DV recently brought its internationally renowned Trendspotting series to Germany for the first time to provide advertisers with an in-depth market analysis of trends that are moving the industry. This event presented the latest insights into German consumer sentiment and behavior. With a panel of brand and agency experts, DV discussed current market challenges and the role they play in 2024 media planning.

Here is our recap of Trendspotting 2024 in Düsseldorf.

Trends to Watch: Einblicke und Empfehlungen

Keynote: Johanna Wahlroos, VP Global Client Strategy, DoubleVerify

In her keynote address, Johanna Wahlroos set the theme of the day’s discussions by highlighting three trends that are impacting the German industry today.

Trend #1: Content Consumption Soars; Quality Issues Remain

German consumers are more connected now than ever. The digital habits they picked up during the pandemic weren’t a transient phenomena; they’re now part of consumers’ daily lives. In fact, according to DV’s 2022 Four Fundamental Shifts report, three out of four people in the EMEA region spend the same or more time watching content on streaming services today compared to before the pandemic. And nearly one-half of consumers have subscribed to additional streaming services over the last 12 months.

Connected TV (CTV) has seen the largest growth out of any other content category in recent years. DV’s 2023 Global Insights Report, for example, revealed that Germany’s CTV use grew by 74 percent last year. With this growth, though, advertisers should remain aware of the quality issues that occur within channels that are in high demand. According to DV’s analysis, one in four top CTV apps continued playing ads while the TV was turned off. This is why it’s critical for advertisers to put protections in place — using always-on verification — to keep media budgets safe. 

Trend #2: The Rise of Values-Based Marketing Continues

German consumers care about values and authenticity. And as DV’s 2022 Four Fundamental Shifts report shows, this has a tangible bottom-line impact. According to the report, 61 percent of German respondents said that they find genuine and authentic companies to be appealing. On the other hand, 58 percent of respondents held brands responsible for the spread of mis- and disinformation, and nearly 50 percent of respondents stated they would actively lobby against a brand or product that is seen next to misleading or disinforming content.

Many advertisers are implementing a values-based marketing approach to accommodate consumers that seek meaningful connections and experiences with brands they support and trust while still maintaining brand safety and suitability. 

Trend #3: The Attention Fragmentation Challenges Advertisers

Consumers are inundated with ads every single day. While they’re below the worldwide average, Germans spend an average of 5 hours and 12 minutes online daily. With this constant flow of information, it’s natural for advertisers to wonder if viewers are even paying attention at all. 

Advertisers that are able to cut through the noise and deliver relevant messages to engaged consumers can reliably drive business outcomes at scale. This is why it’s essential for marketers to implement the use of attention metrics in their campaign strategies.

Advertising Hat Trick: Unite Attention, Media Quality and Sustainability

Expert Panel: Daniel Jäger, Head of Group Media, Deutsche Telekom; Nadja Schick, Managing Partner, Responsible Media & CSR, GroupM Germany; and Jenny Görlich, Managing Partner Performance, OMD Germany
Moderator: Philipp von Hilgers, VP Enterprise Sales, DoubleVerify

Here are three of the top takeaways we can extract from the engaging discussion led by an expert panel of brand and agency leaders.

Takeaway #1: “[High] media quality is a prerequisite for impact.”

Business outcomes and efficiency are crucial for performance-oriented advertising. It’s a common misconception that quality measurement is a preference or unrelated to a return on ad spend (ROAS). Instead, media quality builds the foundation for high-performing ad campaigns. Advertisers need to be able to trust that their ads had the chance to be fully viewed by a real person, in a brand suitable environment and within the intended geography. With this foundation in place, media waste is minimized and campaigns can be optimized to drive real business outcomes. 

Takeaway #2: “If I can trust that my advertising is placed in a suitable environment, I don’t need a long media supply chain that emits a lot of CO2.”

The media and advertising industry is producing a lot of carbon emissions. Scope3 discovered that two-million ad impressions equal one metric ton of carbon dioxide, which is equivalent to a round trip flight from Boston to London. According to Scope3’s 2023 State of Sustainability in Advertising Report, over 60 percent of emissions from German advertising is produced by parties associated with the supply path of ad slots. This supply path is often programmatic. By leveraging pre-bid activation, a technology built into programmatic advertising, advertisers can filter out ad placements that are unsuitable for the brand, which prevents the production of further carbon emissions and results in budget savings.

Takeaway #3: “Focus on the right KPIs — ideally as few as possible.”

One appeal from our panel to the audience was to clean up their brands’ KPI portfolios and focus only on those that drive direct business outcomes. One KPI mentioned here is attention. Attention metrics are poised to become an actionable digital currency that “could replace many of the KPIs that were created over the past 45 years.” Attention measurement has a wide range of applications across the marketing funnel that can be tailored to advertisers’ unique goals. DV has found that ad exposure correlates with branding KPIs such as brand awareness or favorability, and user engagement correlates with direct response KPIs such as conversions. Advertisers can improve their campaign performance to meet or exceed these goals by optimizing towards these elements of attention.

From Insights to Action

Watch the recording below to relive Johanna Wahlroos’ and Michael Fuhrmann’s presentation from Düsseldorf.

If you’d like to dive deeper into your data strategy as you prepare for the year ahead, download one of the reports featured in this article or reach out to sales@doubleverify.com.