As we begin the new year, Media in Canada interviews the industry’s top executives to find out their thoughts on the year that was and what they see on the horizon for 2024. Today, we feature Carat CCO Jennifer Lewis (left) and Publicis Media EVP of platform investment Derek Bhopalsingh (right).
What do you think were the most seismic changes of 2023?
Jennifer Lewis: In 2023, the launch of so many iterations of GenAI tools and resources created a bit of panic, fear, and uncertainty across the industry. It has been interesting to watch the conversation evolve across the industry from “why should we care” to “where can AI do good.” GenAI has created new conversations and new ways to think about how we work.
In 2024, we will understand how to integrate GenAI into our workstreams to take away repetitive low-value work and create space for our teams to spend more time to get back to the fun parts of our media craft – working through brand strategies that drive business results, dreaming new creative solutions for our clients.
Derek Bhopalsingh: For me, there were four seismic shifts in 2023: First, AI, which was the buzzword for 2023. Where we saw the largest shift was in the broader adoption of AI tools in the larger marketing ecosystem in 2023, from copy, production, video, images, and so on. In 2024, legal Implications must come into focus. There has not been enough discussion around legal implications for marketers around sequential liability, remuneration of use of IP in AI training and how consumer privacy will be protected. The AIDA (Artificial Intelligence and Data Act) is too vaguely worded and does little to address these very real issues. The poor choice of wording and lack of clarity around the various clauses in the legislation put very real punitive damages at the feet of the Canadian marketing community. The team at IAB Canada is actively working with the Federal Government to help strengthen and better frame this potentially impactful bill.
Second, [there was a boom in] AVOD in Canada, from YouTube and Netflix through to Amazon Prime Video. Ad-supported streaming video offerings hit its stride in Canada in 2023. As macro-economic factors continue to put downward pressure on the average Canadian’s discretionary income, we will see a plateau [in 2024] and even a decline in paid subscriptions for audio and video. As a result, we will also see incremental reach gains in ad-supported channels. It is worth noting that we have seen the reach of ad-supported streaming platforms in more mature markets.
Third, the growth of retail media networks. New entrants to the market launched in 2023 and key Canadian retailers with national coverage came into their own with launches or re-launches of their own eco-systems. As clients navigate the growing options of networks… we will hear and feel the same frustration that is being experienced in the U.S. Each RMN operates as its own independent ecosystem with its own set of ad products, rules and specifications. This is putting significant operating cost pressures on marketing teams to execute effectively. The marketing industry, as it has in the U.S., will demand standardization for retail marketing networks as they did for display and video advertising.
And finally, the tectonic shifts in the social media landscape. Elon Musk has continued to evolve X over the course of 2023 [and will likely continue to do so] into 2024. [Meanwhile,] Meta struggled with user retention after the highly publicized launch of Threads and are continually testing ways to drive user engagement. The newer challengers for social media users come armed with technology built on ActivityPub (a W3C protocol). One such challenger is the highly anticipated platform Bluesky. The decentralized platform looks to combine what makes current social media platforms successful with the decentralized server models made popular by Discord and Mastodon. It also intends to move away from ad-supported revenue models and instead will look to donations, subscriptions, and other forms of revenue streams.
What is the single most critical pressure facing the media industry as a whole right now?
Jennifer Lewis: Mental availability – with so many ways for Canadians to consume the content that they want, how do we ensure our brands stand out in the right spaces and in ways that drive mental availability. There is a sense that audiences know how to ignore ads by scrolling up, fast forwarding or even hitting that skip button. How we market and deliver our clients’ messages needs to disrupt those avoidance behaviours and engage audiences on behalf of our clients’ brands.
Derek Bhopalsingh: Measurement, privacy, legislation, macro economic factors to name a few. [But let’s] focus on measurement, which I define in two ways: outdated models for measuring and transacting video in Canada, and ROI measurement with the depreciation of the cookie.
Outdated models: The lack of an industry-accepted, comprehensive, interoperable measurement currency for video in Canada in 2024 is astounding. The advancement of video, even just episodic video, makes the legacy trading currency of a GRP, and the methodology that supports it, outdated.
Cookies: The depreciation of the cookie is finally upon us. The result is that it has, and will, continue to significantly impact measurement tools like multi-touch attribution. This has led to a resurgence in MMM over the last year. The challenge with the methodology is the length of time, resources and costs required to conduct studies on a regular basis. The unpredictability of the Canadian economy over the recent year and heading into 2024 means that marketers need more frequent data and more agility than what’s currently available through traditional MMM.
What do you and your agency see as the biggest challenge facing your business in 2024?
Jennifer Lewis: Real understanding of new Canadians – from measuring audiences, to engaging with relevant messages, and the perception of our clients’ categories and brands before we even talk to them in Canada. Dentsu and Carat are doing a lot of research leveraging our global tools to develop a deeper understanding of these audiences and engaging our clients in the conversation. This is a space where the ratings or metrics may be harder to come by, so there is hesitancy to jump in. We need to work closely with our clients to figure out how best to prove results for the client C-suite. Beyond new Canadians as clients, we also need to ensure we are creating space for new Canadians as employees, as that is a critical part of the conversation as well. And we are working with our DEI leads and ERG/BRG to ensure we are addressing the needs. Sharing the Dentsu Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Report 2023 is part of our commitment to transparency in this area.
Derek Bhopalsingh: One of the most critical areas impacting us and the media industry is talent. Talent is impacted in two ways: the demand for it and the need to continually upskill. The growth in platforms, solutions and clients’ needs has increased the overall demand for talent in the market. We have developed a series of programs that work with schools and students at various levels – whether introducing them to the field, participating in curriculums and providing internship opportunities. The changes in the marketing ecosystem seem to be happening at a faster pace than ever before. While attracting new talent to the organization is important, keeping our existing teams at the forefront of everything happening in our industry is just as critical.
Interviews were conducted separately and edited for length
