With so much change ahead, what media data should marketers look at?

Watch the entire session live as part of the Digital Transformation Festival line-up.

One of the top topics was that media data and metrics had to better align with sales, particularly as businesses get more focused on their D2C efforts.

“In the last two years, more and more companies are focusing on their D2C business,” says Samsung’s Grover. “Every function, especially digital marketing, sits right at the center to answer the challenges and the key metrics of the D2C business. The metrics have changed and the platforms are evolving to optimize our campaigns based on revenue and sales. That gives us more confidence in understanding the data and in optimizing in the right direction.”

Two other important topics also emerged: privacy and attention metrics – both of which are intrinsically linked, according to DoubleVerify’s Hemmady: “The reason attention metrics are important is that brands are moving towards privacy-friendly solutions, but at the same time they also need a more precise measurement solution in place, so brands and agency partners can be ready for the post- cookie world.”

Dentsu’s Mehotra agrees, adding: “I think attention is an exciting space to play in. There was an article that said consumers today get exposed to about 5,000 ads a day across touchpoints. Clearly advertising today is in surplus but attention is really what's scarce. Attention metrics are, we believe, a way for you to measure the efficacy of the media spend and the quality of the engagement.”

As to what marketers need to do to make sure they can keep up with the evolving media data landscape, Income’s Huang says marketers need to upskill, as well as approach data as a way to incrementally know customers a bit better.

“I honestly think that the marketer’s job today, compared to 15 years ago, is a whole different world,” she says. “If we don't know tech skills and we don't have first-party data, we don't put our customer at the core of every decision we need. At Income, we just try to focus on how we can incrementally know our customer better.”

To hear more tips on what approach to take in an ever-evolving media data landscape, watch the full session from The Drum’s Digital Transformation Festival here.