In a survey conducted among 250+ leaders at advertising agencies, media providers, and tech companies around the world, Mediaocean gathered insights and sentiment on topics including channel convergence, identity resolution, brand safety and more. Chief among the findings was a growing concern from industry leaders about the ongoing challenge of cross-platform measurement.

According to Mediaocean’s research, 46 per cent of those surveyed were concerned with an inability to manage reach and frequency across CTV and digital channels. Additionally, 43 per cent cited a decline in their ability to measure campaign effectiveness. In contrast, when asked which technological innovation would create the greatest impact, 57 per cent responded with improvements to cookieless measurement. As a further nod to progress, many respondents acknowledged “improvements in integrated media planning and execution,” a vital area of innovation benefitting omnichannel marketers.

“2021 brought an acceleration of media fragmentation, as we saw long-standing tools for audience IDs crumble, while consumers migrated en masse to cross-platform TV viewing,” said Aaron Goldman, Chief Marketing Officer at Mediaocean. “However, as this survey signals, a majority of industry leaders felt that this year yielded significant progress against these challenges, thanks to new tech, evolving industry standards, and a greater emphasis on unified campaign execution. As we head into 2022, it’s heartening to see our market adapt and evolve into one that’s more effective and resilient – with leadership taking the inherent challenges in stride.”

In the Mediaocean 2021 Market Report and 2022 Outlook, a key theme concerning today’s leaders was around the explosive growth of CTV and industry-wide sentiment on how to capitalise on this emerging channel. The report found that more than 70 per cent of respondents plan on increasing their CTV advertising investment in 2022, with the majority expecting to increase their budget by as much as 20 per cent.

“As we turn the page on 2021, the advertising industry’s collective focus has swung decisively toward the challenges posed by the rapidly fragmenting and evolving TV landscape. Like the majority of those surveyed in our research, we are laser focused on meeting these challenges and are excited for the future,” said John Nardone, President at Mediaocean. “Marketers, their agencies, and technology partners are already advancing on unified solutions, as our study makes clear. Much of the required integration work is already in progress, so 2022 will see real innovation and significant progress as we bring new capabilities to market.”