At the recent Association of National Advertisers (ANA) Financial Advertising Management Conference, Tom Denford, CEO of ID Comms Group and founder of The Global Media Council, delivered a compelling presentation on the current state and future of media investment. His speech was a perfect representation of the complexities and opportunities in media and advertising in 2024. Drawing from his extensive experience and current work at ID Comms, Denford shared crucial insights and recommendations for advertisers.
Denford began by echoing sentiments expressed by P&G's Marc Pritchard, emphasizing the dual nature of the current media landscape. "It truly is the best of times," Denford stated, referencing Pritchard's assertion that "media grows markets" and when executed well, media investment becomes a revenue generator that can expand markets. However, Denford was quick to juxtapose this optimism with a stark reality: "It's the worst of times," he said, highlighting the persistent challenges of risk, fraud, and waste in the programmatic supply chain. He pointed to the ANA's research, which revealed significant budget losses due to non-transparent buying practices, lower quality media, and poor optimization.
"If ever there was a need for transformation, maybe this is it," Denford remarked, drawing a parallel to Charles Darwin's famous quote from The Origin of Species: "It's not the strongest of the species, nor the most intelligent that survives, it's the one that is most adaptable to change." He urged brands to be adaptable in the fast-evolving media environment, where changes occur rapidly. "You must always be listening, learning, and adapting," he emphasized.
Denford illustrated the shift in media buying practices, noting that over 50% of media is now bought in real time through biddable channels like programmatic, search, and social media. "That's a tipping point for the industry," he declared, explaining that most media is no longer bought in advance for an agreed price but in the moment when opportunities arise. This shift underscores the need for brands to prepare and set up for success in this new landscape.
Denford's central message was one of evolution and adaptation. He stressed the importance of seizing opportunities and making progress, despite the challenges. "The opportunities are great and we must always be making progress," he urged.
To help brands navigate these challenges and leverage opportunities, Denford introduced ID Comms' framework called Digital Control. This pioneering approach involves a full audit of programmatic and biddable media, ensuring transparency, quality, and optimization. The framework consists of three key components:
1. Transparency: Denford emphasized the necessity for brands to have complete visibility over their media spend. "No more murky media supply chain or information asymmetry," he insisted. Brands must be able to make informed decisions by knowing exactly what they are buying today.
2. Quality: The importance of high-quality media environments was another critical point. "Your brand messages must be within brand-safe, fraud-free, highly viewable media environments with reputable publishers and content owners," Denford explained. He stressed that brands deserve the very best quality.
3. Optimization: This component is where brands can gain a competitive advantage. By identifying areas where budget can be reallocated to drive performance improvements, brands can connect their media investments more closely to business KPIs. "It's about optimizing media investment against business outcomes," Denford said, linking media performance directly to business growth.
Denford shared that the Digital Control framework has been highly effective, delivering a five-to-one ROI in terms of savings and returns. "The main thing is that it is cutting waste, freeing up money to be invested in accelerating digital transformation for brands and helping them outperform their competition," he noted.
Denford urged advertisers to keep innovating and pushing their organizations to be better every day. He closed with a quote from Charles M. Schulz: "Keep looking up." This encapsulated his call for continuous improvement and adaptation in the ever-changing media landscape.
Posted at MediaVillage through the Thought Leadership self-publishing platform.
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