New York, October 3rd, 2024— Equativ and Sharethrough, leading independent ad tech companies, today released the findings of a commissioned Forrester Consulting Opportunity Snapshot, “Future-Proof Your Adtech Partnerships.” Conducted in May 2024, the study delves into the evolving needs of brands and agencies as they navigate a rapidly changing advertising landscape with a focus on fostering customer connections, and highlights the growing importance of innovative solutions in addressing the implications of data and addressability shifts.
The study, which surveyed 212 US-based advertising and marketing leaders, highlights that customer engagement is critical to achieving advertising goals, and the vast majority believe that sustainable, transparent, and brand safety initiatives hold the key to success.
"Despite the immediate challenges posed by the evolving digital landscape, including shifts in addressability and the phase-out of third-party cookies, savvy marketers are adopting a long-term, strategic approach to safeguard their brand’s reputation and core mission,” said Michael Sadicario, Managing Director at Equativ. “Marketers view the presence—or absence—of third-party cookies not as a pivotal factor for future success, but rather seek partners that can significantly enhance customer connections, including technologies that support sustainable and brand-safe strategies.”
Key findings from the study include:
- Customer engagement is a direct reflection of expected revenue success: The top-ranked annual advertising goal, growing revenue (60%), can be achieved through other customer-centric goals, including improving customer satisfaction (52%) and increasing customer retention (48%).
- Decreasing carbon impact increases in priority: While focus on other advertising strategies is expected to decrease over the next two years, including using cookieless solutions (-3 percentage points) and using a consent management platform (-14 percentage points), decreasing carbon impact is expected to increase in importance (+2 percentage points).
- Brand safety standards are table stakes: Marketers consider brand safety standards as a leading consideration when selecting vendors (85%), but they’re also considering environmental and social issues when directing ad spend (79%), which can have brand suitability implications.
"We believe the study demonstrates that ethical advertising is not only alive but is a crucial area of opportunity for all stakeholders in the ecosystem—brands, consumers, and adtech companies alike," said Laura Bromwich, SVP Sales at Sharethrough. "We are encouraged to see that the future of our industry places high value on these principles. For advertisers, this means that embracing ethical practices can significantly enhance brand reputation, foster stronger customer connections, and drive long-term success."
To learn more and to access the study, please visit: https://equativ.com/forrester-opportunity-snapshot-adtech-partnerships
About Equativ
Equativ’s trusted independent platform brings scale and simplicity to digital advertising worldwide. Serving the interests of advertisers, media owners, and technology partners via its leading SSP and curation capabilities, Equativ provides privacy-first programmatic video, CTV, and data-driven solutions that empower its clients to achieve maximum impact, while respecting the rights of consumers. Headquartered in Paris and New York, Equativ’s international teams are dedicated to fulfilling the promise of adtech, ensuring fair value exchanges throughout the ecosystem. Learn more at Equativ.com.
About Sharethrough
Sharethrough, an Equativ company, is a trusted independent omnichannel ad exchange that brings scale and simplicity to digital advertising worldwide. Serving the interests of advertisers, media owners, and technology partners via research-backed ad enhancements and curated ad inventory optimized for directness, sustainability and quality, Sharethrough maximizes user attention and advertiser performance. Sharethrough has been awarded Best Sustainable Ad Tech Platform by Digiday Technology Awards, Best Sustainable Initiative by Performance Marketing World Awards and recognized among the 2024 Top Programmatic Power Players by AdExchanger. Learn more at Sharethrough.com.
