Agency Guide Report Criteo.pdf
The Advertiser Guide to New and Emerging
Foreword Brian Gleason, Chief Revenue Officer, Criteo
In recent months we've continued to see an explosion of new media channels in audio, retail, and CTV, alongside continued discussion of Web3 and the metaverse.
As we look ahead, it's important to understand how these new channels operate and how they can help advertisers tackle the economic challenges ahead.
Criteo surveyed over 800 senior agency professionals across the US and EMEA to understand the various strengths and development areas of major digital media channels.
We're seeing trends like commerce media break the mold by using a wide range of formats and channels, plus large-scale first-party data to deliver relevant ad experiences and closed-loop reporting.
Our aim is to reflect advertiser guidance and expertise. While this may function as a roadmap for marketing leaders, we hope it may also be of benefit to media owners looking to understand demand-side needs.
2023 Advertiser Insights
- With the right strategy, the majority of agency respondents are confident brands can drive growth in 2023.
- 9 in 10 media agency professionals agree their clients should be exploring new digital media channels.
- Incrementality is becoming a key concept in measurement with cost-per-order now a top metric alongside overall ROAS.
- This is driving interest in retail media, which offers commerce data as a means to identify in-market audience segments and close the measurement loop across other media channels like CTV.
- While some agencies already enrich online data with offline sources, this will be a focus for most other agencies over the next 12 months.
Against a backdrop of continued economic uncertainty, "growth" and "innovation" are still among clients' most pressing goals, according to our US media agency respondents. By contrast, just one in five (21%) picked "survival", indicating few are concerned about clients weathering the storm.
Section 1: Media Strategies
The prospect of growth is echoed in the factors agency professionals say are shaping media strategies over the next year. Economic conditions (32%) and data privacy regulations (45%) actually ranked lower than the choice of new digital media channels now available (59%).
While never guaranteed, the majority of media agency professionals (55%) are confident brands can drive growth with the right strategy.
Section 2: Media Channel Evaluation
| Retail Media | CTV | Audio | Search | Social Media | Metaverse | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inventory/formats | 77 | 80 | 75 | 75 | 83 | 79 |
| Customer experience | 80 | 82 | 80 | 73 | 79 | 77 |
| ROAS | 80 | 77 | 74 | 71 | 79 | 79 |
| Recommended spend increase | 19% | 16% | 18% | 20% | 19% | 13% |
94% of media agency professionals in the US agree that their brand clients should be exploring new digital media channels. The same is true for the vast majority of respondents across the UK, France, and Germany.
Retail Media
Retail media is a predominantly native advertising channel that appears once people are already shopping. Its positioning right by the point of sale means ROAS is easy to prove.
The recent partnership Walmart carved out with Paramount+ is a challenge that is being addressed by the surge in retailers ramping up their offerings with new formats and more.
New ad-supported streaming services have arrived with some streamers selling out of inventory at launch; 47% of respondents feel smaller brands will continue to be priced out.
Section 3: Rising Campaign Costs
Criteo’s commissioned Rise of Retail Media study found senior media professionals in the UK reported the average increase of cost-per-sale in walled gardens was 27% in one year. Rising campaign costs are driving the need to explore new media and find the most effective channels. In fact, US agencies estimate the cost of running campaigns across digital media channels will rise by 22% in 2023. Globally, costs are expected to rise highest on social (26%).
| US | UK | FR | DE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 28% | 15% | 32% | 16% |
| 54% | 57% | 48% | 67% |
Section 4: Strategic Recommendations
While economic pressures persist, four in five US agency respondents (79%) rule out any need for clients to adjust the price of products. Instead, keeping customers loyal and focusing on meaningful results is foremost in 2023 plans.
51% of agency respondents recommend brands focus on performance versus 45% who say brand awareness. Similarly, retention is recommended by 47% versus 40% who say acquisition.
The importance of commerce data in proving incrementality also demands more omnichannel thinking. Consistent metrics, proving incremental returns on investment, and meeting the attribution requirements of the demand side will help new media owners win advertiser confidence.
Final Remarks
What’s clear is that new and emerging media channels are leaning into first-party data and are beginning to work together to deliver relevant advertising across the buying journey. This privacy-centric approach combines the power of retail media and search to allow advertisers to create well-rounded plans that truly deliver against desired commerce outcomes.