Canadian Ad Insider

Media Predictions for 2024

Where have you seen the biggest changes in media consumption? (since this time last year)

Robert - We are enjoying a golden era of content, and despite this, TV audiences continue to decline and marketers need to reconsider context, technology and demography for their audiences and ad placements. 

We have seen more concerns over Brand Safety this past year than ever before, are things better yet?

Robert - Advertisers cannot rely on technology alone to keep their brands out of harm’s way.  Targeting a specific audience without regard to the content they are consuming is fraught with peril.  Adding to my earlier comments, I believe that the marketers who do manage to ensure their brands are placed next to content and on platforms that resonate with their audiences and values will be on top of the brand safety issues.  As an example, one can argue that X (formerly known as Twitter) has not been a brand-safe or advertiser-friendly environment since Elon Musk took over and long before he boosted an antisemitic tweet in November or him recently telling advertisers to “go forth and multiply” but in a more profane way.   In April of this year, his “Freedom of Speech, Not Reach” policy would limit exposure to content that violated its policies, not remove the offending content as it had in the past.  This move alone should have sent advertisers running for the exits, yet some continued despite the risks.

Is the metaverse dead?

Robert - Maybe not entirely, but it was never going to live up to the hype and, while very cool things can happen in the metaverse, the advertiser adoption and audience scale have yet to arrive.  Will it rise again?  Maybe.  Podcasts in 2005 or 2006 were a solution in search of a problem and investment from advertisers matched the scale of the nascent audiences, tiny.  Look at podcasts now!  Production values, audiences, platforms, content and advertiser investment have taken off.  Perhaps the metaverse in ten to fifteen years will be as robust.

AI has become the current buzzword - how does AI fit into 2024?

Robert - AI currently holds a ton of promise for marketers and agencies.  The primary promise is efficiency via the automation of certain labour-intensive tasks, the faster discovery of actionable insights, content creation, quality control,  and more.  

I also believe AI can pose some particular challenges for media agencies in the near term. Specifically, client data storage issues, the ability to differentiate from other agencies using AI and the rise of mediocrity.  The data security issue can be solved with the right policies, contracts and protocols in place, but if one agency uses AI to improve a client’s performance, how long will it take for another agency to do the same thing?  It could become much of a muchness very quickly.   Also, using AI, a smaller, more innovative agency might be able to build a better mousetrap and outperform larger media agencies with fewer resources.  

Many social networks have been testing paid options in other countries, will this become widely adopted across the board in 2024?

Robert - Not sure how quickly a paid option will be widely adopted.  Especially when users are accustomed to a free option.  Should it catch on, it would add to a marketer’s challenge of finding audiences.

Where are the consumers going to be in 2024?

Robert - I may be in the minority but I am bullish about certain types of out of home.  Done correctly, it can add context, impact, performance, reach, safety and quality to any ad campaign.  I think it is a medium that punches well above its weight.  Unfortunately, it is all too often lumped into a “traditional media” bucket that implies it is retreating or dying or irrelevant but that is not the case at all.

What are you excited about as we move into 2024? 

Robert - Hopefully the return of some bravery and bolder creative advertising.  In uncertain economic times, brands and marketers have historically become more risk-averse.  They often focus solely on performance campaigns, sales and discounts.  It has also been proven that creativity, storytelling and daring brand work will allow brands to take share and make performance media work harder.  I would like to see more Canadian advertisers become like John Lewis department stores in the UK, for example.  The release of John Lewis’ annual holiday campaign has become a massive event that draws the press and people. Incredible.

What are you concerned/worried about 2024?

Robert - The rise, and acceptance of mediocrity. 

Here are Robert's predictions for 2022, and 2024.