[Marketing Week] Investing in ethical and responsible advertising

As consumers increasingly complain about growing misinformation, brands are heightening interventions meant to protect their long-term brand values and their short-term business results.

A study conducted by MAGNA Media Trials, in collaboration with brand suitability player Zefr indicated that 93 per cent of consumers are exposed to misinformation and expect brands to take action.

For brands investing millions in advertising to establish their reputations, association with misinformation poses a significant risk. Among participants surveyed, 63% saw agreed that misinformation would have a negative impact on how they viewed the brand. As a result, brands are likely to see a loss across key performance indicators.

As a result, new initiatives are coming up to protect and educate brands on responsible and ethical advertising.

One such intervention is the Social Impact Marketplace which was launched by Havas Media Group. Clients and brands signing up to the Social Impact (SI) Marketplace will be offered access to publishers, networks and platforms that are focused on building a sustainable media ecosystem and reaching audiences who are engaged with improving their social and carbon footprint. 

And as brands explore ways to engage with their customers more meaningfully, a new study by the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising, IPA, regarding consumers’ views towards the Qatar World Cup. Showed that half of consumers and two-thirds of young adults have more respect for brands who address issues around the FIFA World Cup being hosted in Qatar than those who stay silent.

In partnerships, mergers and acquisitions news, Havas Group has acquired Bastion Brands, Australia’s independent health communications agency. Bastion Brands will integrate into Havas Health & You (HH&Y), the world’s largest global health network. 

At the same time, Publicis Groupe has announced the acquisition of VIVnetworks, the affiliate marketing agency in Central and Eastern Europe.

With a client portfolio of over 900 merchants across 27 countries, VIVnetworks helps e-commerce brands scale their performance marketing efforts to drive more online sales and unlock growth in Central and Eastern Europe, and globally.

And Hivestack, the global, independent, programmatic digital out of home (DOOH) ad tech company, has announced a strategic partnership with Quotient, a digital promotions and media technology company that powers out of home (OOH) sales, planning, measurement and programmatic buying with its location-based Demand Side Platform (DSP).

The partnership will see Quotient and Hivestack connect their leading technologies to enable premium, programmatic DOOH cross-channel media campaigns on a global scale. 

In other news shaping the marketing and advertising space this week, Brand and Communications Group, Joe Public, recently launched Cell C’s latest summer campaign, “Spin Your World”, just in time for the summer holiday excitement.

After a year of getting ‘back to normal’, the campaign aims to inject some positivity and fun into South Africa whilst giving back by rewarding customers with prizes that are not only awesome, but able to make a positive difference.

New research from Omdia shows online video advertising will generate over $331bn in 2027 and 37% of those revenues will belong to just one company, TikTok.

A closer look at the research shows that Netflix will generate $7.4bn in revenues in 2027, equating to 2% in the online video advertising market.

And finally, IKEA has launched the first-ever guide on measuring air pollution across value chains. The guidance is developed in partnership with Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) and Climate & Clean Air Coalition (CCAC).

Using the guidance, IKEA set a baseline and encourages other businesses to join the Alliance for Clean Air in contributing to clean air and health.

Bob Koigi is an editor at Marketing Report EU

www.marketingreport.eu

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