Channel predictions for the year ahead

There’s no denying that the crises we have weathered over the last few years have had a huge impact on our industry. The way brands approach their media planning is constantly evolving and in the current economic climate, this evolution is unlikely to slow down any time soon.

We asked our Wavemaker experts to share their predictions, per channel, for the year ahead.

TV

In 2023, TV will continue to reflect what we are interested in as a nation with unmissable sporting moments punctuating culture including the Women’s football World Cup, Rugby World Cup and Cricket World Cup, as well as plenty of reality TV including two rounds of Love Island and the hotly anticipated return of Big Brother.  To successfully cut through an ocean of programming, brands must navigate these islands of essential viewing: the TV moments that connect people and provoke emotions.

Publishing

Broadly, we believe publishers in 2023 will play the role of supporter and entertainer — helping consumers to navigate the cost of living crisis, and providing light relief from it. With TV and video viewing driving interest in sport, consumers will turn to trusted print and digital publisher brands to seek detailed information on all key 2023 moments, especially women’s sport. Curated publisher content will help consumers to navigate this ocean of programming. Meanwhile, in their capacity as community hubs, magazine brands will continue to help consumers to navigate the challenges of daily living and to support their passions in order to escape the everyday.

2023 will also see further editorial investment into the US market by Reach, The Independent and The Telegraph which will help news publishers to plug the revenue gap created by declining print revenues.

OOH

We predict OOH will continue to go from strength to strength in 2023, with double digit growth forecasted next year. The channel is now seeing audience numbers returned to pre-COVID levels, albeit with different patterns of impacts as daily routines have evolved. DOOH now has critical mass nationally, but digitisation will not let up and continue at pace. Innovation will be led by data availability (real time, location, dynamic triggers) as overlays, but also by screen capability. For example, the use of DeepScreen/3D technology will start to become more commonplace across numerous formats and environments.

OOH will also continue to push its credentials in community, diversity, and culture with an increasing focus around sustainability as a carbon neutral solution for advertisers.

Audio

Digital listening has exploded in recent years, and this growth was instrumental in driving commercial listening to exceed non-commercial listening for the first time in 2022. This growth will continue over the coming year as more consumers embrace music streaming and podcast listening across all age profiles. We predict audio partners will build on their investment in bringing TV talent to audio across the previous 2-3 years, which is likely to deliver an increased number of high-profile brand partnerships, especially in podcasting. The News Agents from Global with Emily Maitlis and Jon Sopel is a great example of this, which has hit 10 million downloads since launching in the second half of 2022.

Further developments in smart targeting will ensure audio revenue will safely return to pre-pandemic levels. One example of this will be the ability to target “predictive audiences”, which will pull data from listening habits to predict what a listener is likely to engage with based on “scaled up” sentiment data. This exciting growth in addressable audio offers huge opportunity for brands to achieve standout, particularly in reaching younger audiences.

Commerce

Online marketplace sales are now worth £282bn to the UK economy*, with sixty two percent of all online sales now going through a marketplace in the UK**. In 2022 Boots, B&Q and Superdrug all announced their marketplace offering and in 2023 we will see this trend continuing, with a focus on more industry or category specific marketplaces catering for consumers looking for specific products. With the increasing ability for consumers to shop anytime, anywhere, almost 70% of UK shoppers say that marketplaces are the most convenient way for them to shop online.

We believe brands therefore need to increase their visibility in these spaces, developing more opportunities to connect with consumers and accelerating their omnichannel approach. Brands that sell through more than one channel increase their revenue by 190% according to Shoppify, and according to McKinsey, drive the biggest market share gains.

Addressable

In 2023 we will see the rise of omni-channel addressable campaigns. As channels such as CTV and DOOH develop their capabilities, offering more precise targeting and the ability to personalise messaging, brands will gain a range of benefits. This includes having the ability to use the same audience data cross-channel, reinforced with brand consistent relevant messaging to build frequency, while optimising targeting to drive incremental lift through media and creative production efficiencies.

Innovation

The hype around ChatGTP3 will re-focus brands around not just Generative AI but the value of Conversational AI as a brand, content and CX tool. Walled gardens will start to slowly crumble as we see more and more players leaning into cross-platform and flexible (if not yet decentralised) offerings. And applications of AI will continue to get broader and deeper.

Businesses not actively embracing AI may find they are already using it as it gets integrated into more back-end tools to drive efficiencies and growth. We will also predict the industry will start moving from metaverse hype to metaverse utility applications with immersive, mixed reality technologies.

Are you a Wavemaker client and would like to discuss these predictions further? Please contact your Wavemaker account lead directly. Not a client but want to speak to our team about your 2023 media planning approach? Head to our contact page to get in touch.