Bonzai’s Top 5 Digital Ad Predictions for 2019

What will 2019 hold for brands, digital advertisers and marketers? Programmatic Creative Management Platform Bonzai’s CEO and co-founder, Rahul Pandey (left), reveals his forecasts for the year ahead, discussing his predictions around transparency, brand safety, ad formats, personalisation, programmatic, data-driven marketing and more.

1. Transparency will rule the day, brand safety is here to stay

With ad safety and transparency both big talking points this year, 2019 will elevate this conversation even further as brands demand greater authenticity and reassurance that their creative campaign is published in compliance with brand safety standards.

Creative management platforms such as Bonzai, will continue the narrative on transparency, as Bonzai ensures the creative is decoupled from media – it doesn’t sell or arbitrage media, and no hidden fees ensure its pricing model remains transparent. On top of this, Bonzai’s strong integration with premium local and global publishers ensures a brand’s campaign lands on authentic publisher platforms and delivers real, measurable results.

2. You will cross paths with high impact ad formats that delight and surprise

We’re not using the same technology as we did in 1994 when web ad banners started to surface, so why are we still advertising digitally like we did in the 90s? Creative advertising platforms have come a long way, and will continue to evolve in 2019, making lazy static banners a thing of the past, and non-intrusive, engaging, rich media formats the way of the future.

High impact formats will no longer be a ‘nice to have’, but critical for brands who are serious about delighting and surprising their customer. And with a new generation of engaging and creative ad formats like Bonzai’s TruSkin and ScrollX, creating deeper, more immersive and engaging experiences for customers will only be limited by a brand’s imagination.

3. The 3 P’s will guide the way – Programmatic, Personalisation, Performance

The age of personalisation is here to stay, and brands will be working smarter to ensure customers receive more relevant, contextual messaging informed by data and insights.

Creative management platforms like Bonzai, who can deliver creative campaigns programmatically and at scale will be a game changer for brands who are open to leverage new tools to allow both deeper engagement with customers and ensure campaigns work more efficiently down the marketing funnel.

4. Dive into your data and you will uncover the golden marketing message

Customers are welcoming of brands that make an honest attempt to connect and add value to their exploration and decision-making online. In 2019, brands that understand their customers at a deeper level and add value with the right in-moment messaging, will strike the chord with their audience. This means data will have a significant role to play and agile brands who leverage the power of data-driven creative solutions will resonate most with their customers and enhance their overall CX journey.

5. A fresh focus on your creative will unlock hidden potential

As brands continue to increase their focus on digital, the importance of creatives in the digital ecosystem will continue to rise. And in the coming year, we’re going to see an increasing shift from  ‘adapting for digital’ from traditional creatives,  to ‘creating for digital’ as a digital-first strategy. What’s particularly exciting about this is that it will put the spotlight on specialists who focus on redefining the ‘digital creative experience’ to unlock fresh opportunities for brands.