Kelly Kokonas, Executive Vice President Global Data Strategy,
Starcom
WW, is staying on top of technology and its impact on global media, “whether,”
she noted, “it is the implementation of technology, application of data and
information insights, product research, advanced analytics and a whole slew of
other data-driven solutions.”
But it is
not only a changing landscape. It is also inconsistent in its evolution and
adoption. Kokonas’ agency has fielded a Global Media Intelligence study, in
partnership with eMarketer, for the past nine years for over 40 countries and 2
billion internet users, revealing the trends and differences in consumer
preferences by country. The results continue to surprise.
The Value of Global Media Intelligence
“There have
been a lot of changes across the decades,” Kokonas explained, “and trying to
find a data source across markets for time spent with media was elusive because
there were a lot of data sets across markets as well as a lot of data sources
that gave slightly different stats. So this Intelligence report has become a
really great resource.”
This study
has proven to be a strategic asset for Starcom clients, she stated, “at the
campaign level, when we are doing strategy work, understanding people’s
changing use of media over time, the direction and magnitude of that change.
But it also has a great value at the portfolio level of brands or across
categories, where this data is used as a foundational understanding for local
and global budgets and what to spend by channel.” It also helps to inform advertisers
on emerging channels which may be harder to measure and, “the return on
investment may be lower.”
Revealing Global Trends
Having a decade’s worth of data enables Kokonas to see
profound trends. “Ten years ago we were tracking household broadband
penetration,” she mused, “and if any market got to 40% it was a digital
revolution!” Fast forward to where we are today, “it is further accelerated by
mobile and mobile experiences which further accelerated overall video viewing
including more VOD and the rise of the smart TV in the household.” And then, she
continued, “you have to consider all of the changes in the different markets.”
Brazil, for example, ranks ahead of all of other markets in mobile phone usage,
while Russia is, “still a media landscape in transition with digital devices
and activities becoming more main stream for the first time in this report.”
China, she reported, “is always an outlier. Consumers lead in adoption of smart
devices such as a digitally enabled wristband or smart doorbell or smart appliance.”
The magnitude of those changes year to year will continue to be profound.
Revealing Global Consumer Behaviors
With all of the convenience and connectedness that
technology offers today, are consumers becoming more demanding of its capabilities?
“Certainly consumer expectations are high,” Kokonas admitted. “We can infer
that with the proliferation of devices for these digitally enabled experiences,
as people are surprised and delighted with what they can do on their mobile
device or with a branded experience, there is enthusiasm for more of these
experiences.” These experiences go way beyond static advertising which people
may want to avoid. “It’s about premium experiences that people are drawn to,
that they love and get some benefit from, that makes them lean in and engage in
a transaction with a brand in a different way,” she explained. All of these
experiences are intertwined with commerce as behaviors are tracked through the
funnel enabling a clearer understanding, “of the why and the how and the how frequent
things are happening between consumers and brands.”
Brands Harnessing the New Technology
Industries
are feeling the impact of new technology. “There are a lot of different
opportunities in every single vertical to harness the possibilities of emerging
technologies,” she explained, from mobile banking to CPG involving mobile
payments and commerce. The extent to which individual brands harness the power
of new technology depends on their digital maturity – just like the differences
across countries. Some clients, according to Kokonas, are even strategizing in
product development and their commerce development, “and the extent of those
specifics depends on the category, the brand and the maturity of the market.” For
marketers who want to harness voice, the report enables them to, “see which of
those geographies have a mature enough marketplace around voice assistants for
us to invest part of our marketing dollars and expect a positive return.”
Surprises in this Year’s Study
Emerging
technology is expanding in some interesting ways. “Voice assistants tends to
skew male and young which I find interesting,” she revealed, “and I am not sure
why that would be. But then I remind myself that it is not an Alexa in the
household but it is also geo-navigation.” In addition, she is seeing that the
use of digital devices is increasing but the rate of the increase by countries can
vary because of logistics and infrastructure. For example, digital viewers in Germany
are still attached to traditional media and are not rushing to adapt to new
tech, especially older adults. Part of this is due to a lack of robust networks
since so much money was spent, instead, on reunification. Compare this to Hong
Kong, which admittedly has a smaller geography, “but they also have some of the
world’s highest rate of advanced digital device ownership which is encouraged
by virtual universal internet access.”
Conclusion
For clients,
Kokonas believes that the best use of this study is to expand the range of
opportunities that marketers can use to reach the right audiences, even if
standard measurement hasn’t quite caught up to the advancing technology. “It
will continue to be elusive as to how to measure return on investment. I have
not seen a marketing mix model on voice yet. There will always be this
pressure, this tension to measure these emerging technologies and their ability
to impact business. The best way forward is to test and learn.” But beyond that,
she added, “It is about the relentless pursuit of the human truth. This data is
really an awesome baseline for all of that, across so many different media
channels and media experiences as well as across the different countries,” she
concluded.
This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com
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