Month: January 2022

The changes have pushed many of them, from small to midsize brands, to reconsider full-funnel marketing strategies, striking a more concerted balance between brand building and direct response marketing. That means rolling out more marketing touchpoints, like out-of-home and streaming video, in addition to performance marketing tactics like social media and paid search.

“At some point, you saturate acquisition and there’s only so much low-hanging fruit,” said Mike Mikho, full-service agency Laundry Service’s chief marketing officer. “The reason that you move from acquisition to full-funnel marketing is because you’ve gotten all the low-hanging fruit you can and now you need to widen your funnel and bring more people into your brand.

Recently, these tactics have been adopted by brands including Claire’s, Edible Arrangements, Shutterfly, which ramped up social media, among other channels, and Hydrow rowing, with more dollars toward mediums including out-of-home.

Tween retailer Claire’s recently launched what it calls the brand’s “biggest and most integrated initiative to date” with its Be the Most campaign. It’s supported by a robust media plan, which includes e-commerce, store experience, OOH placements in New York City and the brand’s hometown of Chicago, as well as Hulu, TikTok, Twitch, Snap and others.

The push from Claire’s, a 60-year-old brand is intended to bring in the Gen Z audience and their parents. The company has also considered expanding into new categories, such as the metaverse and gaming.

“We have to be present where our consumers are. We keep a pulse on all of the new platforms that customers are showing up in, whether it’s the virtual world, or whether it’s TikTok,” said Claire’s chief marketing officer, Kristin Patrick. “Because [society has] moved so quickly and they’re so in tune with culture, we have to be there as well.”

The volatility of the pandemic pushed advertisers to tighten budgets, especially discretionary spending meaning more marketers invested in quick and easy digital customer acquisition channels. Meanwhile, lockdown measures and mask mandates also pushed more people to shop and spend more time online. 

“What we saw holistically during Covid-19 was marketers shifting pretty heavily into performance media and especially within that paid search,” said Claire Russell, head of media at Fitzco ad agency, noting the appeal of it being high intent and little risk. “Everybody just wanted to talk to the people who are in-market right now.”

It made sense during the early onset of the pandemic, Russell added, but if companies want to build the brand over time, brand awareness and storytelling channels are key. For performance marketers, CTV and OTT seem promising, given the technology has allowed programmatic buys, marrying creative with targeting and measurements.

That’s not to say full-funnel marketing is an industry revolution; some advertisers say it’s simply marketing 101.

To industry observers, it feels like a pendulum swinging. During the digital boom, marketers prioritized digital customer acquisition channels. Moving forward, that pendulum could see dollars going to storytelling channels, such as TV, said David Song, CEO at Rosie Labs ad agency.

“Full-funnel means you are literally in front of that consumer at every single possible area that that person might interact with your brand,” Song said. “The most successful brands are companies that have always done full funnel. And that to me, is just branding and direct response coming together.”

The non-profit consortium, first founded in 2014, differs from its geography-based licensees of the IAB brand, not just because of its global remit but because of its mandate to establish consensus and usher in tech standards that can aid the rise of digital advertising.

And its two biggest challenges today — devising a technical workaround for the decline of third-party cookies and gauging consumer consent for behavioral tracking — are thornier than any it’s faced before. On a good day, ad tech is a multi-tiered ecosystem of competing interests. But Google’s decision to withdraw support for third-party cookies in its Chrome browser in 2023 placed many ad tech companies’ business models in jeopardy, making IAB Tech Lab’s path to achieving consensus on either front a political minefield.

The dominance of Big Tech

The trade org describes itself as the “big tent” where all tiers of the online advertising ecosystem gather to establish rules of engagement; it expanded its membership still further in December, allowing agencies to join its board for the first time.

Its working model has yielded some accomplishments, including the establishment of the real-time bidding protocol, plus agreeing on standards over whether ads served were actually viewed by consumers.

But the IAB’s membership model also gives Big Tech players, primarily Google and Facebook, a place at the table (some would argue an outsized one) when it comes to formulating such standards. And in recent years smaller players among its number have grown to question whether they get their money’s worth in return for their membership dues.

Take, for instance, the protracted case of the implementation of the Transparency Consent Framework — the industry’s solution to comply with General Data Protection Regulations in the EU — which was driven by the IAB Tech Lab and its sister outfit, IAB Europe.

Google, easily the biggest player in the digital advertising ecosystem, stalled in signing up to TCF long after GDPR came into law in 2018. It took two years for the online advertising behemoth to implement TCF 2.0 — the original version of the framework was understood to have overloaded publishers with legal liability under GDPR — a two-year window that saw Google’s advertising business prosper while others faltered. 

TCF 2.0 in question 

Today, many publishers are still convinced that TCF 2.0 favors ad tech, Google included, as they are tasked with gaining consumers’ consent for tracking their behaviors online, before handing it over to intermediaries. These concerns seem justified, especially as the consent standard has recently come under the microscope from legal authorities in the EU.

In November 2021, the IAB Europe issued a warning to members that the Belgian Data Protection Authority was in the process of consulting sister EU agencies on a ruling that interprets the current TCF framework as infringing GDPR. If ratified, the ruling would find the IAB Europe in violation of GDPR. The trade body denies this assertion, but if it were ratified, the IAB would need to create a third iteration of the consent standard, if not the outright discarding of TCF 2.0.

The high stakes surrounding the legal wranglings of TCF mean few are willing to go on record when discussing its compliance with GDPR. Although one source familiar with the wranglings told Digiday IAB Tech Lab is in lockstep with its European sister body. “I support due process, and it’s a good thing [for legal authorities to examine TCF 2.0],” said the source. “But it’s the ultimate catch-22 … the industry took a big step forward to provide a framework to support privacy and consent across Europe but now they’re saying it’s in violation.”

Sources expect an eventual ruling from EU DPAs in early 2022 with all IAB entities keen to underline their commitment to comply with GDPR rulings. 

TCF is not the only tech standard helmed by the IAB Tech Lab to come under legal scrutiny in the realms of GDPR. In June 2021, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties named IAB Tech Lab, along with household tech names including Google, as co-defendants in a case in Germany, alleging that its RTB protocol is also in contravention of GDPR. The ICCL’s case is an ongoing concern, but with recent studies presented to Digiday suggesting that ad tech companies are placing trackers on internet users’ machines prior to gaining their consent, the jeopardy the industry faces is clear. 

The long goodbye 

However, the slow crumbling of the third-party cookie and the search for a viable alternative for a replacement ad targeting tool is where the IAB Tech Lab has (arguably) concentrated the lion’s share of its labors in recent years.

Just this week, IAB Tech Lab CEO Anthony Katsur laid out what he described as a “three-bucket framework” the IAB Tech Lab is using as it attempts to address the conundrum. 

The first seeks to reconcile “unlinked first-party audiences” using approaches such as private marketplaces or contextual ad placement techniques. Second, it addresses ad targeting techniques cultivated by a browser or OS provider with its SKADNetwork list, or through channeling members’ feedback into initiatives such as Google’s Privacy Sandbox. The trade org is also working on a standardized interface to help advertisers and publishers harmonize the industry’s various ID solutions in order to connect audiences.

United front? 

As the countdown to 2023 continues, IAB Tech Lab is now charged with championing the interests of independent ad tech players at a time when Unified ID 2.0 has emerged as the most high-profile alternative to the third-party cookie.

First pioneered by The Trade Desk, an independent ad tech company that has managed to corral the support of (most) of the industry’s major holding groups, Unified ID 2.0 proposes email-based identifiers as an alternative to the third-party cookie. Although, not all are in agreement as some deem the solution as potentially hazardous for publishers – similar to the initial version of TCF.

The Trade Desk has since proffered a number of olive branches, namely by handing off control of UID 2.0 to independent parties to act as an “administrator” to the new standard. The IAB Tech Lab, and PreBid.org have both been proposed as potential administrators of UID 2.0. However, the two trade organizations have, thus far, refused the mantle deeming the role of “ad tech police” as brief beyond their respective charters – they maintain the facilitation of tech standards is their primary remit. 

Although, there is potential for a breakthrough. Commenting about the ongoing negotiations, a source within IAB Tech Lab told Digiday, “It’s been a learning process for The Trade Desk and [IAB] Tech Lab and there’s a desire to get business done, but right now everyone is assessing risk.”

So while uncertainty envelopes the ad tech sector, the IAB Tech Lab appears to be a reluctant peacekeeper amid the privacy wars.  

Since this interview was conducted, Hearst Magazines president Debi Chirichella sent a memo on Jan. 13 to notify employees that the option to work remotely is being extended “until further notice” and that the company “will provide at least two weeks’ notice once we have confirmed our new return date,” according to a copy of the memo obtained by Digiday. In a request for comment, Hearst reiterated this policy.

This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity. 

What was your first day back at the office like?

We were required to go back the week of Nov. 29th. That was the first week that I went in because it was mandatory. I have not been shy in saying I did not want to go back. When I got into the office that Monday, I saw that my colleague was seated in the same row that I was. We did measure and we were six feet from each other – pretty much exactly six feet from each other and neither of us was happy about that. Yes, that’s the guidance – but I don’t know, it still felt pretty close. We were required to wear masks in common areas [but] not if we were seated at our desks, or if we could appropriately social distance. When we got in and discovered that we were sitting that close to each other, that was anxiety-inducing for sure. [My colleague and I] decided to wear our masks at our desks all day. A lot of my coworkers were walking around unmasked. When you’re [working] in person, you walk over to someone’s desk to talk to them. Some people were still walking over unmasked. I rode the elevator with people who were unmasked. There wasn’t a high level of compliance even from the beginning.

How did you feel about being back in the office?

It struck me how unnecessary it felt to be in the office. Our weekly team meeting has far too many people to fit in a conference room with those distancing rules. We are maybe 50 people. We had to do the meeting on Zoom because we just couldn’t all meet in person. So you’re sitting at your desk on a Zoom call at the office with other people who are at the office, and you’re thinking: what’s the point of this? And it just sort of felt very awkward because even though we were in the same building and office area as your coworkers — at least for me I was wondering: is this person comfortable with me coming up to them? Should I send them a message and ask first? It was kind of like a first day of school feeling but add a pandemic on top of that.

What was the layout of the office? Had it changed from pre-pandemic?

It used to be that [my team] was all on one floor. Up to three people could sit in each row. But now, just one or two people were in each row. It was half the number of people on each floor, so we were split between two floors. [Management] put us in A teams and B teams, so that some of us came in [on different days of the week]. Half of the team is not there the same time you are there, and half the team is also on a totally different floor. So it’s harder to collaborate with some people I work with. Either they’re not there physically so there is Slack-ing and Zoom-ing anyway, or they’re on a different floor so you can’t go to talk to the other person on the other floor, without making a plan for someone to get you. Our badges are only activated on the floor where your desk is. So if you go to a different floor, you have to stand [outside the doors] and look through the door like a lost soul to get someone to let you in.

Did you feel more or less productive working from the office versus working from home?

I was less productive. The way my job functions, if I can’t collaborate with someone, I just Slack them or have a Zoom call if I’m working from home. But when you’re in the office and you know the other person is in the office, the expectation is to find them in person. So you’re wandering around looking for them. They moved all of our desks, so you are not sitting in the same place you were sitting before. And if the person is not at their desk, you walk back to your desk and go back to look five minutes later. The social aspect of being in the office on the one hand is kind of nice because you can chat with somebody. There’s the mental health aspect too – being anxious about being there. It’s really hard to concentrate when you know there is COVID running through your building that you haven’t been informed about.

What do you mean? People in the office had COVID and you didn’t know?

I had PTO to burn and was out on Monday [December 13]. I didn’t check my email because I make it my personal policy to not check my email when I’m not working. I found out later we had gotten an all-team email that we were supposed to work from home on Tuesday. I didn’t get the email because I was not in on Monday. So I got in on Tuesday and was like, where is everybody? Why am I the only one here? I asked my manager, and they said, “Oh, there was a COVID case on our team but I don’t know if I’m supposed to spread that around so keep that quiet.” And of course, I didn’t keep that quiet. [The union and I] found out that initially there were seven cases on various floors that week. It was very stressful for everyone obviously. Later that week we got an email from the company not acknowledging the COVID cases at all but saying we could work remotely until after we come back from the holidays for a chance to spend more time with family. It was upsetting to those of us who knew that there was COVID. The day after that email I got tested and was positive and I have been sick ever since.

When did management notify employees that there were COVID cases in the building?

They sent out an email the first week of January when we came back from the holiday break. We could work from home, because of omicron, they said. They finally did acknowledge it. 

Why do you think you got COVID from work, and not from somewhere else like a restaurant or a friend?

None of my friends had it at the time. The only other people I knew who had it were coworkers. I feel pretty confident that the office was where I got it. I take the train into work, and it’s crowded. I could have caught it on the way in — who knows. But I know the only place that I know for sure where there were positive cases was [at work]. I know for sure there were people walking around unmasked and talking with their faces hanging out. No one really knows for sure, but that’s the only data I have.

How safe did you feel at the office? Did you feel that the proper health and safety measures were being implemented, and adhered to, like masks and social distancing?

They can be improved. A stronger mask mandate requiring us to wear them at all times would help. So would being clear that cloth masks are not effective. It really should be an N95 or KN95. Really, enforcement of the rules. [Management] never really said, “If someone is not wearing their masks, this is what happens.” Nothing happens. I’m an introvert. I’m not going to start something because someone’s not wearing a mask. The vaccination requirement is good. I’m glad that they have that. We are looking at a booster requirement.

How willing are you to return to the office?

Not willing at all. I’m not willing. We are in the midst of an omicron surge. The idea of going back into the office before that is resolved is ludicrous. It’s not just the office, right? You have to take the subway to get there and get back. People are living their lives in whatever capacity they are, and then bringing their lives into the office — even if anyone is following the rules to the letter in the building. Forcing people to take Zoom calls from their building versus my building doesn’t make any sense.

What do you think media companies should be doing when determining an RTO plan? 

Listening to their employees is no. 1. How your employees say they work best because people actually doing their job can tell you how the job should be done. It does feel pretty arbitrary when we are very much in the middle of the pandemic to be forcing people to be back just because you want them to be. Booster requirements help. I think mask mandates are helpful. And I think also being flexible — for people who are at higher risk, who have kids at home or elderly parents. Just being more flexible is really important because stressed-out employees don’t do good work. That’s just common sense. If your employees are afraid they’re going to catch a deadly illness, you’re not getting their best productivity.