1.
THIS PRESENTATION
ORIGINIALLY AIRED AS A
WEBINAR. THE RECORDING IS
AVAILABLE HERE:
https://events.bizzabo.com/339851

2.
PRESENTERS
Meghan Lavin
Marketing Director
Kelley Drake
Senior Director, Marketing & Communications
Linus Gregoriadis
Director & Co-founder
www.catalystdigital.com www.xaxis.com www.londonresearch.com

3.
HOUSEKEEPING & FAQS
Will the recording be available after?
Yes! We’ll email the recording and deck to
everyone who registered.
How do I access the research?
We’ll email it after the webinar and it’s available
on our site:
www.catalystdigital.com/new-original-
catalyst-xaxis-research-closing-the-gap/

4.
WEBINAR Q&A
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5.
AGENDA
Methodology
Consumers & Marketers: The Gap
Search & Social: Big Gap, Even Bigger Opportunity
The Next Era of Commerce
Programmatic at a Tipping Point
Going Omnichannel
Key Recommendations
1.
2.
3.
4.
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7.
6.

6.
METHODOLOGY
• U.S. consumer and business surveys conducted in April 2021
• 2,000 US consumers
• 200 advertisers working for companies with annual revenues of at least $50m across a range
of sectors. All respondents were decision makers in respect of their organizations’ media
planning and investment.
Interviews with industry experts from:

7.
WHAT IS
OMNICHANNEL
MARKETING?

8.
CATALYST & XAXIS DEFINITION OF OMNICHANNEL MARKETING:
Omnichannel solutions empower clients to reach and engage with their
customers across multiple touch points (be they video, search, social,
audio, DOOH, mobile or TV), providing a way to create a seamless and
integrated customer experience, tied directly to, and optimized towards
their true business outcomes.

9.
WHY OMNICHANNEL?
“As consumers continue to have an abundance of high-quality choices, brands
are beginning to create differentiation based on ease of access, relevancy, and
convenience. Consumers now expect seamless brand/product experiences
that move with them. Brands, therefore, must deliver messages to their
audiences at the most relevant moment - wherever they are. With the
advancements in programmatic delivery and ethical data usage, we now have
real opportunities to remove the inherent frictions of managing omnichannel
executions and realize a holistic strategy that makes advertising work better for
everyone.”
Kirk McDonald
CEO, GroupM North America

10.
HOW CLOSE ARE WE?

11.
CONSUMERS &
MARKETERS:
THE GAP

12.
DAILY ENGAGEMENT

13.
CONSUMER ATTITUDES TO ADVERTISING
82%
of 35–54
year-olds say they’re
generally happy to watch
an advertisement to
access free
online content.​

14.
CONSUMER ENGAGEMENT VS. MARKETING INVESTMENT

15.
EMERGING CHANNELS

16.
CHALLENGES TO INCREASED INVESTMENT

17.
21%
The average amount of
total media spend
allocated to emerging
channels and related
opportunities
46%
of marketers
strongly agree their budget
has become more dynamic
and real-time based on
evolving consumer
behavior
INVESTMENT IN EMERGING CHANNELS

18.
VOICE OF THE EXPERT
“To balance investment in tried-and-tested channels with emerging ones, we
need to make sure we’re adapting to consumer behavior, but also that we
understand how it will drive value for our business. We’ve pushed a lot
further into audio this year as a key awareness driver as we see increased use
of podcasts and streaming audio. In general, we are aggressive with in-house
programmatic testing, and how we’re using retail media.”
Kate Metzinger
Senior Director, Integrated Brand Activation
Georgia-Pacific

19.
SEARCH & SOCIAL:
BIG GAP,
EVEN BIGGER
OPPORTUNITY

20.
WHY OMNICHANNEL?
“The journey to omnichannel continues to evolve. Those that are the furthest
along have a sense of optimal channel mix, how individual channels
contribute to a continuum, and they don’t think of every channel as the
same in its ROI to drive that end result, because after all there’s brand-
building, there’s consideration, there’s action, all of which are important.”
Jed Dederick
SVP, Global Client Development
The Trade Desk

21.
SEARCH & SOCIAL = CORE TO CONSUMERS’ OMNICHANNEL
JOURNEY

22.
THE PANDEMIC PUSHED
MORE SHOPPERS ONLINE
Discoverability, whether that’s in category, retail, or
branded search is becoming even more important as more
consumers start relationships on-screen vs. in-store.

23.
THE PANDEMIC WILL HAVE SUSTAINED IMPACT ON SEARCH
70%
of 35-54s are more likely
to buy products and
services online in the
future as a result of the
pandemic
43%
of consumers say they
have increased their use of
search since the start of
the pandemic

24.
MARKETERS HAVEN’T CAUGHT UP WITH SEARCH BOOM, BUT THERE
IS COMPELLING REASON TO
• Marketing budgets have not kept pace with the amplification of search.
• Currently, the customers using search at least weekly (91%) is double the percentage of marketers
increasing spend (46%).
58%
of 55+ year-olds
79%
of 18-34 year-olds
83%
of 35-54 year-olds
Receptivity to Advertising on Search Engines

25.
SOCIAL MEDIA: ANOTHER BRIGHT SPOT IN THE OMNICHANNEL
JOURNEY
Consumers are spending more time on social media. 46% report using social media even
more since the start of the pandemic.
Like search, they are receptive to advertising on social media sites

26.
THE DOOR IS OPEN FOR INFLUENCER MARKETING
“Brands and influencers foster
engagement with audiences in a
way that feels like an organic
relationship, increasing brand loyalty
over time.”
Kerry Curran, Executive Director,
Performance Strategy & Growth, U.S.,
GroupM Services

27.
THE NEXT ERA
OF COMMERCE

28.
CONSUMERS ARE HOOKED ON ECOMMERCE
Proportion of consumers more likely
to buy products & services online in
the long run as a result of Covid-19

29.
75%
of consumers say they are
receptive to advertising on
ecommerce sites like
Amazon, Target and
Walmart
40%
of consumers visit
ecommerce sites at
least weekly

30.
BUT IN-STORE SHOPPING ISN'T DEAD – IT'S EVOLVING

31.
VOICE OF THE EXPERT
Consumers will be carefully planning out store visits to make the most of their
shopping trips, and search is the top resource they use to research their in-store
purchases. This behavior intertwines the digital and physical properties in a
way that requires brands to take stock of each customer interaction
and prioritize the right marketing channels.”
Ted Buell
Managing Director, Measurement & Analytics & Industry Marketing
Google

32.
MARKETERS ARE ANSWERING COMMERCE TRENDS
WITH STRATEGIC SHIFTS
56%
of marketers are
increasing investment in
retail and ecommerce
media

33.
THE
PROGRAMMATIC
TIPPING POINT

34.
PROGRAMMATIC
What is Programmatic Advertising?
An automated method of buying digital media where
data and technology are used to make real-time decisions
on a per-impression basis at scale about things such as:
• whether this is the right audience
• whether this is the right environment
• what price should be paid
• what creative/offer should be shown

35.
PROGRAMMATIC
$96.89B
2021
eMarketer
69%
of all media spend
will be digital by
2026
GroupM This Year, Next Year Forecast US 2021

36.
PROGRAMMATIC MOVES ACROSS ALL CHANNELS

37.
PROGRAMMATIC ENABLES INTEGRATION

38.
VOICE OF THE EXPERT
“The disruptions that came with 2020 are encouraging advertisers to shift to
more flexible and on-demand ad strategies. They have cut their planning
horizons significantly and are on average committing to media less than three
months out.
Programmatic is uniquely positioned to deliver on this shift, with real-time
reach forecasting across channels to adapt to changing viewing behaviors and
make sure every dollar counts. Having all media in one place gives marketers
the ability to reach (audiences) in a more attentive and flexible way.
Betsy Vankula
Director of Programmatic Media
Google

39.
GOING
OMNICHANNEL

40.
BARRIERS TO MORE INTEGRATED ADVERTISING

41.
DESPITE BARRIERS, MARKETERS ARE BULLISH

42.
BUT NOT EVERYTHING FITS

43.
VOICE OF THE EXPERT
“The accelerated uptake of streaming in 2020 means a lot of marketers have
to move faster than they were planning to in that space.
Incorporating TV into omnichannel buying is one of the great challenges,
and one of the most important things for marketers to get right at this
moment, because it creates the opportunity for brands to truly
differentiate and take a leading position in a moment when consumers have
moved already and marketers need to catch up.”
Jed Dederick
SVP, Global Client Development
The Trade Desk

44.
4 OUT OF 5
Marketers are keen
to retain the agility
in planning and budgeting they
discovered during
the pandemic

45.
CLOSING THE
GAP

46.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Leverage the benefits of programmatic
across all channels.
Address barriers to omnichannel adoption.
Embrace a test-and-learn mentality.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Don’t assume everyone who grows up with the
internet thinks the same way.
Retain your pandemic-era marketing agility.
Move to business-level KPIs.

47.
THANK YOU!
Report: www.catalystdigital.com/new-original-
catalyst-xaxis-research-closing-the-gap/
Infographic: www.catalystdigital.com/closing-
the-gap-5-key-findings-infographic/
Questions: Info@CatalystDigital.com
More about Catalyst & Xaxis:
- www.CatalystDigital.com
- www.Xaxis.com

48.
THANK YOU
FULL PAPER AVAILABE AT:
https://www.catalystdigital.com/research/closing-the-gap-
omnichannel-research/