"The Reality of the Digital Future": Where the Global Advertising Market is Heading. Insights from the Fusify Team

The Fusify.io platform, as the general partner, took part in the conference "The Reality of the Digital Future," initiated by IAB Ukraine on November 22, 2023. 

We had the opportunity to enhance our understanding of current trends and perspectives in the digital sphere, as the experience and expertise of the speakers at the event were truly impressive. During the conference, experts discussed various aspects, such as the impact of Retail Media on marketing strategies, the role of Connected TV in achieving greater audience impact, and the influence of GDPR on personal data processing.

The conference moderator was Anastasiia Baidachenko, CEO at IAB Ukraine, and among the speakers were Ukrainian and international experts.

"I love being amazed when I receive specialized information presented from a new perspective through the lens of the speaker's thoughts and expertise. I always assess a conference from the standpoint of its speaker lineup, and I sincerely trust IAB in this regard. They always know whom to invite so that even experienced experts and professionals who have been working in the industry for a long time find it beneficial," says Alexandra Nechaeva, CEO of Fusify.io.

The event program included sessions dedicated to forecasts for the development of e-commerce worldwide, influencer marketing, and working with artificial intelligence. Additionally, James Murray, Head of International Product Marketing at Microsoft Advertising, delivered a presentation at the conference.

The Main Ideas of the Conference

The conference "The Reality of the Digital Future" provided participants with a unique opportunity to glimpse into the future of digital marketing. According to Daniel Knapp, Chief Economist of IAB Europe, there is currently a third revolution taking place in digital advertising. We are witnessing a market that is growing and evolving very dynamically. This is connected to several factors, including:
1. The disappearance of cookies, complicating ad targeting;
2. An increase in demand for more precise and personalized advertising;
3. The development of e-commerce, which requires effective tools for customer engagement.

Retailers, including Amazon, play a crucial role in the development of the retail media market. They have access to valuable customer data that can be utilized to create powerful advertising campaigns.

Despite the fact that the retail media market in the United States is more advanced than in Europe, European retailers have significant growth potential in this direction. 

In 2023, the market volume in Europe will be around 12 billion euros, which is 12% more than in 2022. However, in the United States, this figure already exceeds 25 billion euros.

For example, the company Maple Bear Instacart, engaged in e-commerce, considers advertising as a key component of its business model. It utilizes its own data to create personalized advertising campaigns, enabling it to enhance sales efficiency.

This is precisely what Fusify focuses on, offering clients a wide range of vibrant rich-media formats with consistently high reach, premium traffic, and plenty of targeting and optimization possibilities. The flexibility and adaptability, according to Fusify.io's CEO, are elements of a progressive approach to digital advertising.

This presents a significant strategic opportunity. The retail media market in Europe demonstrates considerable potential, although it remains relatively fragmented. Many retailers are just taking their initial steps toward significant volumes, complicating market scaling and, unfortunately, making it less attractive for advertisers.

Moreover, several competing models are observed in the European market. Some retailers are creating their own retail media platforms, while others collaborate with external platforms, and some use a combination of these approaches. However, for the market to reach its full potential, overcoming fragmentation and ensuring effective ad targeting is essential.

Artificial Intelligence as a Marketing Assistant

Special attention, in our opinion, deserves the presentation by Raitis Purins, Head of Marketing at Printful and a board member of IAB Baltics, dedicated to the new role of artificial intelligence in business and marketing in particular.

AI is already helping marketers analyze large volumes of data, create personalized content, and automate certain routine tasks.

This undoubtedly facilitates strategic planning, campaign results forecasting, and audience targeting. Additionally, AI provides specific recommendations for well-informed decision-making, allowing marketers to focus on strategic aspects of their work.

Printful, a company specializing in manufacturing and printing on clothing and other products, has started using artificial intelligence in marketing. Initially, they experimented with various tools but were not satisfied with the results. However, in 2022, they began utilizing ChatGPT, and the situation improved. Printful uses ChatGPT to create diverse marketing materials, such as slogans for T-shirts, summaries of employee reviews, and more.

Raitis Purins believes that artificial intelligence has significant potential to change the model of marketing. It will undoubtedly be beneficial for marketers who aim to save time, create more effective content, and better understand their clients.

"I am convinced that we have correctly planned the development of our products for the next year. We are determined to further enhance contextual targeting using AI technologies for even more precise identification of the display environment and collecting post-click signals for better advertising campaign optimization," explained Alexandra Nechaeva. She highlighted that Fusify.io plans to develop automated testing technology and create dynamic creatives based on user interests, selecting the most relevant content for advertising, which will also be interesting for performance-oriented clients.

Overall, based on participants' impressions, the conference "The Reality of the Digital Future" was very valuable, informative, and forward-looking. 

The Fusify.io team sincerely recommends marketers to join such events, as they provide insights into the latest trends and technologies.