One of the, several, benefits that draws many of us to a career in Marketing and Advertising is how quickly our landscape is in constant fluctuation.  We become addicted to the ebb and flow of consumer behaviour – how to measure, understand and predict it, in order that we can better communicate with our audience.  We are both supported, and challenged, by a tidal wave of technological advancement, governed by a dragnet of policy enforcement and guided by the lighthouse of ethical standards along our journey. 

When I look at the agenda for MAD//Fest 2024 the DigiAds Stage becomes the intersection of a unique Venn diagram as the worlds of Responsible Media, CTV and Retail Media collide.  But are these disciplines perfect partners?  

Let’s take the burgeoning market of Retail Media, a subject so broad we have dedicated all of Wednesday 3 July to cover, it is undeniable that Physical Retail Media & AdTech’s fast adoption of Retail Media may have first been likened to a meeting of 2 dogs down an alleyway with both sides having to reassess their rules of engagement and adapt to one another’s ways and means of measuring success.   

Tesco Dunnhumby poses the question “EBIT: the next milestone in retail media measurement?” and highlights the need for retailers to measure what is really important.  Where 1P consumer data, arguably the industry’s most tradeable commodity right now, as deep as the Mariana Trench meets the Stalwarts of AdTech then unforeseen opportunities arise and will be a major part of our content schedule this year on the DigiAds Stage. 

You can look forward to being informed and inspired by the likes of: John Lewis & Partners, Asos, Deliveroo, Co-Op, Epsilon and many more as part of the Retail Media & Innovation Day at MAD//Fest 2024.  

DigiAds welcomes Paul Gubbins as the host of our CTV Segment.  Truly an industry though-leader, Paul’s recent announcement caused @AdTechGod to ask “What’s Bigger News?: Paul leaving Publica or Cookies Staying?” prompting 53.6% response in favour of the former.  Our CTV Agenda will tackle everything from unravelling Macro trends, on both buy & sell sides of Addressable TV, Measurement, adoption of ACR and adoption of CTV in the Retail Media Space.  The stage is packed full of Broadcasters, Brands and those willing to share their experiences bringing this channel to task as part of the MMM.  The CTV Stage kicks off with one of the highlights of the show this year, stay tuned for further announcements on this in the coming weeks! 

Responsible Media completes the 3rd segment of our Venn diagram.  Q1 served up more food for thought, Adalytics, the next gen ad quality and measurement platform shone a light on AdTech Vendors serving ads on “Made for Arbitrage” sites seemingly answer the core questions CMO’s should be asking “Where is my ad showing?” & “How is seeing it?”.  Hot off the heels of this expose came a flood of articles highlighting that Forbes had been “mistakenly running an MFA site for years”!  

In response to these challenges, we bring brands & agencies to the stage to discuss how they are measuring their partners, from an Ethical standpoint on a variety of topics from sustainability through to fraud prevention and everything in between.  We ask how to avoid these pitfulls, an important session where you will learn how to vet and how to be vetted, and what you should be doing to garner trust from your consumers and clients. 

The full agenda will be released in the next 2 weeks, and it’s the most dynamic, intertwined, and inspirational collective of speakers you will have the pleasure of engaging with this year.  

In summary, with the increased need to understand the overlaps, opportunities, challenges and ramifications of each other’s worlds requires hard work and education of subjects and processes outside your....usual, day to day.  Be kind to yourself and make sure that DigiAds at MAD//Fest is on your schedule.

Do not drown in uncertainty or doggy paddle in ignorance when you can learn to swim, buoyant with everything you experience at DigiAds @ MAD//Fest 2024!