predicting what your response would be based on other media that\u2019s running\u2026This is very valuable to our clients.”<\/p>\n He also sees important applications in sentiment analysis that provides insights into consumer attitudes and online buzz that’s part of earned media.<\/p>\n A data-first approach underpins the strategy of Mondelez International, the packaged foods company whose brands include Oreo, Triscuits, Ritz Crackers and South Patch Kids candy.<\/p>\n “We need to move from the old legacy models we grew up with, where you had a TV budget that you allocated first, and then you started to figure out what could be done after that,” Michael Lampert<\/a>, global marketing data lead at Mondelez International, says. “Because of the decisions of consumers and the way they’re consuming media — the omnichannel approach we all talk about — you have to look at where the consumers are.”<\/p>\n IBM\u2019s AI technology is capable of handling a variety of big data applications, including those for media and marketing. As an indication of AI’s power, it has been applied to cybersecurity to help ward off online attacks, and currently helps to mitigate 1 trillion security events a month.<\/p>\n \u201cWe think AI can help, and play a critical role. We\u2019ve seen AI address foundational problems and foundational challenges in other industries,\u201d Randi Stipes<\/a>, chief marketing officer of Watson Advertising and Weather and the Developer Ecosystem Group at IBM, says. \u201cIf AI can help with these incredibly complex problems, surely it can play a vital role in the marketing and the media industry.\u201d<\/p>\nSheri Bachstein, Watson Advertising and The Weather Company<\/h3>\n
Norman de Greve, CVS Health<\/h3>\n
Allyson Witherspoon, Nissan Motor<\/h3>\n
Ben Jankowski, Mastercard<\/h3>\n
Stuart Pennant, Wavemaker<\/h3>\n
Michael Lampert, Mondelez<\/h3>\n
Randi Stipes, Watson Advertising and The Weather Company<\/h3>\n