Why is it important to keep your brand’s name safe?

In this current era, all players in the ad tech supply chain are becoming more concerned with brand safety.

Brand safety is known as a term used in digital marketing to describe how successfully a brand is shielded from being connected to inappropriate or unsuitable content.

In actuality, this means making sure that advertisements are not displayed next to anything that can potentially damage or negatively affect a brand’s reputation in the eyes of consumers.

According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), it is the process of preserving a brand’s reputation inside the digital advertising ecosystem.

Companies must have a thorough understanding of brand safety and be able to communicate these insights to brand advertisers in a clear, concise manner to secure the highest possible return on ad expenditure (ROA).

Below are Hamza’s thoughts on brand safety that he shared with MARKETING Magazine.

Hamza Kourimate is the VP, Global Head of Sales Marketing and Data Solutions at Dailymotion. He oversees the Sales Marketing, Customer Success, Insights and Data Solutions across EMEA/USA/LATAM/APAC. 

Hamza is also known to be an experienced digital strategy expert with a strong business acumen and deep knowledge of Growth marketing, Ad-tech ecosystems and media strategies, Sales, Audience monetisation, Consumer behavior and User experience.

What are some examples of content that could be deemed as a brand safety issue?

Cyberbullying, online harassment, extremist content, toxic content, and Founder/CEO/Personnel toxic behaviour are examples of content that definitively violates brand safety guidelines.

Brand safety is exceptionally important when running advertisements. Customers tend to create brand associations whenever they view an advertisement from a particular brand. 

Thus, marketers are always working relentlessly to reinforce these associations that help sell their products. Ad placement amid offensive or extremist content creates an unfavourable brand association.

These types of ad placements contradict the narrative the brand stands for or is trying to promote. 

It ends up invalidating any good brand associations that have been established. For example, if you’re a vegan company that accidentally features an ad for meat and hunting gear on your website – that’s a brand safety issue. 

If you’re a butchery business, however, then the ads mentioned above do not violate brand safety guidelines.

What is the impact of brands appearing next to misaligned/harmful content?

We are in an age where consumers have more power over brands than ever before, where they have infinite choices to choose from, with their tastes and expectations everchanging.

Consumers want more personalised content, better and faster service, and experiences with brands to be smooth sailing at every touchpoint. 

Consumers have also become socially active, and they want the brands they support to align with their values. A failure to observe brand safety guidelines will result in boycotts by consumers and, in turn, advertisers. 

The worst that can result from controversy is being cancelled (cancel culture). Therefore, it’s imperative for brands to truly understand their audience and resonate with them if they want to thrive.

What do Southeast Asia marketers/advertisers need to know about today’s digital landscape?

According to a joint report from Temasek, out of Southeast Asia’s 460M internet users, 100M have come online in the past three years; driven by the pandemic. 

The region’s digital economy is estimated to be worth more than $200 billion gross merchandise value (GMV) in 2022 alone and will potentially hit $1 trillion GMV by 2030. 

The threshold of $200 billion GMV has been crossed three years earlier than predicted in the inaugural e-Conomy (by Temasek et al) report in 2016.

After years of acceleration, digital adoption growth is expected to normalise. The majority of digital players are now shifting priorities from new customer acquisition to deeper engagement with existing customers to increase usage and value.

Mobile is the key driver behind Southeast Asians’ adoption of the internet. Many are accessing the internet via smartphones, with the average user spending close to five hours browsing. 

What are the opportunities and challenges to look out for in 2023?

• The Ability to unleash data – Consumer behavior in Southeast Asia is constantly changing. The use of data by organizations should not only be limited to targeting, but also to analyzing consumer behavior in order to plan better media campaigns.
• The advent of Cookieless solutions – The use of first-party data will allow marketers and advertisers to gain a better understanding of their audiences, experiment with targeting strategies, and improve their campaigns.
• Attention measurement – Attention measurement should be central to their creative process. Brands can better engage their audiences by building advertising experiences rather than advertising formats. Eventually, attention metrics will become standard media KPIs, especially in video advertising.
• Sustainability – Brands are seeking platforms to promote sustainability in advertising, as it has become an essential component of recent product development. It is increasingly important for digital marketers and advertisers to engage with advertising platforms that consciously measure and optimize their carbon footprints.