2022 Media & Performance Marketing Trends

To support agencies, brands and publisher partners with 2022 planning, we asked our Rakuten Advertising experts to share their predictions for media and performance marketing trends.   

People and the Planet, Over Profits  

Sustainability and building sustainable practices across the fashion and retail verticals will continue to be a huge focus for brands in 2022. For the first time, businesses attended Cop26 resulting in big brands committing to drive more sustainable practices throughout their companies.  

In 2022, brands will continue to evaluate their supply chains. Positive Luxury suggested at a recent webinar that brands move away from supply chains and toward value chains. In doing so, brands will seek to understand supply chains and their impact on society and how they can adequately invest in and give back to communities.  

Additionally, a growing trend amongst consumers is driving the rise of ‘recommerce’. Expanding rental and subscription services allows brands to profit from the reuse and service provision rather than increased consumption. Leading brands across the globe are already designing products with reuse in mind, and Forester predicts that investment in companies facilitating recommerce in 2022 will push into the single-digit billions of US dollars.   

Context is King, and Content is Queen  

As with previous years, compliance and privacy regulation will continue to shake up the media and performance marketing industry. Advertisers and publisher partners will have to get on board if they haven’t already. The loss of third-party cookies will make hyper-personalized targeting difficult. Marketers will need to return to ‘old school’ tactics like context, a trend we’ll see rise across media and performance marketing.   

For affiliate partners and advertisers, this comes in the form of content commerce and influencer marketing. Instagram continues to monetize its offering for influencers, while content and media houses lean on the rise in popularity of ‘shoppable commerce.’ Both content commerce and influencers place marketing messages in a native environment for the consumers, which doesn’t feel invasive and aligns to their interests and likes based on the platform they’re choosing to spend their time.  

Similarly, on the media front, the challenge of using personalization strategies will increase next year. Conversation in the industry has shifted from the loss of cookies and identifiers to the inability to target consumers. Agencies and brands who understand the value of connecting with consumers within the context of a moment will do well in mitigating the challenges caused by the depreciation of cookies. This is where Connected TV (CTV) comes into play.  

The Year of CTV – Again! 

CTV has earned its place within the marketing and advertising mix, giving brands and agencies the ability to reach consumers who don’t watch traditional or linear television. A CTV strategy complements existing TV or video tactics by increasing reach, particularly with younger audiences.  

As mentioned above, the ability to target people based on the context of a moment they’re in will be more significant next year, adding to the value that CTV offers, leading to 2022 once again being the year of CTV. Over recent years suppliers have been establishing their CTV offering and focused on attracting supply and demand. Next year these same players will be looking at how they can monetize their offerings, and we’ll be hearing even more about the power of CTV.  

For agencies and brands looking to stay ahead of the curve, they’ll need to partner with suppliers who have the expertise and proven results in driving reach and growing brand awareness via CTV platforms.   

For more strategies and trends for 2022 or to find out how Rakuten Advertising can support your business objectives, visit rakutenadvertising.com and speak to an expert.