Dream vs. Reality:
The State of
Consumer-First
and Omnichannel
Marketing
In partnership with MediaMath
Econsultancy London
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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording
or any information storage and retrieval system, without
prior permission in writing from the publisher.
CopyrightEconsultancy Ltd 2018
Published September 2018
Dream vs. Reality: The Real State of Consumer-First and Omnichannel Marketing In partnership with MediaMath Page 3
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. CopyrightEconsultancy Ltd 2018
Contents
1. Executive summary ... 4
1.1. Methodology6
1.1. About Econsultancy . 6
2. Foreword by MediaMath ........7
2.1. About MediaMath .... 8
3. Context: the digital advertising landscape .... 9
4. Putting the consumer first .... 12
5. The GDPR: the game-changing opportunity ........... 17
6. The puzzle of technology integration ........... 21
7. The quest for advertising efficiency27
8. The AI opportunity .. 30
9. Conclusion ... 33
10. Appendix: respondent profiles ........ 34
Dream vs. Reality: The Real State of Consumer-First and Omnichannel Marketing In partnership with MediaMath Page 4
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. CopyrightEconsultancy Ltd 2018
1. Executive summary
This report, published by Econsultancy in partnership with MediaMath, is based on a global
survey of more than 400 digital professionals involved in online advertising, carried out in April
and May 2018. The research covers key trends in the digital advertising sector, and highlights the
growing requirement for a consumer-first approach to marketing activities to underpin both
respect for individuals’ privacy and commercial success of the business.
Industry professionals understand the need to take a consumer-first
approach to marketing… but many companies are still falling short
The research shows that the commercial importance of focusing on the consumer experience first
is broadly understood, though many companies are failing to adopt best practice. An
overwhelming 91% of responding businesses recognize the importance of putting the customer
first in all their marketing efforts, but a majority (51%) say they don’t fully do so.
The failure to adopt a consumer-centric, omnichannel approach can cause a range of problems
which can compromise the consumer experience and undermine advertising effectiveness. For
example, meaningful measurement and attribution of marketing impact across channels is
virtually impossible without an omnichannel approach. The research confirmed that seven in 10
(70%) organizations that don’t take an omnichannel approach to their advertising lack the ability
to accurately attribute their online advertising spend to offline channels.
Advertisers are held back by lack of adtech and martech integration
The research has found that many brands are prevented from offering the best possible customer
experience because of disconnected technology systems, a problem that hampers their attempts to
engage customers and prospects with relevant and effective advertising.
More than nine in 10 (92%) advertisers agree that integrated technology and data allow for
seamless and effective advertising, but this level of integration is a reality for only a minority of
responding companies.
Almost two-thirds (63%) of advertisers and an overwhelming 96% of agencies and technology
providers believe that advertising and marketing technologies are insufficiently integrated.
The need to have a single view of the customer was rated top when it comes to the benefits of
having an integrated technology-related stack, above more process-related benefits such as
consolidated reporting and centralized workflows.
An increasingly fundamental requirement for advertisers is the ability to target the right type of
advertising to the right customers and prospects in real time. The ability to dynamically segment
audiences is the most desired capability for companies when it comes to improving the
advertising experience for consumers. Two-thirds (67%) of respondents rank this as one of their
top-three choices for desired capabilities over the next five years.
The GDPR is an opportunity for change
A key goal of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is to give
consumers transparency into and control over how personal data is collected and processed,
meaning that it is a legal requirement as well as best practice.
The regulation has had at least ‘some impact’ on the marketing practices for 82% of advertisers
and 86% of agencies and adtech vendors, according to our survey.。。。。。。