The advertising industry faces a number of challenges in the coming year. Particularly in times of crisis, it is crucial to boldly break new ground. For HORIZONT guest author Frank Möbius, this includes, above all, driving digitization forward together. There is still a lot of growth potential here, especially for classic genres like TV and outdoor advertising, writes the Managing Director of Goldbach Germany.

There's a lot coming up for us as an advertising industry: According to the GWA, almost 80 percent of members are already affected by budget cuts or their announcements. About one-third forecast a rather difficult business development for 2023. More bad news is to be expected. How should the industry position itself between inflation, possible lower economic growth and further budget cuts? The answer is obvious. By seizing the opportunities of a key parameter that will undoubtedly determine the costing through of media plans in 2023: efficiency.

Advertising professionals will have to demonstrate more than ever that every euro is very well spent and delivers results. Brand communication is indispensable for every company in this regard. Long-term studies show that brands and products lose advertising recall if they do without advertising altogether. In this context, something else must come into focus: We must exploit the potential of digitization even more consistently and transform the media channels that are currently so central, such as TV advertising or outdoor advertising, at an increasingly rapid pace.

Two examples: In the area of TV advertising, CTV complements good old linear TV with completely new possibilities: TV advertising is conquering on-demand content, making it programmatically bookable and thus even more measurable, flexible and targeted, and reaching new target groups that are just emerging, such as so-called "heavy streamers" or "cord cutters" who consume exclusively via the Internet and no longer via traditional reception channels: TV use across all generations is therefore changing significantly. In the 14-19 age group, 80 percent already access Internet-based content on TV. In the 50+ generation, linear TV still predominates, but the growth rates in streaming use are growing significantly. Over 5 percent of all TV households are cord cutters.

Outdoor advertising, which is hard to imagine a vibrant city without, is undergoing a similar fundamental transformation. It is becoming digital-out-of-home and opening up advertising channels on digital screens not only at the classic billboard, but also at bus stops, gas stations or e-charging stations. And these advertising channels can also be booked programmatically. Here, too, this enables more flexible and efficient campaign management.

However, both of these tried-and-tested channels, with all their challenges, also illustrate where we as an industry still need to improve in order to be able to demonstrate and map the efficiency gains described at the beginning. For years, advertising has been moving toward a more data-centric approach. Internet technologies are enabling more precise collection, sorting and efficient use of data. In this context, the advertising industry must work together to jointly develop new standards for measurability and playout.

The founding of IDOOH by Ströer, DMI and Goldbach in 2022 was an important milestone in the DOOH sector. Here, such market standards are currently being developed in order to establish a uniform DOOH currency for the entire industry. Something similar should also happen in the CTV area. Important here: A consolidation and unification of market standards, as more and more players enter the market. The range is wide: from technology providers to content providers and OTT platforms, there are many different players. They all benefit from a uniform standard.

This offers a valuable opportunity for collaboration. We can show as an industry that we can move forward together and thus strengthen each other. The goal should be to offer our customers the best possible digital advertising spaces where they know their advertising dollars are well spent through transparency and efficiency.

The HORIZONT guest article by Frank Möbius can be read here: Link