The drive for digital transparency - WARC Toolkit 2018

LONDON, Jan 9, 2018 - (ACN Newswire) - Digital transparency will be a key challenge for brands in the year ahead concludes WARC, the global marketing intelligence service, in its Toolkit 2018 - a report based on a survey of more than 600 marketing and advertising professionals around the world to obtain their outlook on the coming year. The findings are combined with the latest ideas, research and expert opinion from WARC.

Led by P&G, brands are putting pressure on the digital media ecosystem to reform and to embrace greater transparency. Issues include the billions of dollars being lost globally to ad fraud; the absence of industry-wide viewability standards; the shortage of impartial, third-party campaign measurement and verification; the rising use of ad-blocking software; and a lack of transparency in the media supply chain.

David Tiltman, Head of Content, WARC, comments: "2018 will be pivotal to the ongoing drive by brands, media owners and the ad tech industry to 'clean up' and address the challenges facing digital advertising - viewability, brand safety, measurement, transparency - as they reassert control over media contracts, investments and partnerships, to ensure they are maximising ROI."

Julia Connaughton, Head of Digital, the7stars, added: "With advertisers demanding increased transparency, and agencies and publishers united in a fight against ad fraud, we are entering a period of transition that will have a lasting impact on the future of our industry."

Key findings around digital transparency from the Toolkit 2018 survey reveal that:

- Both agency (45%) and brand (49%) respondents cited viewability and accurate measurement as the number one industry issue offering cause for concern when drawing up marketing plans for the coming 12 months. - 30% of respondents expect digital spend to be cut if these issues are not resolved.- 51% of brands believe there is now a crisis of trust between brands and media agencies.

The drive for digital transparency is one of five key challenges highlighted in Toolkit 2018, which also includes a guide to best practice, potential pitfalls and video interviews with industry leaders to help overcome the issues.

WARC will be holding a round-up discussion event on Toolkit 2018 in London on Wednesday 10 January to examine an overview of marketing trends for 2018, the CX battleground, taking control of customer data and why voice is branding's new frontier. Register at content.warc.com/register-for-the-warc-event-toolkit-2018-marketing-trends-cx-gdpr-voice-strategy for this free-to-attend event.

For more information and insights on Toolkit 2018, visit www.warc.com/Topics/Toolkit.topic.

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warc.com is an online service offering advertising best practice, evidence and insights from the world's leading brands. WARC helps clients grow their businesses by using proven approaches to maximise advertising effectiveness. WARC's clients include the world's largest advertising and media agencies, research companies, universities and advertisers.

WARC hosts four global and two regional case study competitions: WARC Awards, WARC Innovation Awards, WARC Media Awards, The Admap prize, WARC Prize for Asian Strategy and WARC Prize for MENA Strategy.

WARC also publishes leading journals including Admap, Market Leader, the Journal of Advertising Research and the International Journal of Market Research. In addition to its own content, WARC features advertising case studies and best practices from more than 50 respected industry sources, including: ARF, Effies, Cannes Lions, ESOMAR and IPA.

Founded in 1985, WARC is privately owned and has offices in the UK, U.S. and Singapore.

Contact:Amanda Benfell
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amanda.benfell@warc.com