Marketing chiefs have laid down the gauntlet to media agencies, the one-time “barrow boys of adland”, to spearhead the discipline’s evolution from pure performance power to a strategic driver of business growth, embracing a highly nuanced approach to usher in the fully addressable, shoppable, and accountable algorithmic era.
That is according to Dentsu’s 2024 CMO Navigator, Media Edition, a study of 1,900+ CMOs in 13 countries, which reveals the overwhelming majority of CMOs (88%) see the discipline as crucial to success.
The report states: “For decades, advertising has been dominated by the broadcast era, when the 30-second television spot reigned supreme to build brands. Then, the precision era made the most of the booming adtech ecosystem to make performance media centre stage. We are now entering a new era, when algorithms can help advertisers create and capture more brand demand.
“Media transformation has too often been perceived as a euphemism for media complexification. While the emergence of new channels and tools opened a new horizon of possibilities through which brands could deliver their proposition to consumers, it came hand-in-hand with the fragmentation of our visibility into reach and impact.
“The algorithmic era is a unique opportunity to make media transformation what it should have always been: a true media elevation, where media is fully addressable, shoppable, and accountable.”
CMOs are now readying their organisations to seize new opportunities through increased investments in short-form content (45%), social commerce (43%) production/sponsorship of original content (43%), influencer marketing (42%), and retail media networks (41%).
With AI becoming increasingly influential across the marketing landscape, more than a third (34%) of CMOs see it will have broad applicability when it comes to media, from strategy to planning to prospects of new partnerships next year.
However, 39% agree that their biggest priority will be truly understanding use cases, opportunities and risks of AI in 2025.
While there is an optimistic outlook for increased investment across the board next year, CMOs have idendified a number of key challenges, with nearly a third (29%) citing the tightening of data privacy regulations as their biggest concern.
Meanwhile, the same proportion (29%) were anxious about planning media for both business performance and sustainability goals; 28% see that a lack of transparency or visibility from closed tech platforms such as Amazon, X, or WeChat may cause issues, and a further 28% worry about integrating emerging tech solutions.
Dentsu media global practice president Will Swayne commented: “This view of CMO priorities going into 2025 shows a clear determination to dig deep into the craft of media at a time when the industry is hurtling into a new era – one in which algorithms and AI will more closely govern the brand-to-consumer experience and in which the brute force of spend and scale is not enough.
“The opportunities of the modern nuanced media mix must be tempered by the various challenges that new technology brings, but by balancing brand and performance, progressive CMOs will wield a new level of influence in determining the success of organisational transformation.”
Related stories
Brands miss out on booming Boomers’ ‘big digital shift’
‘Young and trendy’ marketers out of touch with reality
Dentsu: ‘Embrace innovation and use it to make impact’
Data still key as brands step up battle for Brits’ loyalty
Brands urged to help out as cost of living crisis deepens
Will data drive your cost-of-living crisis exit strategy?
