Dentsu reveals its 2023 media trends

For the second year running, Dentsu International has collectively gathered and published the insights and predictions of all its global media agencies into the ultimate 2023 Media Trends guide for marketers worldwide. Drawing on experts and specialists from Carat, Dentsu X and iProspect the report launched today explores the biggest media trends to watch out for in the coming year.

With over 35 pages of commentary, Dentsu 2023 Media Trends examines 10 industry trends which will shape how brands tap into shifting consumer behaviour and have significant implications for future campaigns and budget allocations. The unique report conveniently groups these key 2023 trends within three overarching categories reflecting core themes of Content, Commerce and Community.

Speaking about the report and the collaboration involved, Peter Huijboom, Global CEO, Media & Global Clients, Dentsu International, says “This year we witnessed a very different geopolitical landscape and a new and challenging economic outlook, which has forced brands and people to really stop and re-evaluate many things. Through all this uncertainty, we’ve been able to see the emergence of new consumer behaviours, exciting tech innovation and the spark of profitable new media opportunities for brands.

“As a leading agency network, we pride ourselves on knowing people better than anyone else and, understanding what’s next. This couldn’t be made clearer than within this 2023 Media Trends report: our media specialists from around the globe have once again identified those burgeoning societal shifts impacting the industry and brought them into the spotlight.”

Lerina Bierman, managing director, Carat South Africa (a Dentsu company), said “On the African continent things are changing at a rapid pace and brands need to be in tune with their consumers on a very human level, connecting with them though touch points that fit into their lives in a seamless way, and hold their attention.”

According to the new Dentsu report, the key predictions for the direction of the media industry into 2023 and beyond are:

Content

2023 will bring changes in the content people consume and how they do it. The speed of the shift to digital platforms shows no signs of slowing down especially in the video on demand and gaming sector. The changes in the general economic landscape will lead consumers to evaluate the number of platforms and associated costs linked to subscriptions. The advance of advertising streams may not only provide an alternative to consumers, but it will also provide brands with an opportunity to attract the attention of consumers and capitalise on advertising streams.

• #1 AVOD eats SVOD – Ad-funded video platform is set to overtake subscription channels with time, as major streaming platforms are adding ad-funded tiers.

• #2 Games Everywhere – Gaming is becoming mainstream. Games are becoming increasingly prominent on content sites to drive repeat users.

• #3 Attention Brings Back the Essence of Advertising – Interest in attention is growing as brands look beyond metrics of reach and viewability to assess consumer engagement and make more effective decisions.

Commerce

Digital commerce continues to evolve, both in importance and diversification of sites, apps and platforms. Consumers are now able to shop at any time from almost anywhere, paving the way for both retail sites and apps expanding their services and offerings to cater for shifting consumer demand and flexibility. The challenge for brands is to engage directly with consumers whilst at the same time planning and adapting for a cookieless future and respecting data privacy.

• #1 From Going Shopping to Always Shopping – Consumers can shop anywhere and anytime. As a result, retail sites are evolving to content sites and commerce sites are changing to media sites.

• #2 Retail Media Shakes Up Adland – Retail platforms and sites are turning themselves into advertising platforms and becoming attractive propositions for brands due to retailers’ huge wealth of first-party data.

• #3 The Rise of the Super Apps – Apps are evolving and continue to build ecosystems offering a wide range of services, to anticipate and cater for user’s needs.

• #4 No Way Back for Third-Party Cookies – Brands continue to navigate a cookieless future and advertisers will explore and test the solutions working best for their brands.

Community

Digitalised communities are a mainstay by now. They continue to change and reflect both technological and societal changes. Social media platforms are adopting their algorithms to encourage engagement and within social media the ‘live’ events are spilling over to other platforms forming new communities.

Consumers are now able to join global communities aligning with personal views on sustainability and responsibility. Brands should understand the motivations and formation of online communities, to encourage engagement and adaptations to future campaigns to better connect with their chosen audience in the context most befitting the intended message.

• #1 'Going Live' goes a long way – Brands and platforms are increasingly using the ‘go live’ functions to build a community to create interest through live events. Not only to bring consumers together, but also to encourage live, active, engagement.

• #2 Responsibility takes centre stage – Communities are emerging through a common emphasis on brand responsibility. Platforms are opportunities to share relevant content and increasingly measure impacts of campaigns.

• #3 Social algorithms give users what they don’t know they want – It is not about who you follow in as much as what social media platforms want you to see.

Each trend is explored in further detail within the report and concludes with clear suggestions and takeaways for marketers and brands to implement into their plans.
To find out more about the trends and to access a free copy of the Dentsu 2023 Media Trends report please visit www.dentsu.com/reports/media_trends_2023.