Unveiling the Evolution of Retail Media in India
Retail media is undergoing a transformative phase in India, reshaping advertising and consumer engagement dynamics. This article delves into the emerging trends, challenges, and future prospects within the Indian retail media landscape.
Integration of E-commerce Platforms with Advertising Channels:
Major e-commerce players like Amazon, Flipkart, bigbasket, Blinkit, Zepto and Ajio are capitalizing on their extensive customer data and digital platforms to offer targeted advertising solutions. Through seamless integration of advertising channels within their e-commerce ecosystems, these companies enable brands to connect with relevant audiences at various touchpoints along the customer journey. For instance, Flipkart’s Brand Advertising Platform provides brands with tailored advertising options based on customer behavior, preferences, and demographics.
Personalized and Contextual Advertising:
Retailers leverage rich consumer data to deliver personalized and contextually relevant advertisements, enhancing consumer engagement. For instance, Amazon’s advertising solutions in India utilize advanced algorithms and machine learning to deliver personalized ads based on individual shopper profiles, including search history, purchase behavior, and browsing patterns.
In-store Digital Signage and Interactive Displays:
Traditional retailers are embracing digital signage and interactive displays to enrich the in-store shopping experience and boost sales. Future Group’s Digital Signage initiative integrates interactive displays across its stores to showcase dynamic content, promotions, and product recommendations, influencing purchasing decisions and driving sales.
Expansion of Retail Media Networks:
Retail media networks, comprising retailers and brands, are rapidly expanding across various industry verticals in India. These networks offer brands access to diverse advertising inventory across multiple retail touchpoints, amplifying their reach and visibility.
Rise of Influencer Marketing in Retail:
Influencer marketing has gained traction in retail media, with brands collaborating with social media influencers to promote products and services. Myntra’s successful influencer collaboration campaigns exemplify this trend, leveraging the growing influence of digital content creators on social media platforms.
Emphasis on Data Privacy and Compliance:
With retailers increasingly utilizing consumer data for advertising, there is a heightened focus on data privacy and compliance with regulatory frameworks such as GDPR and India’s Personal Data Protection Bill. Platforms like bigbasket prioritize data privacy and compliance, implementing robust data governance measures to safeguard customer information and build trust.
Integration of Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR):
AR and VR technologies are integrated into retail media strategies to offer immersive shopping experiences. Retailers leverage these technologies for virtual try-on experiences, product visualization, and virtual showrooming, enhancing the overall shopping journey and driving customer engagement. Lenskart’s virtual try-on feature utilizing AR technology is a notable example of this trend.
The evolving landscape of retail media in India presents numerous opportunities for retailers, brands, and consumers alike. By embracing digital innovation, leveraging data-driven insights, and adopting consumer-centric strategies, stakeholders can unlock new avenues for revenue growth and differentiation in a competitive market. Adaptation to changing trends and consumer preferences is crucial for staying ahead of the curve and capitalizing on emerging opportunities in the retail media ecosystem.
This article is written by Anindita Kundu, Strategic Partnership Lead
Anindita Kundu
Sales Management | Marketing | Business Planning | Digital Media | Broadcast Media | Media Sales |
Anindita is a seasoned media professional with over 14 years of experience in Broadcast and Digital Media respectively. She believes that a great attitude combined with a passion to resolve clients challenges helps one excel in their career.
Data Clean Rooms: Centralized, Decentralized, and Hybrid Approaches
In today’s world where data is crucial, companies are always looking for ways to use data to get better insights, improve how they work, and make smarter decisions. But, worries about keeping data private and secure can get in the way of working together and sharing data. Data clean rooms have become a key answer to these problems. They offer a secure way for companies to work with data together, helping them to make the most of data while making sure sensitive information stays safe. There are various frameworks of Data Clean Rooms and I wanted to elaborate on each in this article:
Centralized Data Clean Rooms – A Collaborative Hub for Data-Driven Insights
Centralized data clean rooms provide a centralized environment where organizations can securely store, analyze, and collaborate on data while maintaining control over their data assets. Data is typically stored in a secure location, such as a cloud-based data warehouse, and participants access and analyze the data through controlled mechanisms, ensuring that data is shared and analyzed only for authorized purposes.
This centralized approach offers several advantages, including:
- Streamlined Data Sharing: Centralized data clean rooms streamline data sharing by bringing data together in a single location. This eliminates the need for data transfers between organizations
- Enhanced Data Analysis and Insights: By combining data from multiple sources in a centralized location, organizations can gain deeper insights and identify patterns that would be difficult to detect from individual datasets.
- Simplified Data Governance and Compliance: Centralized data governance ensures consistent data quality, security, and compliance across all participants.
Decentralized Data Clean Rooms – Preserving Privacy while Enabling Collaboration
This approach offers several benefits, particularly for organizations that handle sensitive data:
- Enhanced data privacy and control. Data remains under the control of its respective owners, minimizing the risk of data breaches and unauthorized access.
- Reduced data movement and exposure. By keeping data decentralized, organizations minimize the need for data transfer, reducing the risk of data exposure and unauthorized access.
- Increased trust and collaboration. The decentralized approach fosters trust among participants, encouraging collaboration and data sharing.
Hybrid Data Clean Rooms: Striking a Balance for Flexible Collaboration
Hybrid data clean rooms use a balanced approach, taking advantage of centralized elements for data governance, infrastructure, and security while incorporating decentralized techniques for data processing and collaboration. This hybrid approach provides flexibility and adaptability to address diverse data collaboration needs while maintaining data privacy and security.
Hybrid data clean rooms offer several advantages:
- Tailored solutions: Hybrid data clean rooms can be tailored to meet the specific needs of the organizations involved. This flexibility allows organizations to find the right balance between data privacy and data collaboration.
- Scalability for growing data volumes: Hybrid data clean rooms can scale to accommodate increasing volumes of data and participants. This scalability is important for organizations that expect their data collaboration needs to grow in the future.
Selecting the Right Approach for Data Collaboration
The best approach for data collaboration depends on the specific requirements and priorities of the organizations involved. When choosing an approach for data collaboration, it is important to consider the following factors:
- Data sensitivity: The level of sensitivity of the data involved will impact the security requirements for the data clean room.
- Regulatory environment: The regulatory environment in which the organizations operate will also impact the security requirements.
- Technical capabilities: The technical capabilities of the organizations involved will impact the scalability and cost-effectiveness of the data clean room.
- Collaboration goals: The goals of the collaboration will also impact the best approach to take.
By carefully considering these factors, organizations can select the best approach for data collaboration that meets their specific needs.
Here is a table that I created that highlights the differences
Surya Kunju
Generative AI | Retail Media | Marketing | Machine Learning | Customer Experience | Commerce | MarTech | AdTech
Surya has over 20 years of experience of global enterprise software experience and a proven track record of leading strategic sales, delivering data-driven marketing solutions, and spearheading business development initiatives. He is passionate about leveraging the power of AI to enrich customer experiences and optimize marketing and brand performance
Ad Ops Outsourcing: A Strategic Move for Digital Marketing Success
10 Compelling Advantages of Ad Ops Outsourcing:
- Access to Specialized Expertise: Leverage the skills of seasoned ad ops professionals skilled in campaign setup, optimization, reporting, and analysis.
- Cost-Effectiveness: Streamline operational costs by eliminating the need for in-house hiring, training, and infrastructure investment.
- Enhanced Efficiency: Gain dedicated focus on core business functions while experts manage ad operations seamlessly.
- Global Market Reach: Tap into a wider talent pool, accessing specialists with diverse international experience and insights.
- Cutting-Edge Technology: Utilize advanced ad tech tools and platforms readily available through established outsourcing partners.
- Real-Time Reporting and Analytics: Benefit from data-driven insights and make informed decisions for campaign optimization.
- Improved Campaign Performance: Secure ongoing optimization and campaign management, maximizing return on ad spend (ROAS).
- Focus on Strategic Initiatives: Allocate internal resources towards strategic marketing efforts for long-term growth.
- Scalability and Flexibility: Scale ad ops efforts effortlessly based on campaign needs and business fluctuations.
- Reduced Time to Market: Launch campaigns faster with readily available expertise and streamlined processes.
Read More: The Ad-Tech Transition: A Comprehensive Comparison and Emerging Players Post-Sizmek
Deep Dive into the Benefits:
Access to Specialized Expertise:
Building an in-house ad ops team from scratch requires significant time and investment in recruitment, training, and skill development. Outsourcing eliminates this initial burden by granting you immediate access to a pool of seasoned professionals. These experts boast extensive experience in campaign setup, optimization, reporting, and analysis, ensuring your campaigns adhere to industry best practices and leverage the latest advancements. Moreover, their ongoing training on platform updates and emerging trends guarantee your campaigns remain competitive and adaptable in the ever-evolving digital landscape.Cost-Effectiveness:
In-house ad ops incur substantial upfront costs associated with infrastructure setup, software licensing, and staff salaries. Outsourcing eliminates these fixed expenditures, offering a more cost-efficient solution. Reputable outsourcing partners leverage economies of scale, providing access to advanced ad tech tools and platforms at competitive rates. Additionally, you benefit from the flexibility to pay only for the services you need, scaling your ad ops efforts seamlessly as your campaigns grow. This pay-as-you-go model optimizes operational costs and frees up valuable resources for reinvestment in core business functions.Enhanced Efficiency:
Managing ad operations internally can divert critical resources away from core business functions like product development, customer engagement, and strategic marketing initiatives. Outsourcing alleviates this pressure by freeing up your internal team to focus on their areas of expertise. This specialized focus fosters enhanced efficiency and productivity, allowing your team to excel in driving core business objectives while ensuring ad campaigns run smoothly and efficiently.Read More: From Puzzling Pages to Smiling Clients: Unlocking Customer Delight with GA4 Events – Case Study
Global Market Reach:
Traditional talent pools might limit your access to diverse perspectives and international insights. Outsourcing partners often boast a global network of ad ops specialists, enabling you to tap into a wider pool of expertise. This diverse talent pool brings valuable international experience and an understanding of different market nuances to your campaigns, helping you tailor messaging and strategies for broader reach and enhanced effectiveness.Cutting-Edge Technology:
Staying ahead of the ever-evolving ad tech landscape is a constant challenge. Outsourcing partners dedicate significant resources to acquiring and maintaining access to the latest tools and platforms. By partnering with an experienced outsourcing provider, you gain immediate access to these cutting-edge solutions without the burden of individual investment. This ensures your campaigns leverage the latest advancements in audience targeting, data analysis, and campaign automation, optimizing performance and maximizing return on ad spend.Real-Time Reporting and Analytics:
Data-driven decision-making is crucial for successful digital marketing. Outsourcing partners provide real-time campaign performance reports and in-depth analytics, offering granular insights into campaign reach, engagement, and conversions. These insights empower you to make informed decisions on optimization strategies, adjust targeting parameters, and maximize your return on ad spend. The ability to monitor performance in real-time allows for agile adjustments and course corrections, ensuring your campaigns stay on track and deliver optimal results.Improved Campaign Performance:
Outsourcing partners dedicate their expertise to meticulous campaign management and optimization. Their team of specialists continuously monitors your campaigns, analyzing data, identifying opportunities for improvement, and implementing adjustments in real-time. This ongoing optimization ensures that your campaigns perform at their peak, delivering increased impressions, clicks, conversions, and ultimately, revenue growth. By leveraging their specialized skills and experience, you can achieve significant improvements in campaign performance and maximize the impact of your marketing efforts.Read More: Unlocking the Power of AI in Digital Marketing: A Comprehensive Guide
Focus on Strategic Initiatives:
With ad ops management offloaded to an expert partner, your internal team can shift their focus to strategic marketing initiatives that drive long-term growth and brand value. This newfound freedom allows them to delve deeper into activities like content creation, market research, brand building, and customer relationship management. By focusing on these strategic initiatives, your team can cultivate deeper customer engagement, foster brand loyalty, and drive sustainable business growth.Scalability and Flexibility:
Scaling ad operations in-house can be cumbersome and costly, often requiring additional recruitment, infrastructure investment, and training. Outsourcing provides inherent scalability, allowing you to easily adjust the level of service based on campaign needs and business fluctuations. This flexibility ensures you only pay for the resources you utilize, eliminating overheads and optimizing costs during periods of lower activity. Additionally, scaling up during peak seasons becomes seamless, allowing you to capitalize on market opportunities without encountering resource constraints.Reduced Time to Market:
In today’s dynamic market, launching campaigns quickly is crucial to capitalize on fleeting opportunities. Outsourcing partners possess the expertise and established processes to expedite campaign setup and execution. Their streamlined workflows and readily available resources allow you to launch campaigns faster, reaching your target audience sooner and maximizing your potential return on investment. This agility enables you to stay ahead of the competition and leverage emerging trends to achieve your marketing goals efficiently. Ad ops outsourcing presents a strategic move for digital marketing success, offering access to specialized expertise, cost-efficiency, enhanced efficiency, global reach, and cutting-edge technology. By leveraging the advantages of an experienced outsourcing partner, you can optimize campaigns, maximize ROAS, and empower your internal team to focus on initiatives that drive long-term growth and brand success.Read More: How Ad Ops is Revolutionizing the Indian Advertising Landscape
Ali Masthan
Google Search | Display Ads | DV 360 | GAM 360 | Paid Social | Media Planning and Strategy
With over 12 years of experience in media planning, strategy, and content marketing, Ali Masthan is a digital marketing veteran passionate about helping businesses build ethical and sustainable customer relationships. He believes that transparency, respect, and quality content are key to earning trust and achieving long-term success. Follow Ali for insightful tips and strategies to navigate the ever-evolving digital landscape.
Unveiling the Privacy Paradox: Are We Offering More Privacy To Consumers Than They Actually Need or Can Manage?
Welcome to Privacy Paradox!
The Privacy Paradox is a captivating duality. It resides in the tension between consumers’ unwavering concern for privacy and their enthusiastic embrace of personalized experiences. This paradox challenges our understanding of the boundaries between individual sovereignty and data-driven convenience.
Nowadays, the border between private and public is becoming more and more blurred; people are used to sharing their pictures, videos, preferences, and personal information, and every day a huge amount of online data is collected, however, they still appear to be seriously concerned about their privacy and claim it to be an important factor in their online decision-making process.
Alen Westin tried segmenting users into three big categories:
- Privacy fundamentalists: very privacy-oriented and concerned
- Privacy unconcerned: not at all privacy-oriented
- Privacy pragmatists: in-between the other two categories
Westin’s segmentation methods, however, cannot establish that users are pragmatic in theory or in practice. This has led to some groups proposing that the “privacy vulnerable” and “privacy resilient” groups are more usable segmentation categories than the tripartite Westin categories.
While the debate can continue, let’s look at some of the reasons for this Privacy Paradox to exist:
Convenience
Users willingly trade privacy for the ease of ordering products, using social media, or accessing personalized content.
Lack of Awareness
Users may not fully comprehend the extent to which their data is collected and used by online platforms due to complex privacy policies and legal jargon.
Social Pressure
Fear of missing out (FOMO) or social pressure often drives users to engage in sharing behaviours on social media even when they are uncomfortable with it.
Psychological Biases
People tend to believe that privacy breaches won’t happen to them, leading to a perception of invincibility. Humans tend to underestimate the risks and overestimate the benefits of sharing data. This cognitive bias often leads to consumers’ willingness to disclose more than they should.
In general, consumers appear to be much more sensitive about the use of their medical, financial, and family information than they are about their product, brand consumption or their media usage behaviour.
We continue to candidly divulge personal information, click “accept” to cookie notices and terms of service, use identical passwords for multiple websites, and generally underestimate the worth of our data. It can be difficult to place a concrete value on privacy because we often don’t realize its value until we’re tangibly and conspicuously harmed. If we haven’t been affected by the loss of privacy in the past – whether a hack, a phishing scam, or even creepy targeted advertising – the risks seem abstract and hard to quantify, almost as if it’s not our problem.
The reason for people’s failure to manage privacy effectively, I argue, is based on the futility of what I call “privacy self-management.”
Privacy self-management involves the various decisions people must make about their privacy and the tasks people are given the choice to do regarding their privacy, such as reading privacy policies, opting out, changing privacy settings, and so on. The best people can do is manage their privacy haphazardly.
Some of the ways we can leverage the Privacy Paradox for Better Privacy Regulation are:
- Behavioural Insights: Regulators can analyze user behaviours to understand the gap between privacy concerns and actions, guiding the creation of policies that bridge this divide.
- Incentivizing Compliance: Regulations can incentivise businesses that prioritize privacy and penalize those that disregard it, aligning corporate interests with user privacy.
- User-Centric Regulations: Policies can be designed to give users more control over their data and ensure transparency in data handling practices.
- Public Awareness Campaigns: Governments can launch campaigns to educate citizens about online privacy, making them more privacy conscious.
DPDP Act of India has a lot of inbuilt mechanisms to solve this paradox.
Privacy regulation can be best strengthened by regulating in ways that don’t rely on individuals managing their own privacy. Instead, privacy regulation should focus on regulating the architecture that structures the way information is used, maintained, and transferred. I hope the government of India is making right strides towards that with a lot of mandatory provisions in the DPDP Act 2023.
Rather than a true paradox, it’s a reflection of consumers’ evolving preferences and concerns. Advertisers can thrive in this environment by embracing trust, transparency, ethics, and empowering consumers.
We are simultaneously the gatekeepers and the invaders of our own privacy in the digital age.
Case Studies:
#1. In a study, subjects were asked to purchase Bluetooth Speakers from one of two identical stores. One store sold the Speakers for 500 INR less than the other, but the cheaper store requested more sensitive data. Both stores requested the subject’s name, postal address, and email address. However, the cheaper store required date of birth and monthly income whereas the more expensive store required year of birth and favourite colour. Despite 95% of subjects saying that they were “interested in the protection of their personal information” and 75% saying that they “have a very strong interest in data protection,” nearly all subjects chose the store with the cheaper price but requiring more personal data.
#2. A study involving smartphones and the downloading of mobile apps concluded that “despite the fact, that users still claim to be concerned about the potential misuse of their personal data, they remain unwilling to invest either the time and effort or the money necessary to protect their privacy.”
#3. Even after the Cambridge Analytica data scandal broke, only 8% of respondents in a study said they would stop using Facebook.
This article is written by Anil K Pandit, Executive Vice President
Anil Pandit
Digital | Data Privacy | Tech | Programmatic | Martech | Artificial Intelligence for Business | Digital Marketing
Anil has a rich background spanning over two decades in digital and mobile marketing. He brings a wealth of experience in delivering exceptional performance and driving growth across diverse verticals and platforms. He is on a mission to empower marketers with the skills and resources necessary to leverage data and technology, to drive success in an ever-evolving digital landscape.
ADScholars Is Now Great Place To Work Certified
Mumbai, 17th April– ADScholars has been Great Place To Work® Certified™ in India (from Apr 2024 to Apr, 2025)! ADScholars’ high scores reflect the company’s dedication to prioritizing employee well-being and professional development. We look forward to continuing our journey as a Great Place To Work and remain dedicated to providing outstanding employee experience for years to come.
Great Place To Work is the global authority on workplace culture. Since 1992, they have surveyed more than 100 million employees worldwide and used those deep insights to define what makes a great workplace: trust. Their employee survey platform empowers leaders with the feedback, real-time reporting, and insights they need to make strategic people decisions.
Great Place To Work is the global authority on workplace culture. Their mission is to help every place become a great place to work for all. Their recognition is the most coveted and respected in the world for elevating employer brands to attract the right people. Their proprietary methodology and platform enable organizations to truly capture, analyze, and understand the experience of all employees. Our groundbreaking research empowers organizations to build cultures that retain talent and unlock the potential of every employee. Since 1992, their Certification, Best Workplaces™ Lists, and global benchmarks have become the industry standard, built on data from more than 100 million employees in 150 countries around the world.
Learn more at https://www.greatplacetowork.in/ and on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
About ADScholars Marketing Pvt. Ltd
ADScholars is a leading adtech-media solution company, offering comprehensive end-to-end campaign solutions starting from awareness to consideration and conversion. Our extensive range of services covers various areas, including gaming and kids platforms, performance-based solutions, and digital out-of-home advertising. With a dynamic and imaginative creative studio, coupled with our expertise in programmatic strategies and gaming solutions, we have the ability to unleash the true potential of any brand. As part of our growth strategy, we are expanding our presence in both local and international markets, with a strong focus on the GCC, APAC, and India regions.
Where The Physical Meets the Digital: Phygital
Ever wish you could wave your phone over something in a store and immediately get info or reviews? Or make your Lego buildings come to life digitally? That’s what the emerging field of “ Phygital” is all about -connecting physical stuff to digital experiences to make them work together in cool new ways. It’s bringing together real-world physical spaces and objects with digital technology like sensors, apps, and touch displays.With the right blends of industrial design, engineering, and computer programming, Phygital has the potential to seamlessly merge our physical environments with responsive digital displays and feedback. I don’t know about you, but a more interactive world that bridges atoms and bits sound awesome to me! concise it keeping the meaning, format and tone same I find the idea of a more interactive world that bridges atoms and bits awesome!
How can blending physical and digital spaces open new possibilities for brands to connect with and engage consumers?
The blurring line between physical and digital realms creates “phygital” experiences, offering brands exciting opportunities to connect and engage consumers.
Immersive In-Store Experiences: Brands can create immersive in-store experiences using augmented reality (AR), blending digital elements into physical spaces. For instance, a clothing brand could install an AR mirror in dressing rooms, displaying digital content like style recommendations as customers try on outfits. This not only provides helpful feedback but also generates user-generated content, spreading brand awareness.
Omnichannel Retail Integration: Brands can also link up physical stores with a digital presence to provide a connected phygital experience. This means leveraging options like buying online and picking up in-store through features like local inventory availability and curbside pickup. Brands can also facilitate virtual previews of in-store items through digital browsing. Integration of retail touchpoints enables brands to give consumers flexibility between channels and expose shoppers in one channel to experience the other. s options like online purchasing with in-store pickup and virtual previews of items. Integrating retail touchpoints gives consumers flexibility between channels, enhancing brand engagement and loyalty.
Why do hybrid experiences that blend both physical and digital places appeal to Gen Z consumers?
Gen Z, as digital natives, naturally gravitates towards blended phygital experiences that merge physical and digital elements. These experiences enrich their consumer journey, providing entertainment, connection, and self-expression. For instance, scannable codes and AR mirrors enhance their shopping experiences. Customized ads, driven by programmatic advertising, further integrate digital and physical realms by offering personalized promotions in-store. This approach not only engages customers but also streamlines operations for retailers, aligning with Gen Z’s preferences for personalized experiences in both online and offline settings.
How programmatic partners are helping brands in delivering perfect phygital Experiences to consumers?
Programmatic advertising enables precise targeting and optimization for digital campaigns, benefiting retail brands like Nike and Sephora. For example, Nike’s House of Innovation in New York City offers a digital “stadium” for designing virtual sneakers with AR, while Sephora’s workshop in San Francisco uses AR mirrors for virtual makeup trials.In India, Nykaa and Myntra leverage programmatic ads for personalized experiences, contributing to the country’s growing ad spending projected to reach $21 billion by 2028. Myntra, with 65% of its digital marketing driven by programmatic ads, saw significant revenue growth, reaching 51 billion Indian rupees in fiscal year 2023. As brands embrace these tactics, advertising becomes more interest-based for consumers.
This article is written by Varsha Rani, Programmatic Account ExecutiveVarsha Rani
SSP | DSP | Communication | Programmatic Advertising | Sales Management
Varsha is an ambitious, and driven professional with a deep appreciation for the power of effective communication. She is eager to delve into the world of mass communication, making meaningful contributions and believes that effective communication is the key to success
AI-Based Bidding: – Future of Programmatic
As digital media landscape evolving, led by the dominance of platform world & increasing preference of programmatic, brands are looking for opportunity to get more out of their digital ad investments. In programmatic buying pivotal challenge lies in determining the optimal bid for a desired outcome. Winning bid that drives the outcome at optimal cost is the balancing act that requires speed, intelligence, advance optimization & automation. However, the sheer volume & complexity of campaign data & multiple platforms present significant constraint, limiting the extent to which a programmatic traders can independently navigate these intricacies.
Custom or AI-Based bidding
Initially walled garden platforms were limited to manual or automated bidding strategies; however, landscape has changed by opening to offer third party AI based intelligence for optimization & automation. This transformation gave brands an opportunity to shift towards “Custom bidding or AI-Based bidding” function. AI based bidding allow brands to dynamically adjust the bids for ad impression in real-time, optimizing their chance of winning auction that drives business specific KPI. AI Based bidding do provide forecasting capabilities to illustrate how many conversions are expected & can integrating third party & first party data signals like location, device, site behavior, demographics & so on.
While walled garden platforms offer automated bidding that may seem akin to AI- based bidding, there exists a distinction in their modus operandi. Automated bidding uses algorithms & pre-defined rules to automatically adjust bids based on specific criteria. AI- based bidding goes a step further by incorporating machine learning & predictive modeling. it allows bidding algorithm to learn & use broader range of data, identify patterns that may not be explicitly defined by rules. Automated bidding often adopts one size fit all approach to purchasing impression, whereas AI based bidding takes a bespoke & tailored approach, designed to deliver outcome to specific business goal.
AI-based bidding empowers brands to transcend a singular & devise multi layered bidding strategies. Brands can go beyond a single action and create a multi-layered bid. Let’s understand this with an example of a D2C Brand and the users who land on website/app can complete one of the following key actions.
- Sign in with already a customer or single sign on with google/FB account.
- Add to cart.
- Contact Us
Weighted conversion in AI-based bidding
A compelling feature of custom bidding known as weighted conversion is particularly impactful. The provided example outlines distinct stages of the customer journey, such as a user clicking “Add to cart” indicating proximity to a purchase or completing a “single sign-on with Google/FB” signifying a new customer & contact us means seller or buyer inquiries. In the AI-based bidding, this approach allows for the optimization of a combination of goals, assigning varying weights to each action. For instance, a click on “Add to cart” may carry a higher weight due to its proximity to a purchase, while a “single sign-on with Google/FB” may be weighted differently to signify the acquisition of a new customer. Leveraging weighted conversion, AI based bidding will craft unique scripts and tailor bids & optimization for each specific action to maximize desired outcome.
The Future of Programmatic with AI-based bidding
The future of AI- based bidding in programmatic advertising holds promising development. As Artificial technology continues to advance, custom bidding is likely to become more sophisticated & tailored to specific brand needs. In cookies-less world, AI can delve into intricacies of user data to create more refined audience segment & bid them basis their chance of driving higher ROI. Cutting-edge AI integration may enable advertisers to optimize bidding strategies seamlessly across multiple channels, providing synchronized approach to reaching audiences across diverse platforms such as display, DOOH, video, audio, and social media. By integrating first-party data brands can strategically adjust bids based on where a user is in the marketing funnel, whether they are exploring products, adding items to the cart, or completing a purchase.
AI will play a pivotal role in shaping more intelligent, adaptable & effective programmatic advertising strategies.
This article is written by Prashant Nandan, Senior Vice President – APEX (Digital & Traditional Media)
Prashant Nandan
Digital Strategy | Digital product & solution | Client servicing | Digital Trading | Media Planning & buying | Business Development
Prashant is an aspiring leader who connects business ideas so that they can unlock potential and achieve the impossible. He has over 16 years of experience in strategic digital marketing, publisher inventory partnership, media planning & buying, digital trading, digital product and solution development, & client servicing.
Understanding Contextual Advertising: Beyond Content to the Environment
Contextual advertising, a dynamic approach to targeted marketing, goes beyond the confines of content alone, encompassing the entirety of a user’s environment. More than just tailoring ads to the content of the web pages, apps, and TV programs being consumed, contextual advertising recognizes that the context extends to every facet of the user’s surroundings and life situation. In this comprehensive perspective, the environment becomes a crucial factor influencing the efficiency of ads.
Contextual advertising, not just confined to words
In this multifaceted understanding, context is not confined to the words on a webpage or the imagery in a video. It includes the user’s geolocation, the device they are using, the time of day, the weather, the date to determine the potential financial situation and much more. Important to mention that these signals are not supposed to be stored, but rather help determine the precise context in real time. Such approach ensures privacy-first approach to targeted advertising, where the available data points describing a consumer’s environment are used to tailor the right ad, but not for creating user profiles to follow them online. The holistic approach of contextual advertising acknowledges that the ad efficiency and ability to drive outcomes is intricately tied to the broader context in which it is presented.
By considering the environment surrounding the user, advertisers can craft messages that resonate more deeply and intuitively. For instance, a sports site may display ads for football boots when the sun is shining or suggest shoes for indoor football when rain is forecasted when a consumer is in the proximity of a sports outlet in both cases. In this way, contextual advertising becomes a nuanced dance between the content being consumed and the real-world circumstances of the individual.
Contextual advertising beyond limitations
Moreover, contextual advertising’s expansive perception of context mitigates the limitations posed by privacy concerns. Rather than relying on individual user data, which raises privacy-related issues and is becoming more scarce with the deprecation of third-party cookies across all browsers, advertisers can leverage the broader context to deliver relevant and targeted ads. This approach aligns with the evolving expectations of consumers, who are increasingly conscious of their privacy in the digital realm.
In essence, contextual advertising transcends the conventional understanding of context, recognizing that the environment in which an ad is presented is as vital as the content itself. This holistic approach empowers advertisers to create a more seamless and personalized user experience by tapping into the richness of the user’s surroundings. As the advertising landscape continues to evolve, and the targeting paradigm shifts from 1:1 to 1-to-many, this nuanced understanding of context promises to be a cornerstone in navigating the future of targeted marketing.
This article is written by Alexei Moltchan, Director of Product Management, Strategy and Partnerships.
Alexei Moltchan
Director of Product Management, Strategy, Partnerships, and Innovations | Adtech | MarTech | Data
Alexei is a seasoned professional and business leader with a background in sales and marketing, with 10+ years in product management,8+ years in AdTech, and 4+ years leading product, UX, and partnerships business development teams.
Alexei loves building great products and bringing them to market. He firmly believes the cornerstone for product management starts with identifying a market opportunity, understanding the problem the product is intended to solve, and assessing the value the product
The Future of Creative Branding in the era of CGI and Artificial Intelligence
The Context
In the digital revolution era, the future of creative branding holds immense potential for success.
Brands today face a substantial demand for creative content. It’s no longer sufficient to promote a service merely; brands must weave a narrative to forge connections with their customers. They must share values and philosophies beyond their products, finding an audience that resonates with them.
The Communication Tools
In my view, nowadays the most invaluable tools for conveying a product brand include computer-generated imagery (CGI), still photography, and video production. While I anticipate that augmented reality (AR) experiences may replace many of these tools in the future, CGI and artificial intelligence (AI) will remain pivotal. CGI serves as a tool to pre-visualize and enhance the visualization of products, allowing them to exist in extraordinary worlds and showcase features and benefits that would be challenging to communicate otherwise. CGI will eventually replace product photography, leading to a surge in demand for video productions by brands. With tools like Unreal Engine, CGI will be indispensable for real-time product displays and architectural visualization scouting, real-time and post-produced hybrid virtual productions.Alongside these advancements, AI is rapidly finding a place in the creative branding landscape. Currently functioning as a complementary tool to CGI, AI’s swift evolution demands our attention. It’s primarily used to generate creative visual solutions and aids in the previsualization of video content. As AI evolves, it will become an indispensable tool for both creatives and brands, offering solutions such as crafting captivating scripts and generating voiceovers in multiple languages.
Quality over Quantity
Despite envisioning a bright future for creative branding with CGI and AI, I caution against the easy mistake of prioritizing “quantity over quality.”
AI, in particular, tends to generate numerous outputs from a single input. While this can be inspirational, mismanaging AI may lead to inconsistent outputs, creating distractions for customers and failing to add value to the brands and products being promoted.
While CGI and AI accelerate content production workflows through fast iterations, creating high-quality output demands meticulous attention to detail.
Crafting a product aligned with brand values, effectively communicating to the right audience, and serving as a potentially viral communication tool takes time and iterations.
Focusing on these aspects necessitates open dialogue and collaboration among creative minds.
Final thoughts
The potential and possibilities in CGI and AI for creative branding are vast. However, it’s crucial to be mindful, especially with AI, which can generate outputs lacking strategy and consistency.
Failing to manage AI properly may dilute the focal points and values crucial for establishing deeper relationships with modern customers.
Maintaining top-quality outputs is more than ever fundamental for elevating the brand and working effectively.
This article is written by Gabriele Ricci, Creative Motion Director
Gabriele Ricci
Creative Motion Designer | CG Director | Professional Partner in Motion Design and Creative Branding
Gabriele Ricci is an award-winning Creative Motion Designer and CG Director who collaborates with global companies, international agencies, and brands.
His distinctive superpower is a blend of creative strategy, art direction, and technical expertise. This enables him to serve as a professional partner, leading motion design projects from initial concept to final delivery.
With his personal brand RICCI- Design in Motion®, he created premium video content such as digital marketing campaigns for Emporio Armani, the 3D video promo for the celebrity book of Arnold Schwarzenegger by Taschen, or top-quality digital marketing video for brands such as Ray-Ban and Oakley.