At Infillion, our tech and creative teams build for desktop, mobile, connected TV, and even sports stadiums. That’s a lot of platforms – and a lot of different creative strategies.

What were some of our creative milestones in 2023? From brand lift to 3-card monte, from inventive custom builds to our performance-driving Blueprints, this infographic shows a few of our team’s favorites.

(See full sized PDF here.)

Want to find out how Infillion’s creative tech can take your ads to the next level? Get in touch today.

 Streaming TV business model changes, shoppable ads, generative AI, and a stronger push for collaboration will reshape next year’s advertising landscape. Here’s how.

Ad spending roared back in the latter half of this year, indicating that there will be a healthy start to 2024. Yet, as ads proliferate, frustrated consumers have erupted with a collective “Enough!”  

As consumers take more control over their media use and consumption, there is a clear dynamic marketers and publishers cannot ignore: more than ever before, they need to attract audiences with relevant, engaging  experiences – including both content and advertising. Yet easier said than done in a world of fragmented viewing, increased privacy restrictions, and wholesale shifts in how people pay for and consume television. 

Pulling consumers in is especially important in the streaming TV space, where viewership is soaring. From May 2022 to May 2023, there was a 20% surge in total CTV usage, with viewership  jumping from 9.6 billion hours to 11.5 billion, according to Comscore. Not to mention the latest news from the  Netflix Engagement Report, revealing that viewers spent 100 billion hours on that streaming service alone. 

Although that’s all great news for our industry, our focus should be on new research from Parks Associates that the churn rate for streaming TV subscriptions stands at 47%. Many consumers cite cost; others say that they’re cutting subscriptions once a favorite TV show or season of a sport they follow is over, but regardless of the reasoning there’s no doubt that consumers are in control. Publishers and marketers need to align on putting the consumer first – and that means being ready, in lockstep, for what’s next. Here’s what the industry can expect in the year ahead. 

Prediction 1: Attention Metrics Take Center Stage  

This will be of no surprise to anyone reading this: People are bombarded with hundreds if not thousands of ads each day – and the vast majority of them likely don’t “stick.” Our responsibility as an industry must be the creation of better experiences, so that ads can be rewarded with true consumer attention. To succeed in 2024, advertisers would do well to embrace the Attention Economy but only if they fully understand what type of attention works best for their brand/KPI. If they don’t, their relevance and performance will suffer.  

Enter attention metrics. More than 90% of marketing professionals believe metrics that measure attention will soon augment legacy standards – like reach & frequency, impressions, and page views – if not replace them altogether. That’s according to a survey issued by The Attention Council (TAC), an organization composed of researchers, agencies, publishers, and holding companies focused on improving advertising-related outcomes. (Infillion is proud to be a member.)

Nearly 9 in 10 respondents to the TAC survey identified several promising use cases for attention metrics: media optimization (75%), measurement (67%), creative testing and optimization (64%), and planning (54%) as the most likely to successfully employ attention driven signals. 

That said, there’s more work to be done. Attention metrics’ utility isn’t set in stone, and 2024 will see significant moves in attempting to solidify them. Advertising Research Foundation is currently working on an “Attention Atlas,” which, as Adweek reported, will outline vendor positioning, methods, and deliverables so that brands can make more informed choices when exploring new partnerships. The Atlas was initiated to give brands and agencies access to greater insights as the slow death of third-party tracking cookies diminish the online signals marketers have relied so heavily on for the last two decades. 

Prediction 2: Shoppable Ads Go Mainstream

The past year has seen a tidal wave of shoppable ad announcements. Innovators like Kerv, Disney, NBCU, and Roku have revolutionized how viewers interact with content, turning passive watching into active shopping experiences. In the not too distant future, this shopping process is expected to become even more seamless, allowing purchases to be transacted with a click of a button.

We witness the rise of shoppable ads firsthand at Infillion every day. We launched ShopX, a shoppable solution for streaming video that allows viewers to add products directly to their carts at a selection of retailers, in May of 2022. By the end of the year we’d run a campaign in which over $1B worth of a single product was added to users’ carts.

That all represents a massive change in consumer behavior.

In 2024, shoppable ads will become the answer   for brands looking to engage consumers in “never been done before” ways, empowering innovation in a space that has been stagnant for decades… All eyes will be on the  retail media networks Amazon, Walmart, Target, Albertsons, and others to see how this trend potentially disrupts, in a good way, traditional ecommerce opportunities.

Prediction 3: Cross-Platform Measurement Gets More Intelligent — and Actionable 

Unfortunately, as streaming TV has taken center stage among viewers, the fragmentation in the marketplace has only gotten worse. The slow adoption of partnership across publishers, advertisers, operating systems, and devices is hindering ad innovation and scalability even as the demand for such solutions is becoming more urgent. 

As subscription growth has slowed for many publishers and churn has increased, the need to establish effective ad-supported options that don’t alienate audiences is a must solve for all streamers. Audiences have shown they’re “leaned in”. But this can’t be done unless there are effective partnerships, and the willingness to co-mingle tech reducing publisher burden across the industry.

Case in point, in 2020, technological advancements like the IAB’s SIMID technology, which promotes interoperability across platforms, never scaled. Today, in 2024, there is a revitalization in the format to make cross-platform interactive advertising from mobile to CTV more scalable and measurable. Without SIMID, ad tech innovators are forced to negotiate/integrate platform by platform, publisher to publisher causing universes of “walled gardens” within what’s supposed to be the open internet.

Prediction 4: Increased Scrutiny – and Potential Regulation – of AI Used In Content and Ads. 

As much as all major industries — along with a growing segment of consumers — are experimenting with generative AI, the advance of this technology has also been accompanied by fear and backlash. Concerns among advertising professionals that they’ll be replaced by machines is understandable, if only because AI is opening up completely new arenas for everyone from artists to analysts to technicians. 

As it relates to creativity, and our industry, that fear was a large sticking point in the drawn out “Hollywood Double Strike,” as the writers’ and actors’ unions fought the studios over the role of AI models in all facets of TV and movie production. As for advertising specifically, platforms have begun to flag political ads created with AI, seeking to maintain transparency in the digital ecosystem.

Both government and corporate regulatory measures that address AI are inevitable; the European Union has already agreed on its AI Act. It’s likely that – among other things – these measures separate genuine, professional uses of AI in creation from bottom-feeding attempts to leverage these platforms for quick gain. Even if regulators don’t take down bad actors, consumers will prize authenticity above all. 

It’s also crucial for the different siloes of the advertising industry to align on how AI can be helpful versus harmful to the industry. New research from Borrell Associates found that while both direct buyers and agencies are interested in the use of AI for content creation and optimization, agencies are more interested in predictive analytics and campaign planning. Agencies are also far more likely (70%) than direct buyers (43%) to already be using generative AI or to be planning to do so. These discrepancies in how AI is prioritized and deployed can cause friction when it comes to bigger-picture issues, like sustainability, and the environmental impact that all the processor power of generative AI is adding on to an already energy-intensive digital advertising industry. But when done well – and done mindfully –  generative AI can open up a renaissance in creativity. And that’s what it will take to gain meaningful attention, engagement, and loyalty from a brand’s audience.

There’s a lot ahead for streaming in 2024, given how much 2023 revealed some of the industry’s most pressing voids and disconnects. From subscriber churn to frustration over a lack of scalability, it’s evident that 2024’s biggest trends are going to point to the need to further work across departments, companies, and historic “siloes” of the business. After all, consumers are now in charge, and the answer for the industry is going to lie in unified progress rather than further fragmentation.

How do our 2024 predictions match with your own? Are there any we missed? Click here to reach out and let’s get a conversation started!

Welcome to our Interactive Storytelling series. Here, we’ll share our favorite strategies on how to turn static stories into interactive ad narratives. Missed the last one on quizzes? Read it here. 

For brands that need to advertise a larger suite of products or narratives, choosing the correct single topic to focus an ad on can be a challenge.

After all, choosing to highlight one topic makes the inadvertent choice to not focus on another topic. So what do you do?

You use a Content Collection – our solution for having your cake and eating it, too.

Content Collections are, effectively, a microsite in an ad unit. This allows storytellers to create multiple paths leading to multiple experiences all in service of your brand.

Here’s what benefits you can expect from a Content Collection:

For Advertisers: An Expanded Product Mix; a More Compelling Story

As stated above, offering a variety of paths for users can create several storytelling benefits. 

The first is, of course, showing more products in your portfolio. With each additional product, you have the opportunity to make your brand more user-friendly and more accessible to more people, thanks to more use cases and more choice. Plus, it will speak to the depth and breadth of your offerings.

But it’s not just a greater selection of products that can help advance brand storytelling goals. Content Collections can also offer deeper storytelling of your narrative.

Take the example here:

Here, the brand is using their paths to tell a farm-to-table story. One path highlights the small farms that supply Chipotle. But, we also have recipes, an ingredient exploration, and even user reviews. This deeper-dive gives the user a more complete picture of the brand’s process, thereby creating a sticky, impactful, transparent unit. 

But it’s not just advertisers that benefit from this kind of multipathed storytelling. Creative like this also establishes a powerful experience for users.

For Users: More Choice, More Personalization

There are countless ad campaigns that could benefit from single-topic advertising. And for those, you should absolutely use single-topic strategies.

For more complex brand stories, however, you’ll want to avoid single-topic advertising.Not every user wants the same products or services. Not every user wants to learn a brand’s story in the exact same way. The solution for this is personalization. And luckily, Content Collections specialize in user choice.

Knowing the benefits of Content Collections for advertisers (more products, deeper storytelling) and users (more personalization and transparency), we can start to dig into different kinds of Content Collections. Broadly speaking, Content Collections can be simple or complex. Here are examples of both:

Simple Content Collections

By definition, simpler examples of Content Collections will offer multiple paths for exploration. However, these paths are fairly straightforward. 

In the example above, a user is given three paths. Each path reveals imagery, copy, and a CTA. 

Content Collections have the ability to go more in depth, but this is a perfect means of offering personalization while still keeping the experience streamlined.

An execution like this would benefit from all the storytelling power of a Content Collection while still keeping production comparatively lean. In fact, this kind of Content Collection can be created on an expedited timeline. 

Complex Content Collections

Content Collections can also be more fully-featured. We can create an experience that truly mirrors a microsite, with each path representing a completely different interactive experience. In fact, it’s possible that any of our creative capabilities could live in a Content Collection at the same time.

In the example above, we’ve included samples of several Mattel games able to be played directly in-unit. Users aren’t just getting separate paths of information – they’re getting an entire array of diverse experiences.

Units like these tend to engage our users and encourage exploration while delivering one of the deepest, richest storytelling experiences we can offer. 

Users will interact with great content, full stop. So  for your next campaign, consider a Content Collection. By telling your brand story in a container that honors choice and gives users a greater degree of transparency, control, and even fun – you’ll be setting up your campaign for interactive success.

Interested in building a content collection ad for your brand? Click here to reach out and get started!

Welcome to our Interactive Storytelling series. Here, we’ll share our favorite strategies on how to turn static stories into interactive ad narratives. Missed the last one on games? Read it here. 

Quizzes are among the most effective ad units that we create at Infillion, and for several very good reasons. Consider:

• With quizzes, we don’t have to guess a consumer’s motivations. They tell us by answering questions. All we do is reflect their input at the end.

• The barrier of entry is exceedingly low. Nobody needs to learn how to take an online quiz. We’ve been taking online quizzes for ages. (Thanks, BuzzFeed.)

• They consistently deliver full-funnel results while driving every digital metric that we measure.

So why aren’t all of our interactive units quizzes? Because quizzes require us to create an original, in-house asset: Quiz copy and logic. While we have the expertise and the pedigree around creating quiz logic, they aren’t the quickest ad to build. But if your brand has the time, we can drive those results..

If an Infillion quiz is the right fit for your campaign, consider one of the following quiz strategies:

Recommendation

With a Recommendation Quiz, users answer a few questions about their preferences. Then, 3 answers later, we give them a single entry point to start their journey with your brand. This is great for brands that have more than one product or offering, especially if the array of products may make it difficult for a single consumer to decide. 

This has a lot of storytelling power. Consider:

• This can help consumers home in on which of a brand’s offerings is right for them – they don’t have to decide among 31  figurative flavors of ice cream. (Paradox of Choice, anyone?) A quiz, acting in a “concierge” role, can give users ONE entry point tailored to their specific needs.

• Quizzes can help introduce new use cases, accessory products, and even regimens on how to use the product.

• We can pass back key data to the client about user choices and results. 

Pound for pound, Recommendation Quizzes may be our most powerful units.

Personalization

Recommendation Quizzes suggest an individualized product recommendation to a user out of an array of options. Personalization Quizzes, on the other hand, reflect your individualized relationship to a single product. 

An easy comparison is the classic Buzzfeed-style quiz. After answering questions, we’ll just tell you something about yourself through the lens of the brand or product. “Based on your answers, you’re a [BRAND] Super-user!” 

We’d recommend Personalization Quizzes in the following cases:

• Where a quiz-based unit is desired, but the brand is only promoting ONE product.

• Education on the user’s brand “type” to help them better find their role in your brand’s clan, so to speak. Are they night owls or early birds? Introverts or extroverts? Online shoppers or brick-and-mortar shoppers? Once we know that, we can figure out where their personalities fit into a brand’s ecosystem.

Entire media companies have built their empires on the power of personality quizzes. It can help your brand, too. 

Knowledge Check Quizzes

Think of Knowledge Check Quizzes as “brand trivia.” Unlike its siblings, the Knowledge Check Quiz will grade your score at the end. This experience brings replayability and a desire to win. And as we’ve seen with our game-based units, people like to win.

Typically, here’s how we use Knowledge Check Quizzes:

• To Introduce a Pain Point: Sometimes we’ll subtly show users what they don’t know.
  
  This can create a slight feeling of discomfort. However, if we position your brand as the solution to that pain point, then we’re increasing the likelihood of down-funnel actions.
  
  For instance: a quiz about water benefits hosted by a bottled water brand. How much water should you be drinking per day? How can better hydration improve your sleep, focus, or workout performance? The quiz creates the ache; your brand is the relief.

• To Introduce Benefits: This is a subtle way to educate users on a given product. Imagine a question like: “What’s your favorite thing about New Product X?” with the answers being: Benefit A, Benefit B, and so on.
  
  Of course, if it’s a new product, users won’t know. So in this case the Quiz acts as both a source of education for the users AND a source of data for the brand.

• Pure Fun: Not every quiz-based ad needs to be packed with brand information. A fun time-waster, sponsored by your brand, can be a fantastic way to build sentiment.
  
  Consider universal quiz topics, like: “Halloween Trivia, sponsored by [YOUR BRAND].” You’ll replace an ad break with fun. Your customers will remember.

Now, Quizzes aren’t the only way to engage users and drive them down-funnel. We have a lot of solutions for that very problem. 

It’s just that Quizzes might be the best at it. 

Interested in building a quiz ad for your brand? Click here to reach out and get started!