Adform’s Sukesh Singh, TVSquared’s Praful Desai, FreeWheel’s Arjun Arora and Tealium’s Adam Corey give their thoughts on the trends and technology set to shape the Australian marketing scene in 2019.

Sukesh Singh – vice president APAC, Adform

Ad creative is in hot pursuit of adtech and 2019 is the year it could finally catch up. The potential already exists to target consumers, but many companies are still delivering generic banners. While the tech needed is mostly in place, the main obstacle to advancement is human involvement. Creative and media professionals must utilise the capability and storytelling potential of new technologies to get ahead as we head into 2019.

Dynamic advertising that addresses consumers on an individual basis will prevent banner blindness, and help to increase personalised content and delivery speed in 2019. For advertising to stay relevant, marketers must use it to communicate a specific time-relevant message to consumers by adjusting creative and material according to different scenarios. Feeding greater quality datasets can take time, but the benefits to cost, overall effectiveness as well as consumer experience will be meaningful.

Praful Desai – business development director, TVSquared Australia

TV remains a powerful platform for brands, with devices in 97% of homes (according to ThinkTV) providing Australians with access to an average of 6.6 screens – meaning their favourite TV programs are never out of reach. Thanks to the proliferation of cross-platform viewing, 2018 has also seen digital interaction spike, with Australia reaching the top quartile globally across all measures. However, this increase in digital interaction – mobile usage is now at 78%, internet usage at 88%, and social media usage comes in at 69% – it is not doom and gloom for TV. Far from it.

In 2019, we will see savvy brands increasingly leverage TV to drive immediate, measurable digital response. We’ll see more advertisers measure TV for real-world performance versus traditional KPIs, which have typically focused on reach and frequency. By analysing same-day spot and response data, brands can acquire crucial insights into the regions, genres, day parts and spots that lead to the highest TV-driven engagement – and then use those insights to make dynamic changes to improve campaign ROI and boost conversions.

Arjun Arora – commercial director ANZ, FreeWheel

Addressable TV will continue to play a pivotal role next year for both broadcasters and advertisers. Consumers are exposed to more than 5000 ads per day, so it can be difficult to grab their attention. Ensuring audiences are targeted with relevant messages will help cut through this noise and encourage engagement, which in turn will increase ROI. Furthermore, addressable TV will open up the market for new players as it increases the accessibility of high quality inventory.

The industry is becoming progressively fragmented with viewers changing the way media is consumed, as over-the-top (OTT) in particular is increasing in popularity. OTT viewing on mobile devices is especially high in Australia, with consumption running across various, and often multiple, screens. As linear and digital converge, advertisers will be considering how they can best deliver a unified message across all screens and platforms.

Adam Corey – chief marketing officer, Tealium

We have two ears to listen and one mouth to speak, but too often customer conversations are one-way and based on probability data; meaning interactions are built on what brands think they know about a customer versus accurate insights. As a result, consumers are disengaged and less likely to consent to their data being used in the wake of the EU’s GDPR – among other privacy regulations worldwide.

In 2019, we expect to see businesses wise-up and build their strategies with the customer at the core. To fully harness the power of their consumer data, more companies are likely to integrate customer data platforms (CDPs), which provide a robust data foundation and deterministic identity management.

CDPs facilitate the unification of data, so that brands have the greatest level of insight at their disposal to engage customers. Utilising CDPs will also enable businesses to better segment audiences based on preferences and provide real-time intelligence on individual consumers to boost likelihood of conversions. Consequently, consumers will feel their needs are being listened and responded to, thereby fostering long-term customer loyalty.

Further Reading:

• Brain trust: does your digital marketing need some refreshment in 2019? »
• Forrester predictions 2019: your CX obsession will wreck your EX »
• Marketers will turn to AI in 2019 in the face of digital skills shortages »

Image credit:JOHN TOWNER