Explore highlights from an insightful discussion between Nick Seckold (Regional Vice President, APAC, Microsoft Advertising) and Rohit Dosi (Vice President and GM, Strategic Revenue Partnerships, InMobi). Dive into today’s advertising landscape and discover trends set to dominate the future, with actionable insights for marketers. Also, uncover the impact of InMobi and Microsoft Advertising’s pioneering solutions and successful partnership.
In the new era of advertising, the shift in consumer behavior is monumental. Their growing expectations have driven advertisers to embrace innovative approaches fuelled by ground-breaking technology.
This is reflected in the continued integration of generative AI, cohesive experiences across various touchpoints, and holistic approaches to forge deeper connections.
Navigating this promising terrain together and pioneering pathbreaking solutions for advertisers are InMobi and Microsoft Advertising. The partnership, which began in India in 2020, has grown manifold with a customer-first mindset at its crux. Read on for highlights from an insightful discussion between InMobi’s Rohit Dosi and Microsoft Advertising’s Nick Seckold as they shed light on the journey and offer a gateway into the future of advertising. To watch the full conversation, click on the video above.
A glimpse of the successful partnership
Nick: “We took it over three years ago in an okay position. It’s fair to say that the partnership has developed and blossomed since then, and the business has grown significantly. Much of this driven by investment in the people as our business has grown and expanded in different regions. What we value most is the trusted partnership that we have. Microsoft really values relationships and partnerships. We enable a partner ecosystem, and I think InMobi fits into that beautifully on the advertising side.”
Rohit: “Advertising is a crowded space and playing with the bigger giants could be a bit challenging. We have also grown the partnership from one region to another, navigating through the cultural nuances of every region, and it has been a great ride with a lot of learnings having Microsoft by our side as we do this. We have grown to 75 countries and are now live in India, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. We are eager to see what is in store for us.”
The outlook for advertising: GenAI and privacy and privacy compliance
Nick: “When I think about the new era of advertising, I think about it through two lenses. One is through the advertiser lens, which is around tools and technology, but there is also how consumers react to advertising. There has been a lot of talk around data privacy and the cookie deprecation that is coming, personalized data sharing and all the things that we know, and the industry is grappling about. So, what will be interesting through a consumer lens is whether will we get to a point where consumers are consenting the data out to advertisers, and if there will be an exchange of value back to the consumer.
From an advertiser’s perspective, it is about how I get my message to the consumer in a more relevant way and meet them where they are, and technology is going to be able to help with that. AI is a major piece in that puzzle.
If you had to put it down to a couple of key trends, in my mind, it is automation and personalization.”
Rohit: “I think what happened last year with the whole announcement with open AI is, the world of search changed. Microsoft did change the way people are going to search, and the experience that it could offer.
But it is not just search anymore. In the new era of advertising, I think the consumer is connected and it has become increasingly important for brands to target consumers at every stage of the marketing funnel.”
AI, I think in some shape and form existed always, but it was existing a lot with the enterprises first. Now, generative AI is sitting with the consumers and therefore the consumer is evolving super fast and the advertising industry has to evolve to keep up with the consumer.
AI will definitely bring in that sense of scale so marketeers and brands can focus more on strategy and brand building rather than thinking about things such as execution, because I think a lot of that is going to be automated.”
Takeaways for marketers to navigate the new era
Nick: “The key is really to lean into the change. The industry is evolving. There are a lot of things that are available, but a lot of things are coming. Take AI as an example. Do not be afraid, and do not walk away from it. Lean into it and learn. No one has all the answers, you know, and we have an opportunity to sort of grow with it and learn from it.”
Rohit: “Advertising is really evolving. So, the key is to keep an open mind and just embrace what is out there and the change that is coming about.”
As the advertising space continues to transform, it is important to transform along with it. The most effective takeaway from this conversation is to stay agile, embrace innovation, and put the customer at the center of everything. This is how businesses can thrive in the new era of advertising.