What’s in store for

programmatic advertising
INDIA REPORT 2023

A joint research
study from:
Content
Executive summary

1. Programmatic media evolves

1.1 Four Major Channels: Television, Digital Media, Mobile, And Print

1.2 Investment In Programmatic Advertising By Category

2. How programmatic is evolving

2.1 What To Expect In Programmatic In 2023

3. The big bet of 2023: Discovery Commerce

3.1 Discovery Commerce

3.2 E-Commerce and Programmatic Advertising

3.3 The Evolution Of Discovery Commerce

3.4 The Future Of E-Commerce and Retail in India

3.5 Challenges & Opportunities

4. What’s next
4.1 Amplified Intelligence Becomes A Growth
Drivers For Programmatic
4.2 Navigating A Cookieless World

4.3 Voice Will Further Shape Programmatic

4.4 Advanced Omnichannel

5. Conclusion

2
Executive Summary
The landscape for digital media has radically changed in just a few years. Consumer habits have
shifted as smartphone ownership has increased and people spend more time in front of screens.
People are relying on digital devices for entertainment, banking and even shopping for daily
necessities. E-commerce is on the rise. At the same time, efforts towards a cookieless world and
increased scrutiny from regulators has spurred advertisers and ad-tech companies to shift their
focus from cookies to first-party data.

Marketers must still translate customers’ intent into actionable insights. To remain relevant and
reach consumers, brands need to reconsider the way they manage and use that data. They also
need to reconsider the platforms they use to ensure that data is both valid and that it comes with
customers’ consent.

To future-proof digital advertising for tomorrow, businesses need to invest in the right
technology. They need to refine advertising and marketing strategies and align them with their

“
business goals.

It’s time to connect the consumer’s intent to their journey every step of the way.

“
The future of programmatic advertising is pivoted with Innovation and fully
automated audience driven approach gravitate towards delivering business
outcomes. The evolution of programmatic advertising is transforming entire
digital market place.

- Prasanth Kumar, CEO- South Asia GroupM

3
Programmatic Media Evolves

1. Programmatic Media Evolves

India is one of the fastest growing digital economies in the
world. The Indian entertainment and media sector alone is
expected to reach INR 4,30,401Cr by 2026, an 8.8% compound
annual growth rate (CAGR).

As the use of digital media has grown so too has programmatic

advertising. Programmatic advertising in a select group of
countries that includes India is expected to reach $18.42 billion
in 2026, a 25.67% CAGR since 2021.

Programmatic advertising gives marketers the ability to target

consumers precisely, at scale, and to measure the outcomes,
resulting in a clear indication of return on ad spend (ROAS).
The omnichannel approach to programmatic advertising
allows businesses to target a unified audience, increasing media
efficacy. Additionally, customisation aids in understanding the
consumer in a real-time context throughout their journey. As a
result, advertisers don’t have to restrict themselves to affinity
or intent-based targeting.

Programmatic advertising needs to address the current

moves toward a cookieless world. Platforms and browsers
from companies like Apple and Google are moving away
from the use of third-party cookies. India is adopting the
Digital Personal Data Protection bill. Marketers are
increasingly looking for ways to curate their digital media
strategies in order to acquire and activate consumers using
first-party data more effectively. In addition, data privacy and
security are becoming even more critical.

Advertisers are trying to collect and use first-party data to

personalise the ad experience for consumers. But they must
do so while ensuring that the data is collected with consumers’
consent without compromising their privacy. Consumers’
trust must be earned, by showing them that sharing their
information, while protecting their privacy, can increase the
value of their personalised browsing and shopping experiences.

75%
of Indian consumers
today are still concerned
about how their data is
being collected and used
61%
of consumers have said
that they were comfortable
releasing their data, if they
had control over it.

4
Programmatic Media Evolves

The Rise of
Available
Consumers

The rapidly growing base of mobile users in India, especially in rural areas, is opening the door
for media opportunities that are centralised on programmatic advertising. So too is the transition
from 4G networks to much faster 5G networks, enabling sophisticated features like augmented
reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR). Interactions with brands can go the next level with immersive
gaming experiences across platforms and creative use of personalisation.

To reach consumers, marketers, publishers, and their ad-tech partners will need to develop and
manage first-party data via consumer data platforms (CDPs), consent management, and unique
audience IDs. Data clean-rooms will help keep data interoperable yet safely siloed in data sets to
ensure compliance with policy structures.

1.1 Four Major Channels: Television,

Digital Media, Mobile, And Print
Ad-supported media in India is dominated by four main channels: broadcast, out-of-home (OOH)
media, digital, and print. Here is a look at each channel.

Broadcast Media Post-pandemic, consumers

have gravitated towards
connected TV (CTV), with

People 3.5 50%

spent an Hours of consumers who
average of in 2021 watch TV saying
4Hours they prefer it over
other forms of
Television daily in 2022 television.
remains to watch TV content
the leading
source of ad
revenue in
India.
According to a report issued by EY in conjunction with Ficci.
By early 2022, TV had become
connected Over
and interactive:
40M
Household
390M
Indians gamed online
150B
Songs were streamed
subscripted to OTT
(which includes consumption
on mobile and on CTV)

5
Programmatic Media Evolves

Radio advertising also provides considerable reach, especially in some smaller cities.
Free access to ownership should create room for expansion and allow more creativity in
the way radio content is delivered. Loosening regulations around free-to-air radio also
gives everyone, even in the most remote corners of the country, access to the latest
music and entertainment content.

Digital Media
The adoption of digital devices and social networks continues
to grow and expand, elevating consumers’ expectations for
meaningful experiences. Essential metrics for advertisers are
shifting from measures such as raw numbers of monthly
active users to measures of engagement, such as time spent,
and measures of loyalty. Platforms may increasingly focus on

@
reaching niche audiences and developing communities.

Digital advertising in India has also boomed, propelled to a

large degree by the Digital India Initiative, which aims to
transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge
economy, and by the rapid adoption of smartphones.

Other catalysts for the growth in digital media consumption

include a decreasing urban-rural gap that is enabling more
homogeneous reach for online content. The rise of vernacular
language content and advertising is also democratising the
digital media landscape quickly, resulting in more varied and
localised content that reaches the previously unreached.

Smartphones

By 2026 india is This growth will Indians spent on smartphones per day
expected to have be propelled

1B argely by the
rural sectors, as
2021 2020
smartphone mobile devices 2019
users, making become
mobile devices increasingly
4.7 4.5 3.7
Hours
the most-used affordable and
Hours Hours
platform for media available.
consumption and
This growth is projected to increase in most
engagement.
markets, with video streaming apps taking
up most of the additional time spent.

Print
India is still one of the largest and most important print markets and that position is likely to
continue. Nonetheless, experts say publishers will need to expand reach outside present markets
by discovering new, underserved micro-markets and forming alliances with aggregators such as
television, e-commerce, and OTT platforms.

6
Programmatic Media Evolves

1.2 Investment In Programmatic

Advertising By Category
When the pandemic took hold nearly three years ago, many brands were forced to cancel or
delay advertising and media campaigns as their organisations grappled with changes they never
anticipated. Once consumers flocked to digital media and economies stabilised, the digital
advertising industry saw an upward surge.

As the number of Indians using the internet grew, the digital advertising industry also saw
growth, notably in programmatic spending among FMCG and e-commerce companies.

In the GroupM report, This Year, Next Year’ (TYNY) 2022, it is stated that ad spending was to
reach 107,987crs in 2022, which represents an estimated growth of 22%. This puts India ninth on
the list of the fastest growing global markets.

The report also shared the Indian ad-spend growth over three years, broken out by channel, as
shown in the following table.

India: Digital Indian ad spend growth

leading the
growth in Medium 2020 2021 2022
2022 at
Digital 5% 38% 33%
33% TV -14% 21% 15%
Print -43% 17% 5%
OOH -73% 18% 85%
Radio -49% 10% 5%
Cinema -83% -36% 467%
All media -19% 26.5% 22.2%

Connected TV is Growing

Indian consumers have

increasingly moved to
watching content on
9/10 TVs sold in 2022 were Smart TVs

smart TVs.
CTV viewers in
India spent an
average of 3.5
Hours
4Hours in 2021
in 2022

7
Programmatic Media Evolves

Social Media Takes Hold

It has been calculated that Indian consumers spend two to three hours on social media per day.
For advertisers, influencers with large followings on these platforms are a powerful way to
reach consumers.

A report by Kantar and INCA on influencer

marketing found that influencers reach 3/5
consumers are

1/4 willing to try a

product that has
been recommended
Indians on social media, a total of by their favourite

54.9M people.
influencers

Influencers encourage the purchase

of products and introduce new ones.

New Channels Driving Programmatic

Today, new channels are driving programmatic growth in India, as well as around the world.

GroupM’s 2022 This Year Next Year (TYNY) midyear forecast stated that advertising was
expected to grow by 8.4% around the world in 2022, excluding the distorting effects of U.S.
political advertising. Pure-play digital ad platforms were estimated to grow by 11.5%, with global
CTV ads increasing to 24% from 2021.

Total Advertising

8
How Programmatic is Evolving

2. How Programmatic
Is Evolving
A recent report said the Indian advertising market is forecast to be the fastest growing in the
world. Digital ad space will also be growing at twice the speed of TV ad spend. With lockdown
restrictions easing, industries like travel and hospitality will start making up a large chunk of that
digital ad spend. Edtech, fintech, gaming, and cryptocurrency are also helping digital advertising
thrive.

With Google’s upcoming deprecation of In 2022, digital media

third-party cookies, brands thinking ahead of was projected to be
the curve are already taking advantage
of programmatic opportunities they can use
without the need for cookies. 33.4%
of overall ad spend

Here are a few reasons that programmatic is getting so much attention:

Targeting your consumer Real-time information:

outside the search engine:
Rather than taking a
mass-market strategy with
an emphasis on quantity over
relevancy, programmatic
mainly focuses on targeting,
which enhances engagement
and efficiency at the
same time.
Sophisticated programmatic
advertisements enable
advertisers to target an
audience at the granular level
while retargeting customers
who have left the purchase
path. Consequently, you may
reach your target audience no
matter where they are.
Programmatic can be monitored to maximise performance and
provide a more significant ROI. Unlike traditional marketing
tactics, programmatic lets marketers collect data as soon as
the campaign begins, allowing them to make quick, data-driven
modifications.
This capacity to access individual client data allows program-
matic to present appropriate material to customers based on
their browsing behaviours. It also allows the ability to change
direction and strategy, in close to real time. So advertisers can
pivot quickly where necessary, saving both time and cost.
Personalisation:
Personalisation may increase conversion rates while saving
money. Theoretically, when brands provide a personalised
experience, consumers are more inclined to purchase. Since
programmatic ads target a type of customer, they are likely to
convert based on user behaviour and recently engaged content.

9
How Programmatic is Evolving

2.1 What To Expect In

Programmatic In 2023
Programmatic has been around for more than a decade and is still evolving, particularly
post-pandemic. Emerging markets are facing the pressure of consumers expecting bette
services and experiences.

Even though companies that are already familiar with programmatic advertising may not see
any big changes for now, it is important to understand the new trends in 2023 that are going to
define the space moving forward.

Leveraging New-Age Technologies

Across the board, technology advancements are becoming more integrated throughout media
companies. These are some of the most recent developments:

AR/VR enables the convergence of digital and real-world experiences.

VR is taking cloud gaming to new heights and delivering immersive live
event experiences.

Digital media production enhances storytelling, boosts filmmakers’

creative capabilities, and lowers post-production costs. Experienced
employees and technological know-how might be limited now, but this
will improve as technology matures.

Artificial intelligence is assisting several industry segments, from

personalisation to content creation. With proper controls over data
governance and privacy, AI will be the driving technology for user
engagement in the media and entertainment business.

Many upcoming digital advertising trends will impact the migration to programmatic buying and
assist brands in maximising the returns on their media investments.

The Rise of Programmatic DOOH

Digital out-of-home advertising (DOOH) has been a great success
when it comes to advertising strategies, and for good reason. People
are generally attracted to electronic displays that engage and entertain.
However, the pandemic put a pause on this, when people were mostly
indoors, pivoting ad dollars away from DOOH channels. As the streets
get as busy as they were pre-pandemic, DOOH advertising is picking
up quickly.

Programmatic DOOH takes traditional advertising a step further.

Think about the possibilities of targeting viewers based on environmental
factors like the weather and time of day. Programmatic DOOH gives
advertisers the power to programmatically project ads to fit every
moment, time, and occasion for more precise targeting. DOOH leverages
data analytics, AI, and deep learning to organise, compile, and deliver the
right ads to the right audience with a level of interactivity that will
generate 100% more conversion than traditional static media formats.
10
 Ingram Offering a unique
Ingram:
hyperlocal approach across
multiple touchpoints for
higher engagement

Ingram had a challenge in reaching consumers across multiple touchpoints throughout their
journey. They wanted a comprehensive plan to reach premium audiences, increasing frequency
and ad recall based on offline signals and locations, with measurable outcomes.

Outcomes
The Motivator media agency and Xaxis devised an offline strategy to reach audiences at scale
across various channels. They utilised pDOOH (programmatic DOOH) at key locations: near
airports, corporate hubs, and other professional service locations, bringing engagement and
measurement to the campaigns. The team used Xaxis’ Places technology to target key corporate
hubs. AdIDs of the audience exposed to the pDOOH screens were captured through beacons
placed in the screens. Audiences were retargeted via top premium apps to build recall.

6Mn 13% 22%

Audience Reach Retargeted through Higher

“
through pDOOH ADIDs on Digital engagement
Display

Programmatic OOH has grown leaps and bounds in the last few years;
“
besides it being cost-efficient, it is also much more accountable to marketing
goals. This case study is a testimony that with premium targeting filters it’s
possible to reach audiences at scale to deliver a vast variety of campaigns

“
- Aman Kochhar, Chief Growth Officer & Managing Partner, Motivator

The Motivator and Xaxis team did a brilliant job in understanding our

approach to the problem helped us drive value. The idea of reaching our

“
requirements and ensuring we reach the right users at the right time. Their

potential audience through DOOH in corporate areas and then following them
on their mobile phone was a great strategy at work. Integrated approaches
like this always help in marketing objectives of driving ROI-based campaigns.
We are ready to explore deeper into the technology and make use of many
more of such initiatives

- Naved Chaudhary, Head of Marketing - Ingram Micro India Pvt. Ltd

11
11
How Programmatic is Evolving

More Programmatic Ads on Connected TV

Covid-19 impacted content consumption habits as more people spent more time on screens.
Movement limitations resulted in an increase in the time spent viewing television and streaming
videos. As a result, people spent double the amount of time they usually would in front of the
television during the pandemic.

Today, there are

almost
200M With the growth of streaming device options,
programmatic TV advertising is predicted to make up
connected TV (CTV) users
around the world.
1/3 of all TV ad revenue globally in
2023, according to a PwC report.

Growth in Digital Audio Advertising

Listening is a more passive activity, freeing us
up to do other things like work, do laundry, or
exercise. In many ways, audio is a unique We spend
media channel because it is an intimate platform.
Literally, it’s in your ears. The power of sound 2X
can elicit strong emotions, be it joy, fear, or as much time on our mobile
even sorrow. With podcasts and audiobooks devices listening to podcasts
fast becoming a major media preference for or music as we do playing games.
young people, the opportunities in
programmatic audio advertising are huge.

Research
by Nielsen 24% 2X
shows that higher recall as likely to
audio ads rate than increase
had a display ads purchase
decisions.

60%
of people who
listened to an
ad via a podcast
ended up
completing a
purchase.

Shop Now

12
How Programmatic is Evolving

Programmatic audio advertising embeds relevant ads in digital audio content, enabling
marketers to leverage the automated and data-centric approach of programmatic systems to
enhance conversions.

Digital audio consumption is growing in India, and advertising in its formats is expected to also
grow, according to Forbes India and industry experts. Spotify research found the highest growth
in podcast listeners was among people aged 13 to 17. With that in mind, Google has added new
targeting options to reach these GenZ consumers.

In-App and In-Game Advertising

In 2022, there
were more 3.25B
Mobile gamers
than

3.4B
smartphone
users

In-app video, or in-game advertising, presents huge opportunities for advertisers, and it is
growing fast. While in-game ads are still a fairly new market, the success of programmatic
advertising for in-app can serve as a good indicator that in-game advertising is set to take
off in 2023.

Currently, in-app video ads include playable and rewarded videos, whereby users are
rewarded for viewing an ad. This can come in the form of game points or vouchers for
e-commerce purchases, among other rewards. Mobile video ads are also engaging by
their nature, which is why they are a good tool not only for targeting but also for
converting users.

Your Ad

A
B

13
The Bet of 2023: Discovery Commerce

3. The Bet Of 2023:

Discovery Commerce
Understanding the Post-Pandemic Digital Retail Landscape
The past two years have accelerated the transformation of e-commerce, which even before the
Covid-19 pandemic was expected to increase its share of retail sales and grow in double-digit
percentages in India through 2024.

Then, in 2020, Covid took. To seize the opportunity and pivot to online sales and marketing
amid widespread shutdowns, retailers and brands underwent digital transformations. They
adopted online business models to meet customer needs and assure their own survival.
E-commerce platforms, meanwhile, expanded their available features for both marketing and
commerce, and improved the shopping experience for consumers.

The e-commerce market

in India grew that year
by an impressive
38.5%

The rate of e-commerce growth has slowed, but the market is still expected to balloon by billions
of dollars as more Indians come online and become accustomed to shopping there.

Brands have exciting opportunities and a chance to meet new challenges. They can use the new
and updated online platforms, leverage new forms of ad targeting and addressable media, and
communicate in new ways through social commerce and live streaming. They can quickly and
effectively locate and gather niche audiences and shorten consumers’ path to purchase, even
linking online data to point-of-sale systems. They can grow online along with their customer
bases. But to do so, they will need to understand how to implement new technologies as they
build truly omnichannel strategies that leverage new capabilities to reach, inspire, and
activate consumers.

14
The Bet of 2023: Discovery Commerce

3.1 Discovery Commerce

To succeed today, brand marketers must employ an omnichannel marketing strategy to respond
to the contemporary consumer journey. Consumers now expect to have a seamless experience
whether looking at a handheld device or a home screen or making a purchase in a store.

Brands must build customer relationships, emphasising personalised interactions to foster

customer loyalty. They must also increase customer lifetime value while looking to maximise the
effectiveness of ad campaign budgets amid an impending global economic slowdown.

An almost limitless supply of atomized digital media lets marketers reach specialised audiences to
interest them in their goods and services. Content can be created and targeted to travel through
numerous modalities in a new type of media value chain that can encourage audiences to buy
in-store or online.

To reach and engage

consumers shopping online,
marketers can use any of Search
three main media channels:

Commerce Media
Add to Cart
Social Commerce

The Importance of Social Commerce On average, digitally

Social commerce is considered a subset of e-commerce, engaged Indians spend
involving social media and online media that encourage more than three hours
consumer engagement. Social commerce is the act of every day online, with
selling products directly through social media platforms two of the three hours
such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, and Instagram. It spent on messaging,
combines online social engagement with online social media apps,
purchasing, often directly from advertising media placed and videos.
within the social platform. The algorithms behind social
media can also identify consumer preferences, so people
get shown what they like.

The combination of social engagement and sales is

an effective strategy that can bring great results, as
evidenced by the fact that more than a billion users are
in Facebook Marketplace communities.

15
The Bet of 2023: Discovery Commerce

The Rise of Social

Commerce Platforms
Look, click, and place an order. Social media

like Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, and
Pinterest are some of the platforms simplifying
the purchasing experience by removing
complicated steps that used to hinder consumer
activity. Customers do not have to type precise
search terms to find what they want, then click
to navigate a separate website. Instead, they
can select products and finish the checkout
process in just a few taps within the social app.
44.8%
of internet users use social media to look
up brand-related information and more
than half of internet users between the
ages of 16 and 24 use social media to
research brands.
Hootsuite

Social Commerce in India

Social commerce is set to drive the future of
buying in India, predicted to grow at a CAGR of
62.4% through 2028, with millennials (a.k.a. Gen
Y) playing a major role in its expansion.

2023
expected to grow
to between
Whatapp alone
accounted for India’s social
commerce today is
$60 - $70
40% responsible for billion
of sales during the $1.5 - $2 India Brand
Covid lockdown Equity Foundation
period in India. billion (IBEF) report
MoneyControl in sales revenue
(a.k.a. Gross
Merchandise
Volume or GMV)

16
The Bet of 2023: Discovery Commerce

Placing Search at the Center

Search is crucial to helping shoppers find what they want, with text search among the most
prevalent forms.

More than More than

87% 1/3
of shoppers begin their of them starting
customer journeys with their searches on
an online search shopping sites

E-commerce websites today are expected to have excellent text search functions as an integral
part of the customer experience.

The online shopping experience is improved when e-commerce product searches return pertinent
and accurate results.

Visitors who searched

on an e-commerce site
converted at

1.8X
the rate of people
who visited without
searching.
Econsultancy
According to the study, shoppers who
use the search bar usually have higher
intent, since they know what they are
looking for.

E-commerce sites with accurate search results see promising results not only because they
direct customers to goods they wish to purchase, but importantly, accurate search results also
demonstrate that the business is able to deliver the results that people want based on the
keywords they use.

The relevancy, responsiveness, and precision of search results are key factors in how well
e-commerce product searches perform. It all affects the customer experience and can be a
determining factor on whether customers return. Consumers have become accustomed to
sophisticated search engines such as Google and Bing, and online marketplaces such as
Amazon and Flipkart. Unfortunately, some second-tier e-commerce websites do not satisfy
user expectations.

17
The Bet of 2023: Discovery Commerce

To deliver a successful search experience, e-commerce brands must have a product search engine
that can automatically and continuously optimise results based on context and intent to keep up
with consumers’ ever-changing search and shopping behaviours.

The following should be included as minimum capabilities:

Autocomplete
Linguistic analysis

Search previews
Real-time search
bar suggestions

Text query and Geo-location

traffic analysis detection

The New Forefront: Discovery Commerce

Discovery Commerce is at the forefront of brand-led commerce. Unlike marketplace

“
commerce where shoppers are already on a shopping mission, Discovery Commerce is all about
transforming searching, scrolling and seeing moments into shopping moments for consumers -
according to Shopalyst, a shoppable ads platform for brands - Shopalyst

“
Brands need to drive online sales through Discovery Commerce activated
from own, paid, and earned media. Delivering personalised shopping
experiences at scale not only maximises sales, but also creates the
opportunity to own first party audience data in a consented, privacy friendly
manner - a key factor for success in a cookieless future.

- Girish Ramachandra, Co-Founder of Shopalyst

Discovery Commerce focuses on activating

full funnel campaigns where brands get to
curate the shopping experience and acquire
first party audiences in a privacy friendly and
consented manner. This approach helps drive
better media and conversion outcomes leading
to higher ROAS.

18
The Bet of 2023: Discovery Commerce

3 Primary E-Commerce Models

B2B B2C OR B2B2C C2C

E-COMMERCE E-COMMERCE COMMERCE

Focuses on providing products A traditional retail model, Allows consumers to trade,

from one business to another.
Mostly niche service providers;
also inculdes software
companies, office furniture
and supply companies, etc.
where a business sells to
individuals, but business is
conducted online as opposed
to in a physical store. They can
be either brand.com sites or
e-Commerce platforms.
buy, and sell items to each
other in exchange for a small
commision paid to the site
Examples: Carousel, OLX

Platforms like Lazada and

Shopee have both B2B2C
and B2C model. If the platform
purchase the products from
distributor and is reseller for
the product, they are acting as
B2C. If a 3rd party seller uses
the platform as a sales channel,
they are a B2B2C model.

19
The Bet of 2023: Discovery Commerce

3.2 E-Commerce And

Programmatic Advertising
Making E-Commerce More Effective With Programmatic
Programmatic ad buying uses an automated, software driven process to place digital
advertising in front of consumers found to match targeting specifications of the advertiser.
It condenses the ad buying, selling, and placement process into algorithmic decisioning that can
happen at scale in fractions of a second. The labour-intensive processes of filing insertion orders,
manually placing ad tags, and trafficking creative assets is condensed to facilitate much
greater efficiencies.

New forms of ad targeting are also enabled, such as for behavioural factors that incorporate
consumer preferences and optimise ads automatically according to screen size or device type.
Location, often a key factor in retail sales, can be one of the key targeting factors in
programmatic media. Shoppers can be targeted according to their proximity to retail
establishments or to expressed affinities for certain goods or brands available near them.

New Access for Smaller Agencies

Today, nearly any advertising agency, no matter its size, can access programmatic advertising
channels. Access to the automated processes has increased as buying and selling platforms
(DSPs or demand-side platforms, and SSPs or sell-side platforms) integrate automation tools that
provide placements across the web, apps, and in some cases connected video platforms such as
connected TV (CTV and OTT) or social media.

Programmatic advertising also gathers a wealth of data, enabling advanced analytics that help
ad buyers and planners deliver messages that reach and influence customers more successfully.
Adopting an omnichannel strategy based on programmatic media enables businesses and
advertisers to target the appropriate audiences through multiple channels at the appropriate
times, and to track placements through a single source in real time.

20
The Bet of 2023: Discovery Commerce

“ India is among the

fastest growing digital
economies globally.
“

Many of the large e-commerce platforms enable programmatic advertising by

hooking into DSPs - or providing their own - and using their first-party data to
enrich and hone targeting across multiple touchpoints. The platforms also provide
access to in-depth research that further enhances targeting such as purchasing
trends, geographic location mapped to messaging, and data on product searches.
Aided by e-commerce site analytics, advertisers can create better-performing
strategies, such as by finding consumers interested in their product category.

The analytics, empowered by e-commerce data, also help feed tools to assist
brands in retargeting consumers and in creating lookalike audiences that can
become new clients. Artificial intelligence (AI) assisted by machine-learning (ML)
helps data-driven, customised creative assets to be distributed to consumers in
combinations of creative elements shown by data to be effective.

21
The Bet of 2023: Discovery Commerce

3.3 The Evolution Of

Discovery Commerce
Even with less than half of Indians online,

India’s 658 Million users

make it the second largest global Internet market.

Consumers used to buying books and entertainment such as movies online are now increasing
their spending on groceries, household items, personal care items, and durable goods such as
electronics, clothing, and accessories. With the government’s Digital India Initiative in place the
numbers should only grow.

The e-retail
market is $120-140
E-commerce grew in
expected to
grow to Billion
India by more than by 2026, increasing at
approximately 25-30% per year.
25% (2020-2022)

2020 2021 2022 2026

Online retail, the

fastest growing E-retail in India is still concentrated in its top eight
sector of online metropolitan areas, the Bain report says, with one in
commerce in three shoppers in those regions using online shopping
India, grew by through last year.

27% E-retail thus has plenty of room to expand by recruiting

new shoppers and by expanding to other geographies.

“
EY report While some 95% of postal codes can receive items
ordered online, logistics and infrastructure can be
improved. The pandemic highlighted the need for
Rapid growth in improved road, rail, and warehousing investments,
internet penetration and better support for air cargo. Government and
and increasing industry can work to implement new standards that
enable rapid expansion, boosting e-commerce,
smartphone usage e-retail, and the economy as a whole.
are driving growth in

“
online activities such
as e-commerce and
digital payments,
“ The pandemic has further accelerated
“
the rise of the new-age digital consumer,
positioning India among the fastest growing
the report says.
digital economies globally.

22
The Bet of 2023: Discovery Commerce
Boosting
E-commerce Media
A number of factors beyond ad targeting,
messaging, and optimisation can get
consumers to inquire and purchase online,
and to add more to their shopping carts for
higher purchases overall. As customers
continue to spend more money online, they will
expect more from their favourite brands. With
so many options available at their fingertips,
they will also be less tolerant of delivery issues
and subpar online customer support, and will
expect greater personalisation. Retailers need
to provide a high level of customer experience
across the different channels to provide a
seamless, omnichannel shopping experience.
Consumer Attention
and Time Vary by Category
On average, brands and online retailers have
less than 10 minutes to capture customers’
attention, but those times can vary by the
category of goods. For example, when buying
electronics, customers often look at 10 product
pages on desktop computers, more than 15
product pages on mobile, before adding
something to their cart.
Search Patterns
Vary as Well
For mobile phones and televisions, people
have been found to conduct brand-specific
searches. For other large purchases, such as
laptops and large appliances like refrigerators
and washing machines, searching by product
category tends to be the most popular way
of searching.
Top E-Commerce
Advertising Categories
By Percentage
10%-15%
Mobiles
35%-40%
Fashion
Images are
Always Effective
No matter how people search, photos are
key to winning their attention. One in two
shoppers pay attention to image galleries,
compared to less than one in 20 who read
in-depth product descriptions, Bain says.
Social media, too, has conditioned audiences
to expect immediate satisfaction from visual
experiences, which have significant influence in
product purchases there.
The Need to Accept
More Payment Types Will Rise
Cash is still king in India for most retail, but
on the internet credit and debit cards are the
preferred method of payment. Other digital
payment methods, such as via mobile
smartphone, have been introduced and are
starting to come into favour.
Recommendation
Engines Help
Recommendation engines are said
to account for as much as 31% of
e-commerce revenues. Adding a
recommendation engine, showing
consumers offers related to the
purchases they make and
searches they conduct, will
boost sales.
15%-20%
Electronic devices
15%-20% & accessories
General
merchandise*
Note: *Includes personal care
Sources: Industry participant interviews;
Bain analysis
23
The Bet of 2023: Discovery Commerce

3.4 The Future Of

E-Commerce And Retail In India
The world of online shopping will continue to evolve rapidly. Long-standing retail brands are
today competing with direct-to-consumer offerings, as well as with each other and with
e-commerce platforms’ own house brands. Here are some trends to watch.

Digital ecosystems Social commerce spreading

As large e-retailers have started creating
their own ecosystems and become a one-stop
shop, they are also offering new methods of
interacting, such as video streaming and
gaming, to drive engagement and increase
consumer spending.
Numerous social media platforms are
attracting millions of smaller merchants to
engage with customers directly. Socially driven
business models are boosting the number of
vendors on platforms such as Bharat,
according to the IBEF report.

Voice, chatbots, and vernaculars Direct-to-consumer (D2C)

Technology today is enabling an increasing D2C channels connected through brands’

use of voice- and chat-based user interfaces. websites have become more popular among
Even before the pandemic, consumers’ use of established and digitally native firms as a result
voice-assisted shopping on Amazon’s Alexa of online shopping’s rise. Over the past two
tripled in one year, according to the Harvard years, the number of D2C brands has almost
Business Review. Chatbots, too, are doubled, according to Inc42.
increasingly in use. They and websites can
work across multiple languages and dialects
(a.k.a. vernaculars) according to user
preference. To entice the next generation of
online buyers, digital platforms must keep
making investments in speech, chat, and
multi-language capabilities.

Video commerce and

live shopping

The popularity of video content has

spawned a sizable community of makers India’s live
and influencers. These content producers shopping
are likely to stimulate an increase in video industry could
commerce as they monetise their grow to
fan bases.
$5 billion
by 2025
Live shopping (also known as
Forbes India
livestream shopping or live
commerce) is already.

24
The Bet of 2023: Discovery Commerce

Managing E-Commerce in the New Future

The new way of retail is here to stay. Consumers demand a consistent shopping experience
both online and offline, and brands must deliver with consistency.

While digital native brands have the opportunity to experiment with physical retail, the
proliferation of brands in offline channels means that businesses must continue to leverage the
online world to create unique and engaging experiences for their customers.

While creating strong omnichannel strategies, they will need to find new ways to stand out
from competitors.

Brands must build their equity

online because consumers there
“
“
generally use e-commerce

with a strong bias toward

a small set of brands. It’s not surprising,
then, that one of
GroupM
the key currencies
of e-commerce
will be brand trust.
E-commerce
consumers are Brands must be open,
sincere, and accessible
14X to their customers,
more likely particularly on social
to consider a media where online
brand if they users spend the majority
have a strong of their time.
bias for it,
they say. Shopify
00:53 -02:03

Video, live shopping, and social commerce will also be at the heart of online buying for
consumers of the future. Online communities, too, are forming, another area in which D2C
businesses are spending to humanise their brands, boost client retention, and reduce soaring
advertising expenditures.

Marketers will have to get better at using available technologies and techniques beyond
messaging. Digital advertising expenses are consuming marketing budgets and jeopardising
customer acquisition methods that rely heavily on performance marketing, Shopify says.

Businesses that outpace competitors are investing deeply in all aspects of their brands. By doing
so, they increase consumer interest, build loyalty, raise conversion rates short-term, and elevate
consumer lifetime value in the long term. Being successful in this new e-commerce environment
will demand an original approach and persistent action.

25
The Bet of 2023: Discovery Commerce

How brands can spend

less, but acquire more customers
• Create a brand measurement strategy.

• Both short-term performance marketing and long-term

brand building are worthwile investments.

• To reduce acquisition costs, a varirty of marketing and

sales channels should be used.

• At every point of contact with customers, emphasize

differentiators and distinctive values.

Key Takeaways

CONSUMERS PERSONALIZATION BRAND

ARE ISN’T A MAGIC COMMUNITIES
DEMANDING BULLET FOR ARE BUILDING
PERSONALIZATION CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT CUSTOMER LOYALTY

Consumers continue to Brands innovate with first-party Brand communities become

demand personalized data, but personalization isn’t key to building trust and brand
shopping experience, even enough to create long term equity, and improving
as regulations make data relationships with customers. customer retention.
tracking harder, and the
biggest players phase out
support for third-party
cookies.

26
The Bet of 2023: Discovery Commerce

3.5 Challenges And Opportunities

The challenges and opportunities for building brands online in 2022 are unique. Brand-building
is no longer just an offline activity. The barriers between social media and e-commerce are also
becoming more blurred. The growing popularity of live shopping is enabling marketers to
promote their brands while also making point-of-sale pitches – something that was not even
imaginable just a few years ago.

Many marketers have already taken to social media platforms to interact with their customers,
engaging with shoppers while gathering data for brand research. Consumers are meanwhile
doing their research about the brands they love on social media and e-commerce platforms.
Brands are learning to engage with them there, as well.

The internet has opened new avenues for shoppers and retailers to buy and sell, and to build
a new type of relationship that is much more transparent than before. With an omnichannel
mindset toward retail, brands are paving the way for the online and offline worlds to coexist in
a more personalised space than ever before.

27
 Mars: Driving higher
engagements with
Discovery Commerce

Our client, the Mars food company, wanted to keep users engaged. We helped them with
interactive shoppable ad formats powered by Shopalyst that let users compare products and
purchase goods from within the ad unit. For targeting, we identified audiences based on inputs
from India’s leading e-commerce platforms. The strategy let Mars reach competitor audiences.
They also targeted consumers who had engaged with or purchased Mars products within the
previous seven days.

Outcomes
Since we were able to identify audiences closest to the brand, the results were exemplary. Not
only were the engagement rates high but there was also a decrease in the cost per reach of 55%.
Viewability was also above industry standard benchmarks. We also assured the ads were placed
in brand safe environments.

~120% 55%
Higher CTR than Decrease in cost per
planned (1.03% on reach compared to
desktop and 1.58% the target
on Mobile)

~1.3Mn
~13,000 61%
Impressions and Viewability as per
Clicks on the IAS brand safety
creatives tandards

28
28
 Mars: Driving higher
engagements with
Discovery Commerce

“
“
Mars has always been open to trying out new and innovative solutions in the
world of programmatic media. We are thrilled to see the excellent results
achieved via Discovery Commerce’s Shoppable creatives. The offering led us
to audiences that were carved as per the niche of our wide range of product
offerings which resulted in exceptional engagement results. Kudos to the
Xaxis team for perfectly conceptualizing and implementing it. I look forward
to working with them on “ many more exciting projects going ahead.

- Vipasha Bhardwaj, Manager - ECOM Portfolio & Shopper Marketing

“
Xaxis and Mediacom has delivered outstanding results that enabled us to see
the impact of precision audience targeting in the digital world by leveraging
shoppable ads.

The achieved results showcase a brilliant example of the high-quality

technology and intelligence used. Through this test campaign, we established
that audiences engaged with our Ad by almost 120% more than the
benchmark. On the other hand, the cost per CPM went down drastically
bringing in efficiency.

This campaign highlights the important connection between digital ads

delivered to the right people at the right time.

We look forward to applying these insights to future campaigns.

“
- Kapil Parab, Marketing Manager - Filled Bars, Snacking & ECOM

29
29
 OPPO Generating 12.3X return
OPPO:
on investment with Xaxis’
Discovery Commerce solution
and programmatic expertise

OPPO had a Flipkart-only launch planned for their flagship premium handset OPPO Reno7
Series. The brand wanted to maximise the Flipkart platform and further drive consideration as
well as sales for the much-awaited device.

Together with Mindshare, Xaxis devised a lower-funnel, performance-oriented solution using

Flipkart first-party audience data. The team curated a custom segment for people interested in
premium handsets and who had previously purchased OPPO Reno handsets. They were targeted
with dynamically optimised creatives from the product detail pages for the OPPO Reno7 Series.
.

Outcomes
The campaign outperformed expectations, driving sales on the Flipkart platform for the model as
well as for other OPPO phones. We delivered a clickthrough rate of 0.56%, leading to the sale of
355 within one month. That meant an ROAS of 12.3x.
.

0.56% 355 12.3X

Clickthrough Sale within ROAS
rate one month

“
Partnering with Xaxis and Mindshare paved a path for formulating an intent-based

series. For this campaign, Xaxis deployed a lower funnel e-commerce approach which
included feed-based dynamic creative optimisation. With Xaxis’ Discovery Commerce
“
audience strategy by leveraging deterministic e-commerce data - this helped us achieve
our aim of maximising flipkart’s e-commerce platform during the launch of OPPO Reno7

solution and their programmatic expertise, we were able to achieve a 12.3X Return on Ad
Spend for our newly launched product.

- Lynn, Media and Resource Head, OPPO

30
30
What’s Next

4. What’s Next
Digital ad-tech supports ad campaigns across TV, mobile, or desktop. It also helps marketers
manage ad campaigns across platforms, from pay-per-click (PPC) ads on social search engines
to display ads on publishers’ websites and apps - and even ads on social media. Digital ad-tech
covers any type of paid online advertising.

Ad-tech helps track campaign results while leveraging the power of data to support
machine-learning capabilities, using audience data to help create more personalised ads over
time. For example, if a user is always searching for white sneakers on the search tool, digital
ad-tech will learn that user’s habits and start pushing advertisements for white sneakers to them.
Over time, they will also recognise the brands that the specific user likes, feeding them content
specific to that brand.

It’s all accessible in one centralised hub, so advertisers can easily monitor and manage their ads.
Here are some upcoming trends for digital advertising technology.

4.1 Artificial Intelligence Becomes

A Growth Driver For Programmatic
Consumers see from But the good

5,000 to 11,000
news is that it
takes only

0.25s tosignificant
ads every day. generate statistically
That’s a lot of ads competing for attention. ad recall.

At the very core of programmatic is automation and large amounts of data. With the emergence
of AI, which is built to automatically handle large sets of data, the programmatic ad space is
evolving quickly. Ads are becoming smarter and more immersive and engaging than ever.

AI encourages personalisation in programmatic advertising, which is the key to reaching

audiences where they are. When people are shown ads that are relevant to them when they need
it, they are more likely to convert. Together with machine-learning, AI can help define audiences
and improve the process over time.

31
“
What’s Next

AI is also simplifying the complexities of media planning. Dimpy Yadav,

General Manager at Xaxis India says: “AI helps in structuring media plan
strategies and efforts more strategically. When instructed correctly, AI can
help optimise marketing plans toward better sales metrics. It empowers
digital media strategies to identify and locate prospects without biases or
assumptions to find audiences and determine bidding strategies to achieve
specific outcomes that are beyond standard selections of demographics or

AI to Support
buying metrics such as CPC, CPM, etc.

Human intelligence when layered with artificial intelligence results in

amplified intelligence for media planning, which enables data scientists and
engineers to replace manual efforts of ROI mapping and measurement with
algorithm-driven approaches to define the best possible mix of channel
selection. Furthermore, AI facilitates insights that can extract maximum value
Programmatic
by conducting Advertising
a large number of real-timeintests
a Cookieless
in very granularWorld
increments
“
well beyond the capabilities of any human. In this process, a loop is created
in which the outcomes continually improve in lightning-fast increments that
add up to big results.

Advertisers today use tools like lookalike audiences that help marketers speak to a pool of
audiences that is similar to segments of customers, based on those customers’ profiles. Brands
are also leveraging customer data platforms (CDP) for more granular messaging. This is in line
with moves towards a cookieless environment, where advertisers need to build their own
repository of customer data, instead of relying on third-party cookies. They will rely on platforms
and publishers that already collect first-party data through signups and gain consumers’ consent
to send them ads.

Based on data, AI will be able to learn how those users behave when they are online, gathering
insights that will be used to anticipate their preferences. In turn, these preferences will be fed
back to them as contextual ads.

So, even though programmatic will be affected when third-party cookies are phased out, AI will
be able to support advertisers with new innovations in the digital media world.

One example is when Xaxis Creative Studios

“
(XCS) created voice-activated ads for Pizza Hut’s

“ Buy one, get one

offer, engaging people in an interactive dialogue-style ad on the Gaana music app.

32
What’s Next
Artificial Intelligence in Ad-Tech
AI ad-tech solutions leverage machine-learning
capabilities to streamline repetitive and often
time-consuming tasks. Based on a specific
customer base, AI will learn what customers
want and often look for, therefore delivering
more personalised ads to them. Marketers
can also use AI to bid on specific keywords
or phrases to place ads near relevant content.
Essentially, AI frees up time that would
otherwise be spent manually looking for the
best ad opportunities while implementing
accurate, targeted ad campaigns.
Automated Bidding
In automated bidding, marketers simply
have to set a budget and let technology do
the rest. The platform will automatically set
bids based on the highest likelihood of an
ad generating clickthroughs and other
conversions. Employees can better spend their
time on things that require higher levels of
creativity than filling out spreadsheets and
online forms. Even better, a platform’s AI will
learn from the data gathered to optimise the
next spend. This increases the chances of
getting better ROI every time.
Mobile Ad-Tech
Mobile is unique as a media platform.
Consumers can access the world from their
personal devices, which they carry with them
wherever they go. The devices can be used for
entertainment, news, information, health,
banking, shopping, and much more.
Brands that use mobile to reach the majority of
their target audience should consider investing
in mobile ad-tech. Mobile ad-tech platforms let
marketers take advantage of features unique to
mobile, such as special audience targeting on
consumers’ personal devices.
Video Ad-Tech
Video advertising technology has evolved. The
niche targeting options available today give
advertisers the power to personalise and reach
consumers at even a micro level, allowing for
new ad targeting capabilities for video ads.
33
What’s Next

4.2 Navigating
A Cookieless World
Every time Google decides to further postpone the
removal of third-party cookies (which is now slated to
happen in 2024), advertisers may feel like they’ve
gained some bonus time. But don’t keep banking on
further delays, because the time will eventually come
and the best way to ensure you’re not struggling then Cookies
is to be prepared. Third-party cookies have already
been deprecated by major internet browsers and
severely restricted by Apple and other technology
and platform providers.

Benefits of A Cookieless Future

In truth, the cookieless future isn’t all that bad for advertisers. There are advantages to it.
For one, it increases privacy and lowers the risk of identity theft. It can give brands a lot more
visibility into who their customers are and where they’re coming from. Since cookieless tracking
solutions leverage AI to collect user data, they give companies a greater ability to understand
and use the data collected. Those who know how to take advantage of this will be able to tap
into the finer details, potentially converting many more users into paying customers.

Dimpy Yadav, General Manager at Xaxis India explains that when used sensibly,
first-party data can help brands build direct relationships with their customers, which
creates value and boosts advertising performance. Of course, maintaining personal
data security is crucial because while digitally savvy customers expect personalisation,
they also want to ensure that brands aren’t violating their privacy by compromising
their personal data.

Getting Zero-Party Data

There’s also zero-party data, which is information that consumers willingly share with a brand,
publisher, platform, and so-on. This may include purchase intentions, personal context,
communication preferences, and how the individual wants the brand to identify them. The most
effective strategy to gather zero-party data is to request information in exchange for something
of value. A survey, personalised product suggestions, or a free resource like an e-book could
accomplish this.

34
What’s Next

Obtaining zero-party data requires direct contact with a target audience. First-party data, on the
other hand, can come from analytics and user activity.

The acquisition of zero-party data can be hugely beneficial to businesses, allowing them to
execute more successful campaigns by collecting data directly from the source and creating trust
and transparency with their customer base. While first-party data might bring insights into an
audience, it does not always generate trust between a business and its customers.

How to Prepare for A Cookieless World

According to Gartner, there are three things advertisers should keep in mind as they prepare for
a cookieless world.

The first step is to prepare for a sustained disruption. This means being ready to navigate the
overlapping effects of identity and privacy changes. When cookie data collection comes to a
halt, there will be large portions of data that remain. Advertisers may not feel the immediate
effect of the end of cookies, since they may still be relying on existing data. However, as time
goes by they may struggle to grapple with a different digital-ad-targeting landscape. Advertisers
should make plans to retire, reinvent, or redirect cookie-related media spend sooner, so that they
don’t end up struggling when the cookieless world truly kicks in.

The second step is to rethink ad measurement practices. Different ways of collecting data means
there needs to be different ways to measure ad effectiveness. Reset baselines and invest in
market research to lock in the key resources needed for better first-party data collection.

The third step is to adapt to a “walled garden world.” Prepare to allocate more of advertising
budgets to brands that require logins and have massive footprints such as Google, Facebook,
and Amazon, and expect to see more direct media buys with platforms and publishers instead of
cross-publisher programmatic ad buys.

A Forbes article also discusses the cookieless future being one that will increase privacy, change
the way we think about identity and ad targeting, and put a spotlight on the fact that many
marketers have been taught to over-target consumers. The article reminds advertisers that
moving into a cookieless future is an opportunity for brands to undo their bad habits and start
with a clean slate by focusing on what is important and truly yields results, rather than casting a
wide net that may seem impressive but doesn’t add real value.

35
What’s Next

4.3 Voice Will Further

Shape Programmatic
Programmatic audio advertising uses programmatic audio-specific publishers like Spotify, Gaana,
Jio Saavn, and Hungam, to automate the selling and insertion of advertisements in audio
content such as podcasts, digital radio, and streaming music services. This audio content streams
on various devices, including computers, smartphones, over-the-top TVs, and smart speakers.
Like other programmatic ad channels, audio advertising allows you to overlay different targeting
strategies to reach appropriate geolocations and target audiences depending on your digital ad
strategy. According to Spotify, ads with a direct call-to-action had a CTR three times higher than
those without one. At the absolute least, you can tell the listener to “tap to find a place” or “visit
mywebsite.com/audio,” for example.

Audio advertisements, unlike television and display commercials, do not rely on visual
engagement. As a result, digital audio can reach consumers in a manner that visual advertising
can’t. Music evokes feelings, and listening to a podcast might be likened to speaking with
a buddy.

Because a big number of digital audio listeners don’t do anything else while listening,
programmatic audio advertising makes this a lucrative audience to target. Listeners aren’t usually
distracted by other media, thus they won’t be distracted when they hear an advertisement. The
ad will have a greater effect with their full attention.

The fact that the great majority of audio commercials cannot be avoided is an extra bonus.
Because there is no ad blocker for audio advertising, your ads will receive more exposure,
allowing you to get the most bang for your buck.

In addition, voice-enabled devices, such Amazon’s Alexa and Google Home, are increasingly in
people’s homes. In fact, voice search queries are growing by 270% every year. With a simple “Hey,
Alexa” or “Hey, Google,” consumers have the world at their fingertips, from getting the weather
report to asking for solutions to daily conundrums. The question for marketers is how they can
use this space to reach their customers. One way is to use cross-device integration, where smart
speaker actions are connected to TV creatives so that consumers can request website links,
written text, or visuals, and have them sent directly to their smart TV or mobile device. There’s
also the possibility of using smart devices as a tool to complete sales, closing the purchase
journey for customers. There are many ways to leverage these existing technologies, and as these
technologies continue to evolve, so will programmatic.
36
What’s Next

4.4 Advanced Omnichannel

As we talk about the digital world, advertisers and marketers need to remember that consumers
access content across different devices throughout the day, switching among desktop, mobile,
and, increasingly, CTV.

Media Partners Asia

forecasts that 38%
by 2024 the to reach roughly of OTT users are considering
pay-TV segment
is likely to grow INR 1000 cord-cutting, that is, eliminating
cable TV in favour of using online
streaming services instead.
6% Billion KPMG

With this in mind, advertisers must consider an omnichannel approach when thinking about
programmatic advertising, which means advertising on several channels and platforms
simultaneously. An omnichannel model is an approach where customers enjoy a seamless service
and access to content across platforms, channels, and devices. Imagine looking at an ad on your
mobile phone while scrolling on social media, then discovering a similar ad on the same product
while watching your favourite show on CTV. The chances of conversion increases the more a user
is exposed to an ad because this exposure increases ad recall.

Omnichannel Vs. Multichannel

It’s important to note that omnichannel marketing is not the same as multichannel marketing.
They are completely different strategies. While a multichannel marketing strategy advertises
across different channels, each channel functions as an independent silo. An omnichannel
strategy is set up as more of a network, with the customer in the centre. The diagram below
illustrates the difference between the two.

Mobile
Business
Telephone Social

Customer
Web Mobile Social Store
Web Store
Customer service
Multichannel Omnichannel
Starts with the company Starts with the customer and
and moves outward interacts between channels for a
to channels seamless experience

There are many different ways to approach omnichannel marketing, but one example is when a
customer is sent an SMS on their mobile phone about a promotion for the store in which they’re
currently shopping. It could also come in the form of email alerts, telling customers to look into
their physical mailbox for additional vouchers. As long as a brand has an ad on one platform
interconnected with another on a different platform, they are practising omnichannel marketing.

37
What’s Next

The Future of Omnichannel Marketing

According to Acquire, the future of omnichannel retail is about bringing phygital (physical plus
digital) experiences to consumers. It’s all about convenience, personalisation, and, ultimately,
efficiency. As shoppers today have access to a myriad of channels, they are much more
well-informed. This means they also expect more from marketers, and an omnichannel approach
is one way to meet their expectations.

The future of omnichannel retail is about phygital experiences, convenience, personalisation and
efficiency. Shoppers are increasingly well-informed about their options, and care about values
and the societal impact of businesses. As a result, companies will need to take an omnichannel
approach that’s also based on meeting the evolving expectations of the modern consumer.

The challenge is to keep up with what customers want. Expectations are always changing and
brands need to listen to what their customers want so that they can reach them where they are.

38
 Castrol: Driving Media
Outcomes with
First-Party Data

Castrol wanted to take a step towards overall digital transformation by building a

first-party audience data strategy through a robust test-and-learn framework.

Although building a scalable strategy would take considerable time and effort, the brand
wanted to test its usefulness in the upcoming campaigns to get a sense of direction for
their future strategy and planning.

Xaxis and Mindshare strategised an approach to collect, test and scale first-party data for
Castrol, based on consumer intent backed by Discovery Commerce activated on YouTube.
The team planned to open a pathway to assess and evaluate various e-commerce portals
while also focusing on first-party data and building lookalike models. These models used
Google’s CODA capabilities, based on consumer interactions on the landing page,
leading to various e-commerce websites.

This approach allowed the brand to collect, evaluate, and scale theirfirst-party data while
also identifying various intent-based and affinity signals from YouTube to incorporate into
the overall marketing strategy and delivering phenomenal results as expected from the
intent-based lookalike model, proving its value. We built a campaign for Castrol’s Power 1
Ultimate product.

Outcomes
Lookalike audience modelling helped in expanding the base of the brand’s core target group.
The modelled segment delivered a 53% uplift in view-through rate (VTR) compared to the
industry benchmark of 30%.

The first-party modelled audience outperformed on engagement with the product ad, and
through artificial intelligence-based optimization the team was able to reduce the cost-per-view
(CPV) by 58% versus the preview campaign.

In addition, the AI stack was further able to optimise the secondary media metrics and the
campaign delivered a 68% drop in costs-per-click (CPCs) as compared to past campaigns. This
led us to the conclusion that the targeted consumer had a higher interaction and engagement
with Castrol Power 1 Ultimate.

53% 58% 68%

Uplift in Reduce the Drop in
view through rate cost-per-view costs-per-click

39
39
 Castrol: Driving Media
Outcomes with
First-Party Data

“
At Castrol we are going through a digital transformation to ensure an
audience-always communication strategy. Leveraging data, that is based on
audience intent and behaviour has opened doors to challenging avenues to
drive consideration for our brands. Mindshare and Xaxis took this challenge
head on to help supplement our prospecting campaigns and delivered a
solution that has improved our media efficiencies and helped us drive
great results.

We have seen the Cost per view reduce by 58% along with a tremendous
uplift in VTR by 53% as compared with the industry benchmarks. This has
“
us the confidence to use this solution as mainstay of our media strategy.

- Jaya Jamrani, Vice President - Marketing, Castrol India Limited

40
40
 upGrad: Cutting through clutter
to reach an intended audience
at the lowest CPR with
Integrated Video+

The edtech company Upgrad wanted to create awareness for its MBA programmes’ portfolio and
drive consideration by maximising unique reach across video platforms at the lowest possible
cost per reach.

However, the fragmented video landscape limited the company’s ability to successfully reach its
target audience.

Xaxis India conceived a strategy of consolidating video buying, called Integrated Video+, in
which the dominant channels in video for the target audience — YouTube and OTT platforms
— were combined as part of a single setup, which allowed holistic targeting and measurement
across the fragmented landscape. Along with a frequency cap, machine-learning-driven
intelligent budget allocation drove traffic efficiently, reaching recent graduates and
working professionals.

Outcomes
The Video+ solution helped Upgrad achieve an unduplicated unique reach of 82.6 million users
across YouTube and OTT platforms. Video+ also helped reduce the CPR for the campaign by 31%.

31% 82.6Mn
Reduction in Cost Unique reach across
Per Reach Youtube & OTTs

“
“
The journey has been fruitful. Our marketing goal of maximising unique reach
and reducing the cost per reach (CPR) opened doors to challenging avenues
but with a smart team and defined solutions at hand, the team helped us
drive results efficiently. They customised the solution in a way that in turn,
resulted in lowering the CPR by 31% as compared with pre-campaign period.

- Ankit Khirwal, Head of Marketing, upGrad

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What’s Next

Conclusion
The digital media space is evolving, fast. Technology has changed the way industries operate,
and this includes advertising. Consumers are no longer content with traditional methods of
engaging with brands. They expect more, especially from their favourite brands, and brands that
will become their favourites. Marketers need to be agile and redefine the way their customers
consume content. At the very least, they should implement new strategies that move alongside
changing user habits.

We’re also going to see the end of third-party cookies become reality very soon, so time is
running out for brands who have yet to rethink their advertising strategies. They should already
be focused on learning the best ways to gain first-party data, or even zero-party data, and
designing a future-proof digital advertising strategy.

Additionally, as privacy concerns continue to rise in our increasingly digital world, brands should
take Personal Data Protection Bill (PDPP) regulations seriously. Organisations that can remain
creative while keeping their customers’ data and privacy secure will stand out and surely reap the
benefits in the long run. Security is paramount.

The growth in omnichannel marketing will further blur the lines between digital and non-digital
advertising. As brands redefine the way they connect with consumers across digital, mobile, and
OTT channels, marketing budgets may shift. As we navigate the future of advertising, brands
should also look at new and exciting ways to reach customers, such as through voice-enabled
devices, AR, and VR.

What we’ve covered in this report is only the tip of the iceberg; a brief glimpse at what’s to come.
Whatever lies on the road ahead, we can be sure we’ll see lots of change. Brands that remain
flexible and future-focused will be the most prepared to thrive in this ever-changing world.

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The Bet of 2023: Discovery Commerce

Xaxis transforms digital media into business outcomes. We

maximize the ROI of our clients’ digital media investments by
combining innovative AI technology, advanced cross-channel
solutions, and dedicated programmatic expertise to develop
and optimize to success metrics that connect directly to their
business goals. Founded in 2011, Xaxis is GroupM’s outcome
media specialist, serving more than 3,000 brands in 48
markets around the world. Find out more at www.xaxis.com.

XAXIS.COM
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