With corporate and brands committing more resources to advertising as the world gradually adapts to new normal post pandemic, advertising agencies are coming up with innovative offerings and getting into strategic partnerships to tap into the new ad opportunities.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau, IAB, Europe has launched #NoEasyWins campaign highlighting how a ban on targeted advertising would be an ‘own goal’ for digital Europe with negative consequences for consumers, small businesses and small publishers alike.

The activity features short videos asking viewers to consider who really loses out when access to highly effective, low cost digital tools is taken away from businesses and also highlights how targeting is essential to growing advertising revenue.

At the same time, BigCommerce, an Open SaaS ecommerce platform for fast-growing and established brands, has announced a new advertising coupon program with TikTok to give matching ad credits to qualified merchants, encouraging them to explore TikTok’s suite of ad solutions with confidence, financial freedom and flexibility to expand audience reach and drive business growth.

Xandr, AT&T’s advanced advertising company and Rakuten Advertising has announced the expansion of their relationship with Xandr’s Global Supply Evangelism Team (GSET) and the adoption of Xandr’s Monetize SSP.

With the adoption of Monetize SSP, premium inventory that sits within Rakuten Advertising’s unified portfolio across connected TV (CTV), digital video and native will be available in the Xandr marketplace. Across APAC and LATAM (excluding Brazil), Xandr’s buyers will be offered CTV and video inventory across Rakuten Viki and Rakuten Viber.

DoubleVerify, DV, a platform for digital media measurement, data and analytics, and Innovid, an independent connected TV (CTV) advertising delivery and measurement platform, have announced an expansion of their partnership to support the automation of DoubleVerify’s DV Video OmniTag.

These developments have happened as The Advertising Association/WARC Expenditure Report forecasted that UK ad spend will grow by 24.8% this year, reaching a total of £29.3 billion. This surpasses July’s projection (+18.2%) by 6.6 percentage points, making this the largest annual rise on record. As the Christmas advertising season approaches, total investment for Q4 2021 is expected to be £7.9bn, again the highest level ever recorded.

Another report by Research and Markets indicated that the mobile advertising market is evaluated at $180.610 billion for the year 2019 and is projected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 21.95% to reach a market size of $724.460 billion by the year 2026.

Still on advertising spend numbers, Emplifi, the unified customer experience platform, recently released its “State of Social Media and CX” report for Q3 2021, offering key insights on social media ad results, organic social media brand efforts, and CX trends. The report further notes that Facebook ad investments represent a clear sign of the times, with ad spend connected to the accommodation industry experiencing 94% growth year-over-year as countries reopen their borders and travel resumes across the globe.

Elsewhere, VICE and Google Nest have announced their new content collaboration ‘Huisdier Liefde’.

Huisdier Liefde is a co-branded video series that shows famous pet owners using the Google Nest Cam and the Nest Doorbell to sneak a peek at what their furry friends are up to when they’re by themselves. For many people, and their pets, the pandemic shook up their daily rhythm.

And in matters acquisistion, The Summit Group (TSG) Communications, Inc., a full-service marketing, communications and advertising agency focused on growing businesses, has announced it has been acquired by Parpia Global Management.

Parpia Global Management is owned by investor and serial entrepreneur Naushad Parpia who also serves as Chairman of Plative, a fast-growing managed services firm that was recently named one of the country’s fastest-growing firms by Consulting.

Bob Koigi is an editor at Marketing Report EU

www.marketingreport.eu