Study: What type of online media will most marketers spend on in 2022?

While the year 2021 was a year of stabalisation and recovery for many of us, the outlook for brands has been improving. In many parts of the world, restrictions have loosened and the early stages of economic recovery have begun. On the media front, the market has witnessed some rebalancing of investment across channels. 

Content owners in the Asia Pacific are set to benefit in 2022, said head of media in Kantar Singapore, Pablo Gomez. In fact, the greater granularity of audience measurement data will benefit content owners and producers as they gain more negotiating power. Meanwhile, with the phasing out of third-party cookies, marketers will face a new challenge of getting closer to their audience, and must explore options to own first-party-data for targetting and competitor analysis.

"There will also need to be a rebalancing of online and offline marketing spend, as digital effectiveness concerns will prompt eCommerce brands to branch out into the real world and investment in brand building advertising campaigns," Gomez added.

With 2022 around the corner, online spending is expected to increase in 2021 and continue increasing in 2022. Thanks to new commerce offerings on social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram, both users and advertisers will benefit from the ability to sell directly through the platforms. Furthermore, it helps to condense the path to purchase while also improving the measurability of a sale. In fact, Kantar predicts that 61% of online consumers are likely to purchase from social media platforms in the future. 

Meanwhile, there are seven key media trends Kantar has identified that the industry should keep an eye on in 2022.

1. Subscription video on demand (SVOD) is no longer the only jewel in the media crown

The subscription model is losing its power to drive long-term growth. According to Kantar, the competition among brands in the subscription scene is growing "incredibly fierce" as there is more competition for the same content, and prices are increasing amongst some SVOD platforms. With this in mind, brands should expect business models to diversify further in 2022, with a sole subscription offering becoming scarce.

For instance, the pandemic saw the closure of numerous cinemas around the globe, and this is caused studios to reconsider their theatrical release policies for the long run. "Disney’s earlier simultaneous release of Black Widow in cinemas and on its premium streaming service is a sign of things to come," said Kantar. 

(Read also: Disney sued by Scarlett Johansson for alleged contract breach in 'Black Widow' streaming release)

2. Content is king - and those who own it could become richer 

Driven by the need to offer more content bundles to lure viewers in a crowded marketplace, Kantar predicts that platform consolidation will continue, especially with sports and esports as the need to reach younger cohorts grow stronger. Now with actual viewing figures publicly available, content owners and producers are given the opportunity to command higher licensing and carriage fee negotiation rights than before.

3. No one solution will replace cookies 

There will be no single solution to replace third-party tracking cookies, said the report. Instead, most advertisers would need to adopt a portfolio approach, alongside continual reappraisal of data sources. In 2022, more technologies and techniques are predicted to enter the market, some more radically different to cookies than others.

Additionally, the market can also expect large platforms looking to machine learning and cryptographic techniques to layer privacy-enhancing technologies over their digital infrastructures.

4. Panel-based data will be reappraised

As the commercial Internet looks to build in stronger privacy protocols, one can expect a shift when it comes to first-party data strategy. However, there will still be a place for third-part data, so long as its privacy compliant, consented and trustworthy, said the report. In fact, the report shows that 80% of advertisers want their own in-house segmentations to enable media planning and activation. As a result, panel data is set for a serious reappraisal in 2022. 

Consequently, third-party data will also become more valuable and trusted, and permissioned data is predicted to become a differentiator, not a commodity.

5. Competitive intelligence will be a defining factor

Competitive intelligence in a cookieless world will become a major obstacle to validating marketing strategies and identifying new opportunities. According to the report, 75% of advertisers recognise the value of syndicated data. As a result, advertisers must find a new system to turn data into insights in an accessible way.

Brands that are early in combining creative and context are said to be able to take control of their data strategy.

This is because it leverages the full power of their own direct consumer relationships, which allows the brand to make faster decisions, drive growth and remain agile among their competitors.

6. Speed and in-flight optimisation 

The growth and sophistication of performance media will empower advertisers and their agency partners to boost efficiency for in-flight campaigns and accelerate measurement, said the report. As advertisers increasingly forge direct relationships with online platforms, there will be an increase in demand for cross-media performance measurement on a comparative basis, as well as demographic profiling variables that go beyond existing demographics.

This means that the market is expected to see a notable rise in the number of advertisers that supply their own first-party data to media and measurement companies. 

7. The rise of the metaverse 

The metaverse is a unique opportunity for brands to think about how their ads will look virtually. Furthermore, one can expect a wide range of implications for virtual shopping and product testing, as well as the formation of new and interactive ad formats. This in turn creates new audiences, behaviours and research possibilities for brands to study and learn from. Despite the endless possibilities behind the metaverse, it is still far from completion. This in turn leads to brands and advertisers alike questioning how a media plan for a virtual world will look like. 

(Read also: Analysis: How in the world do you measure ROI in the metaverse?)

Join our Digital Marketing Asia conference happening from 9 November 2021 - 25 November 2021 to learn about the upcoming trends and technologies in the world of digital. Check out the agenda here. 

Photo courtesy: 123RF

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