| Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... |
As Q4 2024 kicks off and holiday campaign planning wraps up, advertisers are shifting their focus toward crafting impactful programmatic strategies for 2025.
At BRAVE, we’re constantly in conversation with top brand advertisers and DSP executives, gaining exclusive insights into the trends shaping the programmatic landscape.
To help you capitalize on the opportunities this quarter presents and prepare for what’s ahead, we asked 4 BRAVE team members to highlight the key programmatic trends they believe will drive success in Q4 and lay the foundation for the coming year.
“Voice-activated ads represent a growing trend in programmatic advertising, capitalizing on the increasing use of voice assistants. These ads are designed to engage users in a hands-free, conversational format, offering a more personalized and interactive ad experience.
People can engage directly by responding to prompts or asking follow-up questions. For example, an ad may ask, ‘Would you like to learn more about this product?’ and users can answer verbally, leading to further interactions such as product details, offers, or even direct purchases. Voice ads can now be bought and sold programmatically, allowing advertisers to automate the process and bid for ad space in real time.
With the increasing popularity of voice search, smart devices like Amazon Echo and Google Home, and digital assistants such as Siri and Alexa; voice-activated ads are becoming an anywhere-anytime channel to engage audiences with rich-layered brand campaigns.
For example, Estee Lauder’s Send Me a Sample campaign lets Spotify and Google Home users request a sample of their Advanced Night Repair serum simply by saying ‘Send me a sample’ at the end of the audio ad.”
Eyal also emphasizes the seamlessness with which advertisers can purchase ad space instantly. With forecasts of continued expansion in this area, voice-activated advertising is poised to become a powerful channel for driving both awareness and direct actions.
“As CTV ad spend is projected to reach $43.59 billion by 2026, the real value lies not just in the growth, but in how we harness data to drive better ad performance.
CTV platforms are increasingly integrating AI and machine learning to analyze first-party data, allowing for more personalized and relevant ads. With the phasing out of third-party cookies, leveraging detailed user profiles and behaviors is key. But traditional metrics like Video Completion Rate (VCR) are no longer enough; we now need to focus on attention metrics like:
- In-View Time: Tracks how long an ad stays on the screen and is actively viewed by the user, offering insights into whether the content successfully holds the viewer’s focus.
- Drop-Off Points: Identifies when viewers lose interest and disengage, helping advertisers understand what moments or types of content lead to lower engagement.
- Viewer Interaction: Includes behaviors such as pausing, rewinding, or clicking, which indicate an engaged viewer who is paying close attention to the ad.
These new metrics provide deeper insights into viewer engagement and help advertisers optimize their campaigns more effectively, ensuring ads are not just seen but truly impactful.”
Melisa recalls a recent CTV campaign for a major retail brand: “By analyzing first-party data, we identified key viewing habits and past purchase activity. This allowed us to optimize the campaign by addressing drop-off points, and the exact moments where engagement declined.
As a result, the campaign saw a 25% boost in engagement and a significant increase in conversions, highlighting the power of attention metrics.”
Melisa emphasizes how precise first-party data, paired with AI, allows brand advertisers to tailor ads more effectively, boosting relevance and audience retention.
the future of DOOH is clear: It’s about data accuracy and location-based targeting.
In 2024, PrDOOH (Programmatic Digital Out Of Home) campaigns are expected to represent 25.5% of total DOOH ad spend in the U.S., marking a significant leap in investment and trust in this channel. This growing investment signals the industry’s shift from broad, one-size-fits-all ads toward more personalized, data-driven campaigns.
Technologies like geofencing and mobile ID tracking allow advertisers to target audiences based on their real-time location. For instance, PrDOOH screens can display ads relevant to people passing through a specific area, which can then be reinforced through mobile ads delivered to those same individuals.
Beyond location, PrDOOH now incorporates behavioral insights to trigger specific ads based on factors like shopping patterns, crowd density, time of day, and even weather conditions.”
Benjamin stresses the importance of continued integration of data from multiple channels—like social media and search ads—to facilitate an omnichannel approach that enhances campaign performance.
“A perfect example is Mars’ weather-based campaign, which used dynamic triggers to serve ads promoting their chocolate bars during cooler temperatures, when consumers were more likely to indulge. The campaign delivered over 9 million impressions and led to a 32% boost in brand recognition and a 30% lift in purchase intent.”
“DCO allows brand advertisers to tailor hyper-personalized ads in real time, ensuring that each viewer sees something relevant to them. AI algorithms adjust creative elements based on live data inputs. For example, during a sports match, an advertiser might show real-time scores or game highlights in the ad creative.
Nestlé’s Maggi campaign showcases the power of Dynamic Creative Optimization (DCO) in driving website traffic and engagement. Maggi created over 250,000 personalized ad variations based on users’ geographic location, browsing history, and even weather conditions. The ads automatically adapted in real-time, displaying relevant recipes, meal ideas, and local product availability.
This hyper-targeted approach led to a 30% increase in click-through rates and significantly boosted traffic to Maggi’s website. DCO allowed Maggi to deliver relevant, localized experiences that truly resonated with their audience.”
In Conclusion
Q4 2024 presents unique challenges for brand advertisers, with increasing pressure to deliver personalized, engaging experiences while driving real results. The trends highlighted in this article reflect what’s working in programmatic advertising right now. At BRAVE, we know that—especially for brand campaigns—well-thought-out, data-driven strategies are the foundation of success.
Now that you’ve heard our team’s insights, we’d love to hear yours. Let’s continue this important conversation—reach out to consult, ask questions, or share what’s working for you.