Blog

With the first month of 2023 behind us and trends for the year starting to emerge, we’re excited to be kicking off a new expert spotlight series at Hart. We will be regularly featuring an expert from each of our service areas – strategy, creative, media, digital, public relations and brand leadership – to discuss what they are observing and most excited about in their field this year.
 
Kira Clifton, Hart’s VP of Media & Analytics, discusses three things she’s paying attention to in the media world.

1. Data Privacy Overhaul – This year, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) officially goes into effect. Passed in 2018, this landmark act will make a significant shift in how personal data is collected and accessed by organizations. Though it is specific to California, the act affects any company that does business in the state, meaning, in reality, it will impact all of the United States. Already, other states are beginning to follow suit with their own privacy acts.
   
   From a brand perspective, we can expect to see a renewed emphasis on data security for Personally Identifiable Information (PII) data, specifically for industries like health care, finance and insurance. As digital marketers, data is such a prominent aspect of our work, we need to revisit the “what” and “how” for responsibly using data in our marketing strategies. We’ll also see a shift in how we measure and benchmark success, from the recent hyper-focus on attribution to a broader approach aligned to decision journey milestones.
   
   
2. Video Streaming Growth – Across the board, the way we consume video content has fundamentally changed – even from three years ago, pre-pandemic. Consumers expect on-demand, variety and quality. This makes it unsurprising that, according to eMarketer, streaming video is slated to continue to surpass linear in 2023.
    
   As Netflix proved with its recent announcement of an ad-enabled version (AVOD), maintaining scale and quality will require marketing investments. Brands and marketers should be prepared for fragmentation; i.e., a wide range of video offerings for specific target audiences across many different platforms. Subsequently, we should expect to see swings in media CPMs (cost-per-impression) and changes in measurement methodologies, as those offerings continue to mature before consolidation and standardization occurs.
   
   
3. Localized Media – Whether due to the continued aftermath of the pandemic, political unrest across the globe or economic uncertainty in the U.S., the supply chain continues to be on shaky ground. Therefore, we are seeing brands increasingly focus their efforts on a more local or domestic approach.
    
   For this reason, marketing needs to take a more local approach, as well. Localized media strategies, in which brand awareness is focused primarily on speaking to local audiences versus mass-targeted marketing methods, are increasing in success. Luckily, localized media strategies also mean localized data, which is some of the strongest types of data, as it doesn’t require third-party cookies (as we predicted, the slow death there continues). At Hart, we have also found hyper-local tactics to be a great tool in ensuring diversity and inclusion in media plans, from place-based to custom messages in any language.