Understanding Contextual Advertising: Beyond Content to the Environment
Contextual advertising, a dynamic approach to targeted marketing, goes beyond the confines of content alone, encompassing the entirety of a user’s environment. More than just tailoring ads to the content of the web pages, apps, and TV programs being consumed, contextual advertising recognizes that the context extends to every facet of the user’s surroundings and life situation. In this comprehensive perspective, the environment becomes a crucial factor influencing the efficiency of ads.
Contextual advertising, not just confined to words
In this multifaceted understanding, context is not confined to the words on a webpage or the imagery in a video. It includes the user’s geolocation, the device they are using, the time of day, the weather, the date to determine the potential financial situation and much more. Important to mention that these signals are not supposed to be stored, but rather help determine the precise context in real time. Such approach ensures privacy-first approach to targeted advertising, where the available data points describing a consumer’s environment are used to tailor the right ad, but not for creating user profiles to follow them online. The holistic approach of contextual advertising acknowledges that the ad efficiency and ability to drive outcomes is intricately tied to the broader context in which it is presented.
By considering the environment surrounding the user, advertisers can craft messages that resonate more deeply and intuitively. For instance, a sports site may display ads for football boots when the sun is shining or suggest shoes for indoor football when rain is forecasted when a consumer is in the proximity of a sports outlet in both cases. In this way, contextual advertising becomes a nuanced dance between the content being consumed and the real-world circumstances of the individual.
Contextual advertising beyond limitations
Moreover, contextual advertising’s expansive perception of context mitigates the limitations posed by privacy concerns. Rather than relying on individual user data, which raises privacy-related issues and is becoming more scarce with the deprecation of third-party cookies across all browsers, advertisers can leverage the broader context to deliver relevant and targeted ads. This approach aligns with the evolving expectations of consumers, who are increasingly conscious of their privacy in the digital realm.
In essence, contextual advertising transcends the conventional understanding of context, recognizing that the environment in which an ad is presented is as vital as the content itself. This holistic approach empowers advertisers to create a more seamless and personalized user experience by tapping into the richness of the user’s surroundings. As the advertising landscape continues to evolve, and the targeting paradigm shifts from 1:1 to 1-to-many, this nuanced understanding of context promises to be a cornerstone in navigating the future of targeted marketing.
This article is written by Alexei Moltchan, Director of Product Management, Strategy and Partnerships.
Alexei Moltchan
Director of Product Management, Strategy, Partnerships, and Innovations | Adtech | MarTech | Data
Alexei is a seasoned professional and business leader with a background in sales and marketing, with 10+ years in product management,8+ years in AdTech, and 4+ years leading product, UX, and partnerships business development teams.
Alexei loves building great products and bringing them to market. He firmly believes the cornerstone for product management starts with identifying a market opportunity, understanding the problem the product is intended to solve, and assessing the value the product
The Future of Creative Branding in the era of CGI and Artificial Intelligence
The Context
In the digital revolution era, the future of creative branding holds immense potential for success.
Brands today face a substantial demand for creative content. It’s no longer sufficient to promote a service merely; brands must weave a narrative to forge connections with their customers. They must share values and philosophies beyond their products, finding an audience that resonates with them.
The Communication Tools
In my view, nowadays the most invaluable tools for conveying a product brand include computer-generated imagery (CGI), still photography, and video production. While I anticipate that augmented reality (AR) experiences may replace many of these tools in the future, CGI and artificial intelligence (AI) will remain pivotal.
CGI serves as a tool to pre-visualize and enhance the visualization of products, allowing them to exist in extraordinary worlds and showcase features and benefits that would be challenging to communicate otherwise.
CGI will eventually replace product photography, leading to a surge in demand for video productions by brands. With tools like Unreal Engine, CGI will be indispensable for real-time product displays and architectural visualization scouting, real-time and post-produced hybrid virtual productions.
Alongside these advancements, AI is rapidly finding a place in the creative branding landscape. Currently functioning as a complementary tool to CGI, AI’s swift evolution demands our attention. It’s primarily used to generate creative visual solutions and aids in the previsualization of video content. As AI evolves, it will become an indispensable tool for both creatives and brands, offering solutions such as crafting captivating scripts and generating voiceovers in multiple languages.
Quality over Quantity
Despite envisioning a bright future for creative branding with CGI and AI, I caution against the easy mistake of prioritizing “quantity over quality.”
AI, in particular, tends to generate numerous outputs from a single input. While this can be inspirational, mismanaging AI may lead to inconsistent outputs, creating distractions for customers and failing to add value to the brands and products being promoted.
While CGI and AI accelerate content production workflows through fast iterations, creating high-quality output demands meticulous attention to detail.
Crafting a product aligned with brand values, effectively communicating to the right audience, and serving as a potentially viral communication tool takes time and iterations.
Focusing on these aspects necessitates open dialogue and collaboration among creative minds.
Final thoughts
The potential and possibilities in CGI and AI for creative branding are vast. However, it’s crucial to be mindful, especially with AI, which can generate outputs lacking strategy and consistency.
Failing to manage AI properly may dilute the focal points and values crucial for establishing deeper relationships with modern customers.
Maintaining top-quality outputs is more than ever fundamental for elevating the brand and working effectively.
This article is written by Gabriele Ricci, Creative Motion Director
Gabriele Ricci
Creative Motion Designer | CG Director | Professional Partner in Motion Design and Creative Branding
Gabriele Ricci is an award-winning Creative Motion Designer and CG Director who collaborates with global companies, international agencies, and brands.
His distinctive superpower is a blend of creative strategy, art direction, and technical expertise. This enables him to serve as a professional partner, leading motion design projects from initial concept to final delivery.
With his personal brand RICCI- Design in Motion®, he created premium video content such as digital marketing campaigns for Emporio Armani, the 3D video promo for the celebrity book of Arnold Schwarzenegger by Taschen, or top-quality digital marketing video for brands such as Ray-Ban and Oakley.
