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Ads still presenting biased representation of women
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Women still lack unbiased representation in advertising in 2023, despite women being featured in advertising more than ever before.

That’s according to analysis by CreativeX of over 10,000 ads supported by more than $110m in ad spend from 2021-2022, which indicates that despite a more balanced presence among gender in advertising, equitable portrayals, and ad spend against diverse content remain low, particularly for intersectional identities.

Bucking the trend of other studies into representation within advertising, the dataset revealed that women appeared more frequently in ads than men. Of all unique individuals identified in ads from 2021-2022, 57.3% were women, and 42.7% men.

The higher frequency of women is most likely connected to the industries included in the study. A 2017 study from the Geena Davis Institute found that women appeared more often than men in ads from Healthcare and CPG brands.

Despite women proportionally featuring more in ads, this visibility did not extend to women with darker skin tones. Across all of the dataset, women with darker skin tones (type v and vi) featured 80% less than women with the lightest skin tones (type i and ii).

CreativeX says measuring appearance and casting only speaks to one part of the puzzle when creating representative content. i.e. inclusive ads that fail to receive sufficient ad spend will not be able to compete with inequitable content in an ever more crowded ad space.

For example, while its research demonstrated that ads featuring women aged 60+ received 221% more ad spend in 2022 compared to 2021, this was still only equivalent to less than 1% of total ad spend.

Individuals at the intersection of multiple historically marginalized identities, such as gender and race, face compounded disadvantages. This is evident when considering representation in advertising.

The research demonstrated that ads with lighter-skinned men in professional or leadership roles received as much as 4x more in ad spend as compared to ads with darker-skinned women in the same roles.

Previous studies have considered the context in which men and women appear in ads. Unilever’s own research found that just 3% of advertising featured women in leadership roles, and only 2% showed women as intelligent.

Despite being among the most educated group in the US, women of color make up just 4% of C-Suite executives, and black women make just 63 cents for every dollar earned by white men. Lack of representation in advertising exacerbates these real-life inequities.

Download the full CreativeX 2023 Gender in Advertising Report here.

AI startups raised over $5bn venture capital funding in 2022
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The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) has captured the attention of venture capital (VC) investors globally. Against this backdrop, 3,198 AI startups received $52.1 billion funding across 3,396 VC funding deals during 2022.

However, an analysis of GlobalData’s Financial Deals Database reveals that 2022 experienced a subdued VC funding activity across sectors and AI space also felt the brunt of a dent in investor sentiments. Although VC funding deal volume as well as value in the AI space declined in 2022 compared to the previous year, the impact was more prominent in terms of value.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, explained: “The number of VC funding deals announced in AI space globally declined by 4% in 2022 compared to the previous year, whereas the corresponding deals value was down by a massive 41.8%.”

AI deal volume experienced a fluctuating quarter-on quarter (Q-o-Q) trend throughout 2021 and 2022. Meanwhile, deal value declined for the six straight quarters through Q3 2022. However, there was a rebound in both VC funding deals volume and value in Q4 2022.

Some of the notable VC deals announced in the AI space during 2022 include $1.5 billion fundraising by Anduril Industries, $580 million raised by Anthropic, and $500 million fundraising by Black Sesame Intelligent Technology.

Bose concluded: “The subdued VC funding activity in the AI space seems to be for short-term while long-term prospects are likely to be promising and the rebound in both deals volume and value in Q4 2022 could be seen as an indication of it.”

Forum Events & Media expands leadership team
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Forum Events & Media, home of the Digital Marketing Solutions Summit, Print & Digital Innovations Summit and eCommerce Forum, continues to grow in 2023 with the launch of a new Business Development department, which will strengthen the company’s existing portfolio of events while also enabling it to branch out into new sectors.

The unit is headed up by long-time Forum Events & Media employee Charlotte Russell (pictured), who will work alongside Managing Director Sarah Beall and Sales Director Carly Walker as the company nurtures its next generation of both events and talent.

Forum Events & Media’s hybrid events comprise highly-focused pre-agreed meetings powered by bespoke matchmaking software that brings professionals together one-to-one, in addition to offering interactive seminars and valuable networking opportunities.

With a 25-year track record that is second to none, the company is also endeavouring to empower those who are just beginning their career journeys, through its new and innovative Forum Apprentice initiative.

As part of the initiative members of staff are encouraged to suggest new event ideas and, if selected, will be mentored through the development process right through to launch.

Forum Apprentice is part of the company’s wider training and development programme, which sees senior members of staff to share their knowledge, helping others to understand the challenges and opportunities of the wider events industry, as well as the strategy and goals of the Forum Experience.

Sarah Beall, Managing Director at Forum Events & Media, said: “Moving into 2023 the business is focused on growth, so I’m delighted to have Charlotte driving us forward into new territory. Developing our staff is also a key priority. We are proud that we have many employees who have been with us for a decade or more, but we are also a ‘young’ company with many ‘early careers’ individuals joining our teams as we continue to grow. We want to ensure that all new starters see a career path within Forum Events and the wider events industry.”

Charlotte Russell, Head of Business Development at Forum Events & Media, said: “I’m thrilled to be taking on this new role at such an important time for the company. In addition to strengthening our portfolio, we want to give all staff members the opportunity to invent a new revenue stream for the business, whilst learning new skills throughout the process. This approach gives everyone a chance to share in the goals of the company and stand out amongst their peers.”

Twitterati shows mixed feelings towards Meta Verified
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Diverse perspectives among Twitter influencers around Meta’s user verification initiative surged dramatically in the third week of February.

Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has launched a paid subscription bundle “Meta Verified” starting at $11.99 a month that includes account verification with impersonation protections and access to increased visibility and support.

And according to GlobalData’s Social Media Analytics Platform there has been a mixed response among Twitter Influencers following the announcement.

Smitarani Tripathy, Social Media Analyst at GlobalData, said: “Some influencers opine that the service is needed to filter fake accounts, as Meta is actually verifying and not just charging for the badge. They prefer the steps taken by Meta to verify over Twitter and slams the SMS verification of Twitter.

“Meanwhile, some influencers say this new change may also give rise to verified scammers. Influencers have also found it expensive for users as the company wants to monetize its new features.  At the same time, some influencers expect the remaining social media platforms to launch verification subscriptions.”

Below are a few of the most popular influencer opinions captured by the GlobalData’s Social Media Analytics Platform:

  1. Ross Gerber, CEO at Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management:

“Meta is offering customer service with their subscription service along with verification. This is well needed on instagram as it’s filled with fraud and fake accounts… and so many ‘influencers’ who can now be verified. Nor are they charging the people already verified. $META”

  1. Ari Paul, Founder of BlockTower Capital:

“Worth noting how unrelated this is to twitter’s program.  Meta is actually doing verification, not just charging for a badge.  And comes with service.”

  1. Mark Gruman, Chief Correspondent at Bloomberg LP:

“Twitter, Facebook etc should charge all they want for verification, extra features, fewer ads, new icons, better customer support etc. Completely reasonable. But charging for things like SMS authentication and for preventing platform problems like bot impersonators isn’t right.”

  1. Rachel Tobac, CEO at SocialProof Security:

“If we’re going to do paid verification at all, I’m glad Meta has required 2FA for it.

This ensures that an additional step is required upon sign in and reduces account takeover. Would love to see additional education on likely scams to steal pw/MFA for these types of accounts.”

  1. Sumit Gupta, Co-Founder CoinDCX:

“After Twitter Blue, #MarkZuckerberg launches Meta Verified badges! Wondering if this is actually thought out for adding real value to the audience or more for generating revenues. Also worried that this strategy may give rise to verified scammers!  Will have to wait and watch”

  1. Ben Parr, Co-Founder at Octane AI:

“Meta is rolling out the ability to pay for verification on Instagram. It will change the entire ecosystem around verification as a status symbol. Will the idea of verified accounts as being important symbols fade away? Check marks mean nothing anymore.”

  1. Ken Yeung, Co-Host and Producer at The Created Economy:

“Will #YouTube, #TikTok and #LinkedIn soon follow suit and launch a verification subscription offering like Twitter and Meta?”

What does excellence look like in B2B Marketing?
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According to recent research, 82% of business leaders find B2B marketing boring – and 88% of CEOs want a bold, contrarian or provocative approach. That’s fine, says Workbooks’ CEO John Cheney, but execution is just as important as strategy. Before going wild with an innovative B2B marketing strategy, it is vital to put in place the marketing engine and ensure the current ‘people, process and technology’ is set up to effectively deliver campaigns and gain real value from creativity… 

Executing strategy

On the one hand, 60% of B2B marketers face reduced or stagnant budgets in 2023. On the other, marketers are being called to tackle the risk averse culture within the B2B industry. CEOs want the marketing team to take a radical approach to the look and feel of the brand, build synchronicity between different arms of the business to pool creative ideas, even create more intense emotions to drive B2B buying behaviour.

But while this call for change provides marketers with an apparently unchecked opportunity to unleash their creative talents, the reality of B2B marketing is that the business will always be looking for a return on investment and tangible proof of value. And that means the execution is just as important as the marketing strategy: however innovative or just plain ‘out there’, if the business cannot run email or Google Advertising campaigns, if it can’t track leads or benefit from trade shows, all that creative thinking will be pointless.

So, what does good really look like when it comes to B2B marketing? Where does technology, including CRM, fit in? And what steps should a company take to make the most of stretched marketing budgets this year?

Step 1: Self assess to identify execution shortfall

It is vital to honestly assess the current marketing set-up when executing campaigns. How good is the business at running digital advertising campaigns? What is the SEO benchmark, and how is SEO performance measured? How effectively are Marketing Qualified Opportunities turned into Sales Qualified Opportunities? How are results tracked? How are sales measured against different marketing activities?

Whether the focus is brand awareness or lead generation – the team needs to both effectively run campaigns and measure the results. The data provided by every campaign is key to the evolution of the marketing strategy, so without that, the B2B marketing process cannot improve. Honestly assessing and then improving any underperforming areas is essential if the business is to truly benefit from the next marketing strategy.

Step 2: Consider technology from a place of success

There are so many marketing technologies available, it is easy to get distracted by the latest innovation. But technology can only accelerate what a business is already doing. So, if the marketing execution process is already working well, adding technology will enhance that process and deliver benefits. If marketing is not working well, tech will simply help the business to do the wrong thing faster: more useless leads, more hits on the landing page that bounce straight off again.

When the execution process aligns with the business goals – the target personas and value propositions – the addition of technology can fast track execution and support the evolution of the marketing strategy.  Using CRM for example, to join up information across the entire sales and marketing process not only transforms B2B marketing activity but also provides the insight required to support ongoing strategy development.

Step 3: Leverage feedback data to support creative strategy

The general perception of marketing is that it is all about creativity, logos and brand awareness. But marketing is actually all about revenue. Without the foundation of ‘execute, measure, learn’, it all falls apart. In addition to using the data provided by effective marketing execution, creating a strong feedback mechanism with the sales team can rapidly highlight the value of leads and provide insight into where plans can be refined to drive additional value.

Conclusion

Innovative, creative campaigns can be hugely exciting, but before turning up the investment dial it is essential that the marketing engine has the capacity to execute well. With marketing execution in place, including the right people, processes and technology, a company can apply a raft of different marketing strategies to reflect and deliver on business goals.

Discover the secrets of the metaverse, social media strategy and conversational AI this May
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We have a great lineup of speakers at the Digital Marketing Solutions Summit, which is taking place in May at the Hilton London Canary Wharf Hotel.

Confirm your free place here.

The day consists of connecting with like-minded peers, benchmarking new suppliers for your upcoming projects based on your interests and needs, as well as a seat at all of our industry seminars, which include:

Why You Should Care About the Metaverse

What’s the metaverse and why it is already here
• Evolution of the communication – from print to metaverse
• Types of realities: Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR) and Mixed Reality (MR)
• Use cases. How you could be using this technology
• Case study

Presented by Bianca Spada, Social Media Lead, Meta Reality Labs

Creating a Social Media Strategy in a Forever Changing Digital World!

• Learn the 7-step strategy formula to social media success
• Learn how to keep up to date with the new features and platforms and how you can implement them into your strategy
• Learn how to set targets against industry benchmarks and measure your progress
• Learn how to integrate short form video content into your strategy and its importance
• Make the most of the organic growth on Facebook “right now”

Presented by: Zoe Cairns, Social Media Consultant/Trainer/Speaker, Zoe Cairns

Attendance is completely free of charge, including all meals, refreshments.

To reserve your place, click here.

Alternatively, please feel free to contact us with any questions.

Forum Events & Media recognised for networking event excellence
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Forum Events & Media Limited, home of the Digital Marketing Solutions Summit, eCommerce Forum, Print & Digital Innovations Summit, has been named as the leading provider of Business Networking Events – UK for 2022 at the Business Concept B2B Awards.

The Business Concept launched the B2B Events Awards in 2021 to champion those involved in the B2B Event Management Sector who expedite Business to Business relationships in the UK and all over the world.

The Awards especially seek to recognise excellence in an industry that adapted so quickly in difficult circumstances during the pandemic, highlighting that “those involved in the B2B Sector are pioneers and delighted to embrace change”.

The B2B Events Awards cover all types of online and in person events and recognise those with the highest standards. To see the full list of winners and more information about the awards, visit https://www.thebusinessconcept.com/issues/b2b-event-awards-2022/.

Awards Co-Ordinator Laura O’Carroll, said: “I am proud to present our brand new B2B Event Awards programme this year. This arena is absolutely critical for business development, brand awareness, and the forging of strong relationships around the globe. I am also excited to see where our winners go to next within their careers. Congratulations!”

Sarah Beall, Managing Director at Forum Events & Media, said: “I’m so proud of our team and the for running such successful high-end events for their industry sectors, which cover everthing from Facilities Management and Security to eCommerce and Payments technology. To be awarded for the high standards of our face-to-face events is an amazing achievement and we are humbled to be recognised by our peers.”

Forum Events & Media continues to grow in 2023 with the launch of a new Dusiness Development department, which will look to strengthen the existing portfolio of events and also branch out into new sectors. All the company’s hybrid events comprise highly-focused pre-agreed meetings powered by bespoke matchmaking software that brings professionals together one-to-one, in addition to offering interactive seminars and valuable networking opportunities.

The format over one or two full working days ensures delegates will meet with credible solution providers who will be able to talk through requirements, concerns and obstacles, offering the best advice as well cost saving products.

For more information visit www.forumevents.co.uk.

ChatGPT, WebAssembly, and Serverless will spur app modernisation this year
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DevOps will be a dominant driver in the cloud computing arena in 2023, as enterprises advance their app modernisation strategies using the likes of ChatGPT and other AI-driven tech.

This prediction came about as part of research by GlobalData Technology Analyst Charlotte Dunlap, who notes that significant innovations in sophisticated application architectures will usher in new serverless deployment integrations with various cloud services, abstracting complicated configuration requirements.

Dunlap said: “Ground-breaking new artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot achievements based on large language models (such as ChatGPT) will ease developers’ cumbersome coding requirements by automating the writing/converting of scripting, particularly programming languages developers are unfamiliar with.

GlobalData reveals that increased AI/automation advancements and accessibility will significantly escalate in 2023, playing a greater role in easing next-generation app development capabilities among developers and DevOps teams.

Dunlap added: “A primary example that highlights 2023 AI/automation innovations is the recent release of ChatGPT, version 3.5. The Natural Language Processing (NLP) model, developed by OpenAI, is trained on a massive amount of text data, so it’s able to generate human-like text and response. In addition to using the prototype AI chatbot to outright create new code without having to know any programming languages, a major use case will be in improving the Natural Language Understanding (NLU) of apps targeting customer service to provide more human-like responses to user-inputs. Such technology advancements will result in a newfound prioritization of DevOps among enterprises, based on a new wave of developer technologies, which significantly remove obstructions hindering deployment of modern apps.”

Additionally, over the next 12 months, developers will have access to integrated serverless app deployment options through key services including database management and app development tools, paving the way for serverless computing to be paired with event-driven architectures.

Dunlap conlcuded: “Since its rollout a few years ago, serverless computing hasn’t lived up to expectations due to the problematic underlying architecture. However, in recent months, providers have worked through some of those issues, including abstracting scalability configuration requirements.

Furthermore, game-changing developer tools, including WebAssembly, will leverage traditional web browser technology to create new uses with containers and Functions-as-a-Service (FaaS). The new technology is able to provide more robust cloud management of apps at scale on the same cloud infrastructure.’’

Third of marketing budgets spent on operational excellence, but results inconsistent
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Thirty-one per cent of marketing budgets are spent on the pursuit of operational excellence, despite having inconsistent impact on overall organisational performance.

Gartner surveyed over 400 marketing operations (MarOps) leaders between August and October 2022 to find that 94% of marketing organisations are formally pursuing operational excellence (e.g., improving processes, building new capabilities). This indicates an acceleration of investment since 2020, when only 49% of marketing organizations surveyed had a dedicated MarOps leader.

However, the survey found that 72% of operational excellence pursuits don’t actually demonstrate characteristics that align with success, putting enterprise growth and marketing transformation at risk.

“CMOs are under pressure to make every dollar count,” said Michael McCune, Senior Director, Advisory in the Gartner Marketing practice. “However, their teams are spending a large proportion of their budgets pursuing change and improvements in ways that aren’t effective.

“‘Business-as-usual’ marketing activities do have to change, but CMOs shouldn’t divert funds away from activities such as advertising and trade shows that could have a more significant impact on marketing’s overall remit to drive growth.”

Strong pursuits of operational excellence complement the day-to-day management of marketing’s work and are associated with characteristics such as automated workflows, effective use of Agile methods and persistent effort over multiple years.

Organizations with strong pursuits were 43% more likely to report exceeding their operational performance goals compared to organizations without strong pursuits, but at a greater cost: They spend 45% more than average and dedicate 18% of their staff to achieve MarOps excellence, compared to the average 5% of staff dedicated to all other pursuits.

“Marketing organisations can’t blindly or ineffectively invest in improvement at the expense of business as usual unless it shows results, given the tight economic and labor markets,” said McCune. “They need to lay a better foundation for that investment and can look to strong pursuits for guidance.”

In order to maximize the impact of future MarOps investments, Gartner says marketing leaders should:

  • Communicate to stakeholders that pursuits of operational excellence will not have a persistently high cost. A new pursuit likely has many opportunities to drive improvements, but it should not be a cost dragged on marketing over the long term. As improvement occurs, resource requirements for continuous improvement should diminish.
  • Seek resolution of known critical gaps. CMOs often know about systemic problems, but lack resources to address them at the start of operational excellence efforts. Make sure to have a dedicated team working to resolve one or some of the known critical gaps so that investment in the pursuit has early payoffs.
  • Ensure that MarOps efforts don’t duplicate enterprise initiatives. Alignment with operational excellence pursuits in sales and service functions is always a good idea, but CMOs should avoid neglecting the enterprise-wide efforts of other functions such as finance and HR that may lighten marketing’s lift over time.

Retailers not seizing 1st party data capture opportunities
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Almost two fifths of retailers employed no form of data capture during online buying journeys, impacting their ability to market effectively.

In-depth research of 99 UK ecommerce brands in its 2023 WunderkIndex Report, which analysed on-site shopping journeys and customer engagement – across both email and text channels – over a 6-month period.

With 37% of the brands audited not seeking data capture, either when a customer first comes to the site, after browsing the site for several minutes, or at the point of exiting the website, retailers could be leaving valuable first-party data on the table. This risks impacting their marketing list growth and future revenue opportunities through email engagement, meaning they are potentially missing out on an estimated 6-10% additional digital revenue.

By the end of 2020, CPC (cost per click) across social media platforms had risen by between 20 – 60% YOY (year-on-year).  Yet, despite these rising costs, some of the conventional paid media platforms used by brands to acquire customers, including Meta-owned Facebook and Instagram, were seeing a 30% decline in conversions.

This prompted many brands to question the ROI of being overly reliant on ‘rented’ audiences on 3rd party channels, especially with the planned third-party cookie cull by Google, set to take place in 2024, added into the mix.

This makes 1st party data now even more mission-critical to drive long-term engagement, revenues, and customer lifetime value (CLV) through cost-efficient owned channels – as well as to deliver ROI on marketing pounds, particularly given the continuing economic headwinds.

The WunderkIndex report also reveals common shortcomings in retailers’ data capture capabilities, with 93% of the websites surveyed failing to include explicit checkbox consent in on-site capture experiences, falling short of GDPR-led permissioning best practice.

Of the retailers audited with capture capabilities, 86% prompted visitors for an email address but just 6% were set up to capture mobile numbers, missing out on customer engagement opportunities via text – a rapidly growing and high-converting marketing channel.  A recent Wunderkind survey of over 2,000 UK consumers found that, while 84% agree that email is still the most convenient channel for communicating with retailers when shopping online, a third (32%) say they now find text just as convenient – an increase of +6 percentage points year-on-year.

Looking specifically at value exchanges offered for customer data opt-ins, discounting was the most common, offered by 40% of brands, followed by newsletter subscription (32%) and other perks such as VIP events, sales access, and exclusive content (17%).  This mirrors consumer demand for money-saving benefits, such as immediate discounting (58%) and free shipping (56%), topping Wunderkind’s recent shopper poll as their preferred value exchange mechanism when choosing to opt in.

Wulfric Light-Wilkinson, General Manager at Wunderkind International, said: “We’re seeing a seismic shift, not only in marketing channel performance but also in consumer behaviour, prompted in part by channel adoption but also driven by cost-of-living consumer behaviours, where the concept of value and that of value exchange are evolving.  And that calls for a change in marketing strategy – balancing the scales and pivoting to maximising value from owned audiences and channels will be absolutely critical in 2023, as retailers work harder to win conversions from increasingly cautious shoppers.  By owning and optimising 1st party data, brands can ensure ROI on marketing spend, while at the same time providing a better and more personalised customer experience.”