NEWSLETTER

Media Q2 2022 Newsletter

Enabling Every Connection at Cannes Lions

“Cannes Lions: The International Festival of Creativity” is a global destination and the definitive benchmark for creativity that drives progress in the ad industry worldwide. And members of IRI’s global media team were honored to be there again this year to help drive it — and to connect with clients and prospects on the beautiful French Riviera after a two-year hiatus. From June 20 to 24, we shared the latest in IRI media technology, analytics and data, which enable companies to connect and optimize their marketing and media plans like never before.

These conversations included an overview of IRI Fusion™, the unified marketing measurement solution that provides cohesive consumer insights. It gives clients data covering 93% of all U.S. households, offers 50% shorter measurement turnaround time and drives two to three times greater incremental sales.

IRI Global Head of Media Jennifer Pelino also joined moderator Ronda Carnegie of The Female Quotient and fellow panelists from Meta, IPG and BBDO to discuss gender equality at the intersection of art, design, sustainability and technology.

During the discussion, “Connecting the Dots: The Value of Inclusivity in the Creation and Success of Innovation,” Pelino talked about the role data can play in fostering inclusion. “How do you bring about change through data and insights that are going to drive a different perspective?” Pelino asked. “I’ve been working with FQ to do a lot of research, and we’re doing it from a quantitative standpoint rather than just a qualitative standpoint so that we can really prove that what is good from an equity standpoint is also good for business.”

“And we’ve done it with women and how their portrayal in advertising works,” Pelino continued. “How that looks as far as a diverse community. What does it look like for sustainability? And bringing all of those pieces together really, I think, drives a much more holistic approach and also makes you think differently about how you can make an impact in the world today, even with small steps.”

Pelino also sat down at Cannes with Amazon Ads as part of its series of interviews with ad industry leaders, brand builders and influencers. She talked about how IRI is using audience and brand insights to help build meaningful connections between brands and their customers.

“From a customer perspective, I would say that the demand for relevant advertising isn’t changing,” Pelino said. “They are demanding more. They understand that marketers can provide them more information, better information that’s relevant to them.” Watch the 91-second clip here.

Effectively Measure Ad Sales Performance on Twitch

An average of over 2.5 million people are viewing Amazon’s interactive livestreaming platform, Twitch, at any given moment, and over 1.3 trillion minutes of content were watched by the Twitch community in 2021 alone. Throughout the same year, more than 15 million people streamed content they created for the first time on Twitch. As more marketers start to embrace the potential of this platform, they need the ability to test and learn to effectively measure the results of their advertising efforts on Twitch.

IRI’s recent expansion of its IRI Lift™ for Amazon solution to include measurement of ad campaigns on the Twitch platform makes this possible. IRI Lift can now seamlessly integrate Twitch’s advertising exposure data with its data assets to link advertising exposure on Twitch to actual offline purchases at the creative, media tactic, audience, product and demographic levels. Advertisers can access in-depth campaign analytics to optimize their ad content, audiences and formats to drive sales more effectively and also to establish benchmarks that can help further enhance the ROAS of their Twitch campaigns over time. For more information, reach out to your IRI representative or IRIMedia@IRIworldwide.com.

Media Input on Consumer Demand in 2022

As CPG brands and retailers seek continued growth and deeper consumer engagement, effective media campaigns form a critical piece of the puzzle. But today’s ever-diversifying array of new media formats and a fast-changing privacy landscape only increased the challenge of achieving successful media activation.

The latest entry in IRI’s “Mapping Consumer Behavior in 2022” series explores how brands and retailers can leverage 100% deterministic data to successfully reach customers in this environment. It also reveals key strategies for best employing CTV advertising, influencer campaigns, retail media networks, purchase-based targeting and emerging platforms as part of an integrated media activation plan.

By employing these tactics and measuring them effectively, marketers can reach their target customers more effectively and maximize their ROAS in 2022 and well into the future. Read the report here

Six Essential Questions to Ask About Retail Media Networks

IRI EVP of Retail Marketing Solutions Mike Ellgass recently joined Katie Vogt, head of media planning and execution for the Walgreens Advertising Group, at the Retail Media Summit in Chicago to share insights on retail media networks, an important channel in the advertising strategy for many brands. To maximize the potential of RMNs, brands need to establish well-defined goals, like winning back lapsed brand buyers, promoting a limited-distribution item or attracting new buyers.

In the session, Ellgass shared the six attributes that brands should look for when analyzing RMNs to determine whether a network will help them achieve their revenue and market-share goals. The essential questions to ask any retail media network provider include:

  1. Is the RMN focused on retail media, or just media? What is the network’s approach, and does it align with your brand’s needs?
  2. What is the quality of the RMN’s first-party data in terms of its freshness, granularity, scale and omnichannel reach?
  3. What are the RMN’s data management capabilities? Does it offer the reach potential to scale up enough to move the needle for your brand?
  4. What are the optimization triggers within the RMN that drive performance?
  5. What level of creative functionality does the RMN offer? Can the network integrate its offering into your channel strategy — or do you need to tailor your strategy to work within their site?
  6. What are the network’s measurement capabilities? Can it provide data on essentials such as incremental sales, frequency, exposure and post-campaign insights?

Mike and Katie concluded by sharing how brands can maximize their investment in this increasingly important advertising channel. To learn more, reach out to your IRI representative or IRIMedia@IRIworldwide.com.

Unleashing the Power of Multicultural Marketing

Multicultural marketing is an urgent priority and a foundational element of any marketing approach that hopes to reach mainstream consumers in America today. While the nation’s shift to a multicultural majority has long been a topic of discussion, the 2020 U.S. Census revealed that America’s non-Hispanic white population has declined eight years ahead of predictions. Based on these updated stats, we know now that Americans under 18 likely reached multicultural-majority status in 2015, those under 35 will reach the milestone in 2023 and Americans under 50 will reach that milestone in 2028.

Gregory Curtis Jr., IRI’s director of emerging media and influencer marketing, recently explored this topic in a blog that shares six tips for succeeding in multicultural marketing. Curtis and Pelino also explored the topic of multicultural influencer marketing more thoroughly in a recent webinar panel discussion with leaders from Mars, Fashion Fair Cosmetics, Meta, BET Networks and OMD. Watch the multicultural influencer marketing webinar to hear their insights on how organizations are best leveraging and optimizing influencer marketing, the top priorities for brands’ influencer campaigns and the significance that multicultural influencers will play in the future of marketing.

IRI tools such as IRI and Geoscape Acculturation Audiences can help your brand quickly and cost-effectively target specific U.S. multicultural households for specific campaigns at a level of scale and accuracy not historically available. To learn how, contact your IRI representative or IRIMedia@IRIworldwide.com.