NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 10, 2018 — In a worldwide call for better respect for consumer privacy and relevant advertising experiences, a new report from Econsultancy commissioned by MediaMath shows marketers understand the commercial importance of focusing on the consumer experience first, yet many companies are failing to adopt best practice.

Based on a survey of more than 400 marketers globally, the report Dream vs. Reality: The State of Consumer-First and Omnichannel Marketing reveals that 91% of marketers recognize the importance of putting the customer first in all their marketing efforts, but more than half don’t fully do so. Meanwhile, 92% of advertisers agree that integrated technology and data allow for seamless and effective advertising, but this level of integration is a reality for only a minority of responding companies. Almost two-thirds (63%) of advertisers and an overwhelming 96% of agencies and technology providers believe that advertising and marketing technologies are insufficiently integrated.

“This report shows that we have a significant opportunity to unite our entire industry around new technological standards, commit to ever-increasing transparency and control and respect consumers’ privacy, while striving to consistently delight and inform them,” said Dan Rosenberg, Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer, MediaMath. “We must acknowledge as fact that marketing must deliver for all members of the ecosystem.”

Other key findings of the report include:

  • 67% rank the ability to dynamically segment audiences as one of the top-three choices for desired capabilities
  • 82% of advertisers and 86% of agencies say the GDPR has had some impact on marketing activities
  • 46% say their organizations have a privacy-compliant identity solution
  • 36% of companies are “very satisfied” with their current technology
  • 53% of advertisers see integration of tech across paid, owned and earned media as “very important”
  • 88% agree that artificial intelligence will allow them to become more effective

The failure to adopt a consumer-centric, omnichannel approach can cause a range of problems which stifle marketing and advertising effectiveness and the consumer experience. For example, meaningful measurement and attribution of marketing effectiveness across channels is virtually impossible without an omnichannel approach. The research confirmed that seven in 10 organizations that don’t take an omnichannel approach to their advertising lack the ability to accurately attribute their online advertising spend to offline channels.

“There’s a general recognition that consumers have changed and that they need to be addressed appropriately, sequentially, throughout the purchase funnel, but it is sometimes challenging to determine the right mix of channels to accomplish that goal, and existing tools for omnichannel execution can be challenging to use, and sometimes don’t offer the ability to address all required consumer touchpoints,” said Lewis Rothkopf, General Manager of Media and Growth Channels, MediaMath, in the report. “The solution starts with integrated technology through which marketers can activate audiences across all channels seamlessly in addition to optimize campaigns from one place, do targeting, manage creative and understand campaign effectiveness.”

Download the report here.

About MediaMath (www.mediamath.com)

MediaMath helps leading global marketers deliver personalized digital advertising across all connected touchpoints. Over 9,500 marketers in 42 countries use our enterprise software every day to launch, analyze and optimize their digital advertising campaigns across display, native, mobile, video, audio, social, digital out of home and Advanced TV formats. Founded in 2007 as a pioneer in “programmatic” advertising, MediaMath was recognized by Forrester in 2017 as a Leader in both the Demand Side Platform and Data Management Platform categories.

MediaMath has offices in 16 cities worldwide and is headquartered in New York City. To learn more about how MediaMath helps innovative marketers delight their customers and drive real business outcomes, follow us at @mediamath or visit www.mediamath.com