Marketing to Gen Z consumers requires brands to reach them outside of traditional social media platforms. Social media advertising is alive and well, but traditional social media platforms are becoming less social and more entertaining (and commercial). Many Gen Zers are looking outside of the typical platforms to share stories and exchange information with friends. Enter the group chat. For Gen Z, the group chat is more than just a way to stay in touch with friends - it's a key source of information and influence. Group chats significantly shape Gen Z's buying decisions, from sharing memes and viral content to discussing the latest trends and products. They're more apt to recommend a product, share a viral video, or alert a sale to their friends in a private group chat than in their Stories or Feeds. Faster than email, more visible than being buried in the social media feed, and less spammy than SMS; the group chat has proven successful for a variety of brands from cosmetics to travel, delivering higher open rates, CTR, and engagement than email marketing. So: How Can Brands Market to Gen Z via Group Chats? Here are a few ideas for approaching it gracefully without overstepping boundaries or invading people's privacy. Leverage existing brand-friendly group chat spaces Platforms and games like Discord, Roblox, and Fortnite have powerful reach and influence among Gen Z. Don't forget the behemoth, Meta's WhatsApp, with 2 Billion MAUs. And among the newer players is RTRO, a messaging app powered by Chat-GPT and targeted to Gen Z. These communal platforms can be a place to announce new product releases to your superfans, helping to build demand and excitement. By creating branded chat rooms or partnering with popular influencers, businesses can connect with target audiences more authentically and engagingly. Get interactive and build community The smartest brands aren't just talking to consumers; they're listening, too. One-way ads are out, and two-way conversations are in. Branded communities are a modern way to keep your followers, customers, and subscribers actively engaged. For example, Selena Gomez's cosmetics brand Rare Beauty has a digital community called Comfort Club, in which consumers share self-care tips and mutual support. Wendy's has a Discord server hosted by a funny chatbot; and Canva has a popular Facebook group where designers share best practices and the company can announce updates. Everybody wants to feel belonging to something, so position your brand as not just a product to buy, but a community to be part of. Provide a benefit Bring something enticing to the table: offer customers the option to pre-order upcoming product launches through the group chat or access exclusive merch or content. The real-time nature of chat makes it the ideal place to share these types of incentives. Combining a sense of community with desirable, tangible incentives can foster long-term brand loyalty. We're seeing shifts today in user behavior on social apps - they are more intentional about sharing with 'close friends' and preferred contacts. And with this change, we predict group chat will play an increasingly important role in the months to come. This piece originally appeared in our weekly Paid Media Insights newsletter. For more tips, research, and analysis; subscribe for free here.

Streamers are the new home for live sports, offering fans and advertisers big advantages linear TV couldn't. Live sports advertising was already on fire thanks to CTV streaming the NFL and NBA, but Women's March Madness 2024 has been a slam dunk for advertisers. The buzz around Iowa's star Caitlin Clark culminated in an NCAA Final game that drew 18.87 million viewers, the most watched basketball game — college or pro, men’s or women’s — since the 2019 NCAA men’s championship game. That's an enormous audience of highly passionate and engaged consumers. As women's sports viewership grows, the ad dollars flow -- brands like Home Depot, Ritz, and Aflac sold out all of Disney's ad inventory for March Madness two weeks in advance. We all know live sports are popular with consumers, but what about the backend? Does this channel provide advertisers with the results necessary to justify the cost? Why advertise in live sports? Audience Reach and Engagement: Live sports still reign supreme as the most-watched TV broadcasts. Brands have long understood that the sports fan is engaged and deeply loyal - so having access to them via CTV can be a goldmine for marketing teams. CTV Enables Mix of Ad Creative Formats: Live sports streaming on OTT platforms enables advertisers to reach entirely new audiences of dedicated sports fans with creative, personalized ad messaging. Precise Audience Targeting: The ad inventory can be bought programmatically, which allows media buyers to target precise audiences at the most efficient cost. Emotional Connection: Brands can tap into the deep emotional connection viewers feel for their teams by telling impactful stories. Take this Cetaphil Super Bowl ad, for example! Tug at the heartstrings, and you won't be forgotten. Omnichannel Opportunities: Sports isn't just on TV -- the players amass huge followings on social media, tell their stories in the press, sign endorsement deals, and inspire sports betting (another exploding advertising channel!) -- which means plenty of opportunities for retargeting and reinforcement. TV is an excellent brand awareness lifter, but people need to know how and where to buy your product or service in order to drive a sale. How brands can win at live sports advertising: A. Plan It can be challenging to plan, measure, and analyze the effectiveness of ad spend on sports events throughout a season because viewership is subject to peaks and valleys. Fortunately, some programmatic advertising platforms like The Trade Desk have developed pacing tools to help media buyers optimize their ad spend in real time. Partnering with the right media planning and buying agency can be the difference between wasting precious ad dollars and sending them straight to your goals. B. Diversify Since TV ad spots during big games can be expensive (and thus risky), it's important not to put all your eggs in that basket. Make sure you're building a strong brand identity first, then complement your CTV spend with other strategies like DOOH, social media, omnichannel retail, or audio spots. Besides, TV is an excellent brand awareness lifter, but people need to know how and where to buy your product or service in order to drive a sale. Shoppable CTV elements like QR codes or text codes can get viewers engaged right from their couch. Or you could include a clear call to action in your ad creative directing viewers to your website or store. C. Think Local Costly national TV spots aren't the only option for sports advertising. Local affiliate stations sell ad inventory, too, and they might be a more cost-efficient option if you have target audience segments in specific geographic locations. D. Measure To measure campaign effectiveness, be sure you're using the right metrics. For CTV advertising, KPIs like average viewership and unique viewers are most relevant. Cross-reference these with other channels like social media growth and merch sales. E. Grow eMarketer predicts that viewership of digital live sports content in the US will reach 90.7 million by 2025! That's an enormous growth opportunity brands can bet on. This piece originally appeared in our weekly Paid Media Insights newsletter. For more tips, research, and analysis; subscribe for free here.

(LOS ANGELES) April 15, 2024 -- Exverus Media has hired Melanie Mogey as Media Planning Supervisor on the Dymatize team. Melanie has been in the advertising world for 17 years, starting as a graphic designer for the University of South Florida newspaper, where she discovered her advertising passion for media. She spent 16 years honing her skills at a Colorado Springs agency, starting in traffic and climbing the ranks to the Media & Integrated Strategy Department, serving automotive brands, not-for-profits, banks, and medical accounts. She thrives as an extension to her clients’ teams and finds immense satisfaction in seeing her media plans come to life. Exverus Media is a data-driven media agency based in Los Angeles, amplifying global, growth-stage brands through CTV, video, out-of-home, experiential, retail media, paid social, paid search, and programmatic advertising. Our omnichannel media campaigns combine precise research with creative ideas to confidently allocate every ad dollar for the maximum return. Named for the Latin phrase "from the truth", Exverus is dedicated to transparency and long-term client trust. Exverus is Adweek's 2024 Breakthrough Agency of the Year and 2x Ad Age Small Media Agency of the Year. Follow us on LinkedIn here or Instagram here. For all press inquiries, contact: Michelle.Andrade@exverus.com

These digital advertising channels may seem unrelated, but they synergize in a media plan. If you want to advertise your brand to a large audience, you probably already want Connected TV (CTV) in your media mix, and for good reason: a recent study by the Video Advertising Bureau (VAB) found that CTV advertising generated a 20% lift in brand awareness and 10% lift in intent to purchase! But have you considered adding digital out-of-home media (DOOH) to the mix? Digital out-of-home media is a powerful way to illustrate your message in public environments like digital billboards, transit stations, and building takeovers. These installations make a powerful impact and offer advertisers much more control and data than traditional out-of-home media. DOOH media might seem unrelated to CTV, but they actually have quite a bit in common! And when paired together in a media plan, they're a dream team. So: Why Do CTV and DOOH Pair So Well? Here are a few reasons we recommend these channels to our clients: Precise Audience Targeting As a media channel, CTV is practically unmatched in its ability to target the widest possible audiences of specific demographics and behaviors. Meanwhile, DOOH can target people in a precise physical neighborhood, who often share a similar demographic, income level, and lifestyle. If a consumer sees a brand advertised on TV and subsequently on the way to the train station, that’s a one-two punch already nurturing awareness and recall. "By integrating geo-fencing into all OOH placements after an audience profile has been built, we can build a retargeting base and follow up with CTV and other digital assets." - John Hoover, SVP at NPRP Media Programmatic Buying Both media channels can be bought programmatically, which offers advertisers time- and cost-efficiency, and a holistic view of their campaign’s digital performance. Like CTV display-side platforms (DSPs), programmatic DOOH platforms can work with an advertiser’s campaign parameters to deliver ads to the right people at the right price. Interactive Ad Capabilities Shoppable CTV ads are exploding in popularity because they shrink the path from awareness to purchase into one touchpoint. In fact, a recent study by LG showed that 51% of the 1200 CTV users surveyed said they "wish they could shop online using their TV." Interactive elements like on-screen QR codes, text message discount codes, or voice-activated commands get viewers immediately engaged with the brand and moving toward a purchase. The same goes for DOOH! Those engaging elements can collect invaluable data points from across multiple channels to leverage into even stronger campaigns. "Creating touchpoints across OOH and CTV ensures the exposure is consistently getting through, which is an ideal way to take a tough-to-measure format (like OOH) and position it as a touchpoint in attribution and measurement." - John Hoover, SVP of NPRP Media Contextual Creative Delivery “Contextual” is the magic word of the post-cookie marketing era, and these channels do contextual targeting beautifully. Brands can reach audiences via hyperlocal campaigns and even use real-time data triggers (such as current weather conditions) to deliver relevant and impactful messages. Imagine you’re a coffee brand – you could serve hot coffee ads to folks bundled up in New York and iced coffee ads to Los Angeles simultaneously! Both CTV and DOOH dynamically adapt to real-time changes: CTV adjusts ads based on user behavior, while DOOH updates content according to location and time of day. The synergy between CTV and DOOH is strengthening as programmatic DSPs integrate more capabilities into single platforms. Gone are the days when brand awareness and purchase consideration were relegated to separate channels – the funnel has collapsed, and campaigns that adeptly combine the advantages of each channel come out stronger in the end. This piece originally appeared in our weekly Paid Media Insights newsletter. For more tips, research, and analysis; subscribe for free here.

With retail media set to account for one in eight digital ad dollars, mature retailers are already growing sales by expanding how they reach consumers and the ad products they offer to brands. Historically, retail media networks have focused on lower-funnel tactics, but Amazon Ads, Walmart Connect, and an ever growing list of other retail media networks are now offering a full-funnel experience to advertisers and media buyers. What is a Retail Media Network? According to RetailTouchpoints.com, "Retail media is the broader term used to describe the concept of retailers using their systems, infrastructure, data and access to their shoppers to help advertisers reach consumers. A retail media network is the actual platform that retailers put in place to do this." These ads can appear in various formats and locations, including search results pages, product pages, category pages, and even in-store displays. But what sets retail media networks apart is their access to valuable first-party data—the key to effective targeting and personalized advertising. What are the top retail media networks? Amazon is, by far, the top retail media network, commanding 75.2% of the $45.15 billion US retail media advertising market in 2023, more than 10 times that of No. 2 Walmart Connect. Other big RMNs include Target's Roundel, Kroger Precision Marketing, Alibaba, Instacart Ads, and Costco Media Network. More are popping up every day! This blossoming of RMNs offers advertisers more opportunities to put their products in front of their target audience when they're already in a purchasing state of mind, but the downside is a lack of consistency or standardization across the platforms. A media buyer or agency that is well-versed on many different platforms and can pull data from each one together into a holistic media strategy can be helpful in allocating your brand's advertising budget efficiently. Why is retail media important for media planning and buying? The expansion of retail media from a last-touch converter into a full-funnel experience is a game-changer for brands and their media planners. Here’s why retail media matters: Holistic Consumer Engagement: Retail media networks allow brands to engage consumers at every stage of the buyer’s journey. From awareness to purchase, these networks provide a seamless experience. Demand Generation: Amazon’s sponsored brand videos and CTV-based offerings create demand by capturing consumer interest. Brands can showcase their products effectively, driving curiosity and desire. Measurable Impact: With robust attribution and conversion tracking, advertisers can measure the impact of their campaigns accurately. Retail media networks provide the data needed to optimize strategies. Explosive Growth: The exciting growth of the retail media space presents a lucrative opportunity for brands and advertisers to reach customers in new ways. Attractive Margins: Retailers face the challenge of covering the incremental expenses and complexities associated with digital ordering and fulfillment operations. High-margin incremental revenues from (RMNs) serve as a means to offset these costs. These networks allow retailers to monetize their shopper data effectively, delivering accurately personalized messages and offers on behalf of brands. Compared to product sales, ad sales carry far greater margins, making them an attractive proposition. Latent Value: Brands are continually seeking more targeted and efficient ways to reach consumers. Retailers possess valuable loyalty and transaction data, which can be harnessed to achieve this critical task. By leveraging these insights, brands can enhance their targeting precision and engage consumers effectively. Advertiser Mindset: Brands and agencies have become accustomed to the self-service methods of “programmatic” digital advertising. Retail media networks align with this mindset, connecting brands with consumers efficiently. As a result, media planners and buyers recognize the value of these networks in achieving their advertising goals. What are the upper funnel benefits of retail media? No longer relegated to the last touchpoint before purchase, RMNs like Amazon Ads and Walmart Connect are offering more features and options to reach new customers and lift brand awareness, too. Some examples of upper funnel retail media tactics include: Amazon Sponsored Brand Video: These cost-per-click (CPC) ads link customers directly to product detail pages, allowing them to learn more and make purchases seamlessly. Amazon CTV-Based Offerings: Amazon’s connected TV (CTV) ads have become increasingly sophisticated, thanks to the wealth of consumer data the company collects. Advertisers can now measure campaign attribution and conversion directly through CTV ads. Amazon Shoppable CTV Video Ads: Imagine making an Amazon purchase while watching an ad on TV. These shoppable CTV ads bridge the gap between entertainment and commerce. Walmart’s In-Store TV Walls: Walmart combines digital out-of-home (DOOH) ads with in-store placements. Shoppers, already in a buying mindset, can make purchases right then and there. Walmart’s extensive in-store activations make it a powerful platform for advertisers. Walmart Acquiring Vizio: Earlier in 2024, Walmart acquired TV maker Vizio for $2.3B, combining the expansive reach and diverse audience of Vizio watchers with the commercial offerings of Walmart, which is sure to accelerate Walmart's catch-up to Amazon. Target’s Roundel: With access to Target’s extensive shopper data, Roundel enables precise audience targeting and personalized ad experiences. Brands can engage consumers early in their journey, building awareness and consideration. Instacart Product Recommendations: Brands can reach consumers while they shop for groceries online, combining convenience with targeted advertising. Instacart’s upper-funnel offerings allow brands to influence purchase decisions early in the process. Albertsons Companies: Albertsons, another grocery giant, is poised to change the retail media landscape. If the impending merger with Kroger goes through, Albertsons will reach approximately 85 million households. This expanded reach will provide valuable data insights, making it an attractive partner for upper-funnel campaigns. Final Takeaways for Brand Marketers E-commerce is growing rapidly, and the advertising capabilities of retail media networks are expanding as well. Instead of focusing on providing only lower funnel tactics to advertisers, Amazon and other RMNs are becoming more advanced by offering a full funnel experience. Critically, the time is now for brands to leverage the two largest retailers, Amazon and Walmart, as complete advertising ecosystems.

One-size-fits-all doesn't work in advertising anymore. To stay ahead of the competition, know your audience and curate your messaging. Brand marketers and advertisers, are you personalizing your marketing content? Personalization is a popular buzzword in advertising these days, but for good reason! Personalized advertising has proven 3-4 times more effective than blast messages and can reduce customer acquisition costs by 50%. And the modern consumer expects it: research from McKinsey found that 76% of customers felt frustrated when a personalized experience doesn't happen. So, how can brands get started? For businesses new to personalization, we've summarized four key factors that drive successful personalization at scale: Key elements of personalized advertising 1. Data Foundation: Centralize customer data to enable seamless interaction across all channels. Data quality is paramount, as is privacy compliance. 2. Decision Making: Use machine learning and AI models to predict customer behavior and tailor marketing efforts accordingly. Segment customers based on value and trigger propensity scoring to identify the right opportunities for engagement. 3. Design: Develop flexible content that can be easily mixed and matched to deliver personalized messages. 4. Distribution: Integrate communication channels to ensure a unified customer experience. React to customer actions in real-time across all touchpoints. Examples of personalization in marketing Spotify recently built upon its popular, annual "Spotify Wrapped" feature with "Daylists" , sending users daily curated song playlists based on their recent listening activity. Similarly, Penguin Random House created an online "book matchmaker" quiz to help readers find new favorite books based on their reading preferences. And at Exverus, we've worked with the Stella & Chewy's raw pet food team to build personalized campaigns, like the America's Next Top Petfluencer contest, which encouraged pet owners to upload photos of their pets (and zero-party data!) for a chance to put their pet on a billboard; and the rich media AR selfies ad unit, which let pet owners create their own filters for pet photos. All of these strategies get consumers interacting with the brand and feeling confident about making a purchase because the recommendation is tailored their individual tastes. Why is personalization an effective media strategy? Because, at its core, personalization is about helping buyers see themselves in your brand and creating a connection with them through shared values, interests, or experiences. It helps create a holistic customer experience. When asked what they want most from personalization, one of the top answers from consumers was, “Know me no matter where I interact with you.” Online, offline, on-site, or in their inbox -- buyers expect a consistent and tailored omnichannel experience. But you can't personalize your content unless you understand your audience and their needs. Data-driven ad personalization Companies can gain valuable insights into their target audience's preferences, interests, and behavior patterns by analyzing consumer data. These insights allow you to tailor your content and messaging to resonate with the individual -- instead of delivering a one-size-fits-all approach. In a way, personalization starts before you even know your customer. You must build your strategy and workflow to collect the necessary data points to create personalized content. Once you have identified your audience and collected data, the possibilities for personalization are endless. Personalization can take many forms, from creating dynamic website experiences to segmenting email campaigns based on customer preferences. The future of personalized advertising The landscape of personalization is constantly evolving. Brands will create seamless customer journeys across different touchpoints. Imagine a shopping mall, retail store, and an e-commerce platform working together to deliver a unified, personalized shopping experience. Imagine a streaming TV service showing ads using AI to deliver the most relevant product message based on the individual viewer. By understanding where personalization is headed, marketers can build stronger customer relationships, drive sales, and stay ahead of the curve. This piece originally appeared in our weekly Paid Media Insights newsletter. For more tips, research, and analysis; subscribe for free here.

The prestigious honor goes to one excellent media strategist industry-wide annually. Exverus Media's VP of Media Strategy Tasha Day has won the prestigious Campaign US title of Media Buyer/Planner of the Year for 2024! The winners were announced at a ceremony in New York City on Wednesday, March 27, 2024. Tasha describes Leading Lightly: Lower Your Stress, Think with Clarity, and Lead with Ease by Jody Michael as one of her favorite leadership books. As it turns out, she also epitomizes what the book describes as “mental fitness”: the ability to engage constructively and positively in life and work every day, no matter what stressors she encounters. Day brings [19] years of media planning experience to her current role as VP, managing media strategy and operations across all but one of Exverus’ clients. Her leadership helped pull the agency out of the pandemic and into 145% growth in three years. From Stella & Chewy’s Petfluencer Contest to [winning] Tiger Woods’ TGL Golf, she is able to focus on both the small details and the big-picture ideas. Stella & Chewy’s Petfluencer Contest was one of the company’s most successful programs ever. Pet owners used Exverus’ location data technology 269% over projections, while boosted influencer posts resulted in four times the landing page traffic. Day’s use of data-enriched storytelling allowed consumers to feel seen, which was crucial to the smooth rollout of media plans. Watch Tasha talk more about this wildly successful campaign and how it naturally collected robust sets of zero-party data for the brand: Tasha helped pull Exverus out of the pandemic and up to 145% growth in 3 years while caring for a family, home, and herself. The agency celebrated industry-leading growth of 53% from 2022-2023 and has received numerous other industry accolades this year. She also initiated Exverus’ Sharing is Caring program, in which rotating team members present on industry topics to the rest of the agency. Recent topics included “The Role of Paid Search in a Media Plan”, “How to Best Utilize Chat-GPT in Marketing”, and “Taking Feedback Well”. Exverus has earned its place as one of LA Times' Top Places to Work for 2023, largely thanks to Tasha's leadership, as reflected in the agency's remarkable 92% employee retention rate in 2022 and consistently high ratings by her staff. Tasha is mental fitness epitomized (and powered by technology). Top-tier industry publications regularly cite Tasha’s expertise, and her hard work is a key ingredient of our agency’s numerous award wins. She was recently the only agency representative chosen to speak on a major conference panel about how CPG brands can build up consumer data while respecting privacy and trust, something Tasha and her team are mastering every day. She explains how Stella & Chewy's used consumer data to build another successful, experiential campaign for long-term customer loyalty, and how data informs all of the media strategies her teams build: See all the Campaign US 2024 Agency of the Year winners here.

(LOS ANGELES) March 19, 2024 -- Chris Cheever joins the Exverus Media team as Paid Social Media Manager working across all client projects. His professional experience includes paid media buying and planning roles at prestigious advertising agencies, managing both digital and traditional campaigns for clients in higher education, utilities, healthcare, banking, automotive, and more. He has also worked on the publisher side as an advertising sales rep for Facebook (now Meta). He was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, and has a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Marketing from Northern Arizona University. Follow him on LinkedIn here. Exverus Media is an award-winning media agency based in Los Angeles, amplifying global, growth-stage brands through retail media, paid social, paid search, and programmatic advertising. Our omnichannel marketing strategies combine precise research with creative ideas to confidently allocate every ad dollar for the maximum return. Named for the Latin phrase "from the truth", Exverus dedicates itself to transparency and long-term client trust. Exverus is Adweek's 2024 Breakthrough Agency of the Year and 2x Ad Age Small Media Agency of the Year. Follow us on LinkedIn here or Instagram here. For all press inquiries, contact: Michelle.Andrade@exverus.com

(LOS ANGELES) March 19, 2024 -- Exverus Media has enthusiastically welcomed Christina Kim to the agency’s robust retail media team as E-Commerce Marketing Manager. Christina specializes in a variety of e-commerce platforms including Amazon, Criteo, Pacvue, Walmart Connect, Roundel, and more. She comes to Exverus from a strong background in shopper and retail marketing, campaign planning, and paid search for titan accounts like SC Johnson. Christina will work remotely from Chicago, IL. Follow her on LinkedIn here. Exverus Media is an award-winning media agency based in Los Angeles, amplifying global, growth-stage brands through retail media, paid social, paid search, and programmatic advertising. Our omnichannel strategies combine precise market research with creative ideas to confidently allocate every ad dollar for the maximum return. Named for the Latin phrase "from the truth", Exverus dedicates itself to transparency and long-term client trust. Exverus is Adweek's 2024 Breakthrough Agency of the Year and 2x Ad Age Small Media Agency of the Year. Follow us on LinkedIn here or Instagram here. For all press inquiries, contact: Michelle.Andrade@exverus.com

Time to send that old sales funnel to the antique shop and build holistic media strategies that convert for the long term. Are you still using the funnel to represent your brand's marketing campaigns? It's OK, we get it! The funnel looks clean and is easy to understand. But today's campaigns aren't so simple. The Marketing Funnel is Dead. No longer do consumers learn about, consider, and purchase products in neat, linear progression as they once did. (Actually, did they ever?) Shopper journeys are messy, unpredictable, and constantly evolving in our omnichannel world. In our latest whitepaper, "Put that Funnel in the Antique Shop: Rethink Your Customer Journeys to Maximize ROI," we'll break down: Why the linear marketing funnel is dead for brand strategy The latest research in building better frameworks What modern marketers are doing to drive brand growth Why most media channels are becoming full-funnel, including retail media and social commerce How not to fall into the trap of short-termism and play the long game instead If you're ready to break down channel siloes and embrace a more holistic approach to marketing and media strategy, we wrote this guide just for you. This piece originally appeared in our weekly Paid Media Insights newsletter. For more tips, research, and analysis; subscribe for free here.

Much is written about the creative side of advertising and the visual representation of brands via logos, color palettes, and website design. But one crucial element is often overlooked and underutilized: audio. According to a 2023 report by sonic branding agency amp, more than half of Gen Z can correctly identify a brand solely based on a viral sound. And 81% could name a brand with a sound associated with a meme. With TikTok's popularity and social media's virality, brands have a chance to create memorable moments that will stick in consumers' ears long after they've stopped scrolling. Sonic branding definition and examples for marketers to get inspired Sonic branding, sometimes called audio or sound branding, is the use of sound or music to reinforce a brand's identity and create a memorable experience for target consumers. It involves the strategic use of sound elements such as jingles, sound logos, or brand anthems to evoke emotions, convey messages, and establish a brand's personality. This is not a new concept -- jingles and audio signatures have been around for decades, with some of the earliest examples dating back to the 1920s when radio advertising became popular. However, technological advancements and the rise of digital media have made sonic branding more important than ever before. How effective is sonic branding? Sonic branding offers several key benefits to help marketers maximize the effects of their campaigns. First, it helps to differentiate a brand from its competitors. In today's crowded marketplace where consumers are bombarded with advertising messages from multiple devices, having a distinct sonic identity can help a brand stand out and be remembered. Second, sonic branding can evoke strong emotions and create a deeper connection with consumers. Gen Z's connection to branded audio goes beyond simple consumerism -- they take ownership of the sounds they feel connected with, making them their own and sharing them with their peers. A 2019 study by PHMG showed 74% of young adults say they develop a better understanding of a company's personality through music. This has opened up a new avenue for brands to reach younger audiences more authentically. By tapping into the right beats, rhythms, and melodies, companies can connect with consumers beyond just making them want to buy something. Thirdly, sonic branding can improve brand recognition and recall. A catchy jingle or a memorable sound logo can become ingrained in consumers' minds, making it easier for them to remember the brand when making purchasing decisions. A 2008 study performed at Leicester University revealed that brands that use music aligned with the brand identity are 96% more likely to be remembered by the consumer than brands that use unfit music or no music at all. Sonic Branding Examples When I say "Nationwide is on your side", what do you hear? Probably the same thing I do. Whether it's a catchy jingle (think McDonald's "Ba da ba ba ba"), a distinct sound effect (like the Nintendo Switch 'click' sound), or even a memorable voiceover, sonic branding can stick with people for years to come. Defining the streaming age is Netflix's "ta dum", and what American kid didn't grow up on Tony the Tiger's "They're grrrrreat!"? These earworms step over the short-termism of landing an immediate sale and instead lay the foundation for long-term brand recall and loyalty. In sum, audio branding is a crucial element of building a holistic consumer experience to lift brand recall in a fun and easy way. And in an increasingly voice-activated digital ecosystem (Alexa, Google Assistant, Siri), it makes sense to exploit every aural component of your brand activations. Hear me? This piece originally appeared in our weekly Paid Media Insights newsletter. For more tips, research, and analysis; subscribe for free here.

Not just for content creation, generative AI could soon optimize ad personalization, predictive analytics, and real-time data monitoring. Generative AI, the advertising industry's buzziest buzzword, is emerging as a powerful tool that could potentially reshape the way we as advertisers strategize our campaigns. But for media planners, it can be difficult to see how generative AI can actually help in day-to-day tasks. When you're constantly planning, launching, and optimizing campaigns, it's easy to dismiss anything that doesn't immediately improve efficiency or increase ROI. But the truth is, generative AI is already proving its worth in media planning and will only become more important in the future. Initial findings show that when AI-based media buying is employed the ROAS can double or triple compared to previous efforts. So: How Could Gen AI Transform Media Planning? Here are a few applications available TODAY that we're testing for our clients. Enhanced Ad Targeting AI's Deep Learning enables a breadth and depth of knowledge in how targeting is applied to ad campaigns. Instead of broad audience targeting segments like "in-market auto shoppers", AI unlocks the nuances of an individual's consumer journey and has a much deeper understanding of the context of the ad. It analyzes customer data and third-party signals to provide segmentation recommendations, making data-based strategies more effective and efficient. Ad Curation and Creation Generative AI can be used to create custom ads based on the viewer. This capability is so much more than the "dynamic" ads of the past. Imagine the ability to deliver custom video ads - yes, video! - informed by the viewer's demographics and location, and those decisions being made in real time and at a fraction of the cost of producing multiple video commercials for different markets/regions. Improved Programmatic Campaign Performance AI is driving improvement in programmatic campaign performance by powering recommendation engines based on past performance and enhanced audience targeting. Unlike its human counterparts, AI never sleeps. This makes real-time bidding and programmatic buys a breeze. Automated Planning Documentation The generation of crucial planning documentation such as investment plans, campaign parameters, creative assets, and media placement selection is being automated by AI, leveraging campaign-level insights in the process. Data-Driven Virtual Assistants Tools like Omni Assist provide data-driven insights, notifications, and recommendations throughout the planning and buying workflow, reducing discovery time and accelerating learning. But as with any tool, generative AI is only as good as the data and inputs it receives. The onus is still on us to provide the strategy, prompts, brand information, and feedback to make sure the tech is working for us, and not the other way around. This piece originally appeared in our weekly Paid Media Insights newsletter. For more tips, research, and analysis; subscribe for free here.