TERRY KANE, MANAGINING DIRECTOR, MEA OF THE TRADE DESK ON OMNICHANNELS AND HOW THEY RETAIN ATTENTION
Terry Kane, Managing Director, Middle East & Africa, The Trade Desk on ominchannels, their definition and them being “more than the sum of their parts”.
To many, even in the industry, “omnichannel” is a vague term, can you define that more both to the professional and the layman?
Omnichannel advertising is a game-changer. It allows marketers to tap into the unique strengths of individual media channels while also unlocking the power of combining them together. Since audiences are spread across so many different platforms, this approach helps media buyers understand what channels—or combination of channels— reaches their audiences most efficiently.
Simply put, omnichannel campaigns combine three or more channels in dynamic ways to meet people where they spend their time.
The media landscape has never been more fragmented, with audiences engaging across a constantly growing array of channels and devices. Today’s digital journey is no longer a simple, linear path—it’s a multi-faceted experience that evolves throughout the day. To keep pace with this ever-changing reality, media plans cannot rely on a single-channel approach. This is where an omnichannel advertising strategy comes into play.
As a mobile-first region, home to one of the world’s most useful populations, there is rocket-growth potential for the industry to lean into omnichannel. With the shift from traditional advertising channels to digital, consumers spend a lot of time on connected devices, including smartphones, CTVs and computers, and are exposed to digital out-of-home screens. Looking at the UAE, 65% watch streaming content daily which account fror an average 11% weekly time. Brands need to establish and build consumer loyalty through coordinated, relevant advertising across digital channels to win hearts and minds. The industry is ripe for a change in strategy and the opportunity is right in front of us.
Can you walk us more as to the results of the survey you have conducted? And how does this affect advertising people?
Before I get into the results, let me first shed a bit more light on the research methodology we used. For this study, we developed a research programme that combined several methodologies to dive into how omnichannel advertising works, and importantly, why. We did a naturalistic neuro-insights experience to understand the subconscious effect of different advertising strategies with three-hour media sessions with 78 participants, a large-scale survey to understand audience needs across media, and 30 participants kept detailed media diaries documenting their media consumption patterns and encounters with advertising.
Combining these research methods uncovered the extent and depth of the advantage omnichannel campaigns have over disconnected ones, both for brand performance and the audience experience. For instance, omnichannel campaigns were found to be 1.5x more persuasive and 2.2x less fatiguing than disconnected campaigns. In fact, omnichannel campaigns outperformed disconnected campaigns across all metrics measured. They gleaned 1.4x attention, 1.9x emotional connection and 1.2x the long-term memory encoding.
What this means is that omnichannel campaigns delivered better recall (immersion), brand salience (attention), brand association (long-term memory) and intent (connection), whilst also delivering a better consumer experience.
The results are clear: channels are more effective when they connect together. This research proves that integrating multiple channels in an omnichannel strategy not only improves performance for marketers but also creates a more seamless and engaging experience for audiences.
Truth be told your sample seemed to be non-GCC, do you feel the same applies to the region and the “average” consumer here?
This research is designed as a macro exploration of omnichannel strategies, though the application will ultimately vary by brand, audience and specific campaign KPIs. By using a combination of methodologies, we sought to understand the impact of omnichannel in a broadly universal way, elevating beyond a specific campaign or moment in time. By sharing the findings of this research, we aim to inspire marketers to adopt a more connected approach to advertising and experiment with the alchemy of omnichannel.
Consumers move through eight distinct media engagement spaces daily, yet the question is – do we still pay attention to them as we ought to? If not, how do we push consumers to do so?
Critically, this research showed that media consumption isn’t random - there are predictable patterns tied to people’s daily routines and psychological states.
By applying a framework called ‘dynamic engagement spaces’ to the quantitative data, we gained a deep understanding of audience media engagement using three dimensions:
Mindsets: The emotional and rational motivations behind how people engage with media.
Moments: The contexts in which people use media, whether at home or outside, and what they are doing at that specific time.
Media: The specific media that people choose based on their mindset and the moment they’re in.
Based on this framework, we identified eight media engagement spaces that audiences navigated throughout their day. We also uncovered the factors that drive audiences to engage with different types of media within those spaces, helping us determine which channels are most effective for reaching consumers.
By understanding audiences' media engagement spaces through the day, we gather a deeper understanding not only of the right channel to reach them on, but also the best way to craft an advertising message for each space.
From a regional perspective, what could be interesting for further development of this, is to use this framework to see how people move through the different engagement spaces through their day with the rhythms of Ramadan for brands to see how they can connect most effectively with audiences across multiple channels and devices during the holy month.
Apparently, omnichannels are “more than the sum of their parts” meaning they feed on each other, can you explain this further?
That’s true, channels are stronger together and in an omnichannel strategy channels are united for greater impact.
Even in a disconnected strategy, each channel serves a specific purpose. It acts as a touchpoint for the audience and is particularly skilled at delivering on a specific KPI. However, the alchemy that occurs when channels are connected in an omnichannel way supercharges them far beyond how they perform in a silo. We can understand this better by taking some key channels in turn:
Connected TV (CTV) is most effective for building emotional connection. In an omnichannel strategy, it captures higher attention and is less fatiguing than when exposed in a disconnected way. We see a rise in CTV viewing habits in the UAE, which is a result of the growth of streaming platforms and the availability of diverse content
Audio reaches audiences when no other channel can, whether they’re preparing for their day or seeking background companionship. On its own it provides high recall, but in an omnichannel context it delivers even higher recall and stronger emotional connection, therefore reducing audience fatigue. With the growth of audio in the MENA region, there is a vast, cost-effective opportunity for audio in this market. In Saudi Arabia and the UAE 67% and 62% listen to one hour a week above the US level of 38% and 26% in the UK.
Digital-out-of-home (DOOH) excels at building brand associations by encoding messages into long-term memory. In an omnichannel strategy, it serves as a strong primer for other channels. There have been many advancements in Programmatic Digital Out of Home (PDOOH) in the UAE and Qatar in particular, making these markets globally competitive, but there are no programmatic opportunities for DOOH in Saudi Arabia yet, another big market that lies in front of us.
Display and online video, these channels (tested together due to how they are consumed) saw the greatest performance boost when connected in an omnichannel strategy. Display and online video saw 4.7x the attention, 5.8x the emotional connection and 3.3x greater memory encoding in an omnichannel strategy, compared to the same ads in a disconnected approach. This highlights the importance of identity and retail strategy in this space here in the region. In this market it’s all ahead of us to reap the full potential.
