Mediaocean’s
2022 Market Report
and 2023 Outlook
Using data gathered from 600+ leaders at advertising agencies, tech
companies, and media providers, this end-of-year report features
insights on marketing trends set to impact the coming year.Table of contents
Introduction 3 Insight #3: Cognitive dissonance on privacy 11
Foreword by Joanna O’Connell 4 Insight #4: Secular trends in TV ad
spend continue—with a notable caveat 12
Executive summary6
Insight #5: Brand safety concerns persist 13
Insight #1: Marketers still love social,
but the relationship is complicated 7 Conclusion and Methodology 14
Insight #2: Upper-funnel advertisingAbout Mediaocean15
may outperform investment
expectations amid economic headwinds 9
2 The Mediaocean 2022 Market Report and 2023 Outlook @2023 MediaoceanIntroduction
Thank you for reading Mediaocean’s
2022 Market Report and 2023 Outlook.
These insights reflect input from more
than 600 customers and partners,
focused on key media and technology
trends along with 2022 projected
marketing investments. We primarily
surveyed marketers and agencies, but
also included perspectives from media
companies, measurement firms, tech
platforms, and other industry cohorts.
3 The Mediaocean 2022 Market Report and 2023 Outlook @2023 MediaoceanForeword by Joanna O’Connell
Almost unbelievably, 2023 is upon us.
And the pace of change in digital marketing feels faster than
ever. Why? Because it is. Consumer behaviors and attitudes
continue to evolve. Some new behaviors, like the rapid and
ongoing adoption of streaming, are the new normal. The
purchase lifecycle, once considered an immutable process of
“discover, engage, purchase”, has both collapsed and shape-
shifted in a world of video- and social-powered commerce.
The legislative and regulatory privacy landscape is active and With that said, here are some things I’m
developing in an unprecedented way. And the notions of what’s excited to see get traction in the coming year:
possible in a web 2.0 world are being challenged daily.
o How we change the privacy conversation—from one of
Overlay all of these developments on a backdrop of a multi-year“risk mitigation” through compliance to smart, sustainable
pandemic, economic and political upheaval, and other global business practices that reward transparency and a clear
forces, and it’s clear we all should be sitting up and paying value exchange. This means that we as an industry need to
attention as we head into the new year.graduate past thinking of this moment as a cookie problem,
up our games when it comes to consumer data collection
Admittedly, when things are uncertain, it can feel safest to
and management and spend more time on connecting
entrench and stick with what we know. (What’s the famous
media and message.
phrase?“Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM.”) But what’s
really important here is our point of focus—which, I would o How we avoid the trap of treating streaming TV and
argue, MUST be on the consumer. A healthy relationship video advertising as a “find/replace” for broadcast
among brands, publishers, and consumers create a sustainable television. That is, how we push ourselves to think beyond
advertising and marketing ecosystem. And we’ve gotten out of the 30-second spot and traditional ad pod model to deliver
balance over the last few years, arguably, to the detriment of video ad experiences that modern consumers not only
consumers and the consumer experience. It’s time to rebalance. choose not to avoid but might actually enjoy!
4 The Mediaocean 2022 Market Report and 2023 Outlook @2023 MediaoceanForeword by Joanna O’Connell (continued)
o How we close the gap between ad exposure and consumer purchase
to make it as simple and seamless as possible for consumers to learn,
laugh, and buy on their terms, whenever and however they want. This
necessitates seamless back-end processes, connected systems, and
organizational will to make “commerce everywhere” a reality.
o How we rethink orchestration and measurement in the era of signal
loss and media platform fragmentation. Seamless, cross-channel,
person-level frequency management and ad sequencing always
sounded like the right end goal, but we over-rotated, and advertising
became intrusive rather than helpful. So it’s time to challenge our
conventional wisdom. Optimizing the consumer experience is still
critical and understanding how marketing contributes to business
growth is vital - but perfect may be the enemy of good going forward.
So as you read through this year’s 2022 Market Report and 2023 Outlook Joanna O’Connell, independent industry analyst and data-driven
and use it to help inform your thinking and decision-making heading intoadvertising expert, has more than 20 years of experience in the ad
2023, I hope this framing is a helpful guide. industry and has served as a pioneer throughout. She started her
career at agency Avenue A, co-founded Razorfish’s agency trading
desk, built the research practice at trade publication AdExchanger,
served as CMO of global ad tech company MediaMath, and led
Joanna O’Connellprogrammatic and omnichannel advertising research for Forrester
Research. She holds a BA in psychology from Vassar College.
5 The Mediaocean 2022 Market Report and 2023 Outlook @2023 Mediaocean