Ahead of dishing out the honors, Ad Age looked at some trends that shaped the industry in 2023 and are sure to remain influential in the year ahead.
Generative AI bosses
The industry has concerns about AI replacing jobs in digital media, but there also is opportunity in the AI transformation. Major ad agencies and tech companies are looking for people who can work with AI. This year, Coca-Cola became perhaps the first major global brand to appoint a head of generative AI, Pratik Thakar. Coca-Cola has been on a marketing expedition with its use of AI in transforming the brand.
Marketers are using generative AI to write ad copy, handle internet ad campaigns, and create new artistic concepts. Google, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, TikTok and others have developed AI ad products. Google, for instance, has been pushing Performance Max, a performance marketing engine, as its main AI ad template. Brands such as Mondelēz are interested in Google’s Demand Gen AI ad product, which was made for reaching new customers and social media style advertising.
Still, marketers and brands will have to take care in the AI landscape, as there have been concerns that too much automation takes away their control of the ad levers. Plus, ad agencies and brands are being bombarded with offers for ad products that promise AI, when they are not really using AI, as Ad Age warned in December.
Streaming TV battle
With Apple building its ad business, and Amazon launching Prime Video ads, there is plenty to watch in connected TV. Media buyers must keep up with the developments. Disney, for instance, is hosting its annual Tech and Data Showcase during CES in Las Vegas on Jan. 10, Ad Age reported.
Rita Ferro, president of global advertising at Disney, told Ad Age’s Parker Herren recently that the platform, mostly known for Disney+, Hulu and ESPN, is focused on shoppable ads, “social extensions,” and “gamification of the advertising experience.”
Shopping, social media and gaming are all hot topics. Amazon hosted the first Black Friday NFL game in November, and brands from Bose to State Farm were interested in connecting ads to shopping on the e-commerce site.
Roku, NBCUniversal, Amazon and others will also be at CES in January to showcase ad tech.