GroupM is putting a team together to tackle engagement between advertisers and audiences.
As WPP’s media investment arm, GroupM has convened a team of network rivals – BrightLine, Disney, KERV, NBCUniversal, Roku, Telly, and YouTube – to join its Ad Innovation Accelerator, with the group convening in early 2024. According to the company, the team will strategize and create scalable ad formats that are designed to be ubiquitous across ad-supported streaming environments.
This program will first roll out in North America – including Canada – for clients at GroupM agencies Mindshare, Wavemaker and EssenceMediacom.
According to a statement from GroupM, the Ad Innovation Accelerator partners will have regularly occuring “innovation sessions and quarterly meetings to establish goals and determine outputs for newly created advertising models and methods.” The partners plan to launch pilot programs in Q1 of 2024 and will include “advertising formats for agnostic use across the media ecosystem using test-and-learn findings.”
“We have to craft a future of our industry where engagement, innovation, and outcomes converge,” said Andrew Meaden, global head of investment, GroupM. “As we shape the next era of media where advertising works better for people, it is critical we continue to innovate new advertising experiences with our partners around the world to ensure brands are meeting audiences where they are. With more ad-supported options emerging, advertisers must respect audiences’ preferences and use cutting-edge technology to deliver more personalized content.”
The goal is to strike while the iron is still warming up. According to GroupM’s This Year, Next Year forecast (released at the end of 2023), CTV advertising will increase 14.9% in North America in 2024, accelerating from 9.4% in 2023.
“Brands advertising in ad-supported streaming environments have an incredible opportunity to engage with attentive consumers, but the rapidly evolving media landscape makes it difficult for advertisers to efficiently and resourcefully launch interactive advertising campaigns,” said Mike Fisher, executive director, investment innovation, GroupM U.S.
Benchmark testing should be completed early this year, in time for 2024-2025 Upfront planning, before the program is rolled out to more markets.