Advertiser Perceptions, the leader in providing research-based strategic market intelligence to the media, advertising, and ad tech industries, conducted the second edition of its “Data Standards Practices” study. The research investigates the challenges and opportunities of implementing data standards in advertising and marketing across measurement and attribution, privacy and compliance, ad creative development, brand safety, and generative AI across brands, agencies and organizational roles.
“86% of respondents agreed that without a data standards practice, their organization would fall behind competitors or lose market share over time,” said Lauren Fisher, GM of Business Intelligence at Advertiser Perceptions. “Advertisers are particularly optimistic about the returns seen from implementing data standards for important marketing issues such as privacy compliance, brand safety and the consumer experience. Estimated ROI levels increased by 5 percentage points or more, compared to 2023 findings. However, there has been an increase in Excel usage to accomplish tasks, which ultimately opens companies up to greater difficulties in managing data standards, brand safety and privacy.”
GenAI Amplifying the Need for Visibility Into the Content Supply Chain
Visibility into content and creative production, storage, utilization, and the resulting impact on brand safety will become even more of a concern for advertisers as they look to generative AI in greater numbers for ad creative.
- Two in five US advertisers already use generative AI for ad creative, with one in two considering it.
- A minority (26%) of advertisers are very confident in their ability to properly tag and track all their AI-generated assets.
- Roughly three in four advertisers say there’s a medium-to-high risk associated with not knowing where creative is running across channels and ad campaigns, and seven in 10 say properly tagging creative assets for tracking and optimization is their top challenge.
- Advertisers continue to estimate that one in every four ads result in the wrong ad creative being served to the wrong consumer.
Involving Ad Agencies in Data Standards Practices
Gaps in agency involvement in data standards practices significantly limit advertisers’ ability to achieve greater ROI, ensure privacy compliance, and maintain brand safety. This lack of engagement also poses increased risks for agencies themselves and underscores the need for brand and agency collaboration.
- 84% of agencies vs. 71% of marketers fear they could lose their job if they can’t show ROI/ROAS.
- Agencies are more likely than marketers to combine data in Excel sheets and receive creative asset information via Excel spreadsheets.
- Long-term use of Excel can lead to inconsistencies, errors, and extra parties needed to correct mistakes. Additionally, formatting and integrating reporting takes longer, with over a third of advertisers spending a week or more on the task.
Organizational Role Impacting Data Standards
Different roles within the organization view data standards very differently, given that each role carries out distinct functions and has varied access to the data and technologies involved in the stages of media planning, buying and reporting. For example, strategic teams are optimistic about their practices but are further from processes, while operations and analytics teams face challenges and costs related to lack of data integration.
The figure visualizes systems advertisers and marketers might have access to based on their roles within the organization. It also shows how these roles relate to each other based on the advertising functions they execute. Teams closest to the task at hand often have the greatest understanding of how well their data standards and strategies are working.
The full report can be downloaded here.
Methodology
Claravine, along with Advertiser Perceptions, surveyed 141 US advertisers in August 2024 to understand their current and future practices regarding data standards strategies. To qualify for the study, respondents had to be spending $50M annually on digital advertising and involved in decision-making for digital advertising. The study surveyed a mix of respondents across strategic teams, operations and data analytics teams. Agency respondents comprised 30% of respondents, while marketers accounted for 70%. This white paper may reference insights gathered in July 2023 from a prior survey conducted by Advertiser Perceptions and Claravine.
“Our industry’s rapid evolution significantly impacts marketing teams and businesses,” Verl Allen, CEO of Claravine, said. “This study underscores the consensus among marketers and agencies that data standardization is a critical organizational need impacting numerous teams, roles, and systems involved in a company’s marketing initiatives. While implementing data standards requires time and attention, once established, it can yield substantial returns on investment.”