Welcome to the fourth edition of Oliver Wyman's Ahead Of The Curve collection. In this series, our partners discuss market-disrupting trends with industry leaders. This edition focuses on the revolution of digital advertising, the death of third-party cookies, and the increasing competition for view attention. 

At Oliver Wyman, we are constantly exploring new frontiers, seeking out the next big opportunity in private equity. Through Ahead Of The Curve, we aim to offer our clients unparalleled insights and a unique vantage point to stay ahead of the competition.

Adapting to the future of third-party cookies and consumer demands 

The future of the third-party cookies industry is marked by innovation, privacy concerns, and evolving consumer demands. Advertisers must adapt to these changes by leveraging technological advancements, consolidating their audience, embracing alternatives to third-party cookies, and prioritizing transparency. By staying ahead of the curve and addressing the industry's challenges, advertisers can thrive in the evolving digital advertising landscape.

In this conversation with Muriel Schtickzelle, Partner and Head of Pricing, Sales and Marketing, Europe and Jorge Poyatos, co-founder of Seedtag, highlights the company's commitment to contextual and privacy-first advertising in the context of generative artificial intelligence's growing impact. Seedtag has developed technology that effectively delivers ads while respecting user privacy, which becomes more crucial considering the challenges posed by the impending deprecation of third-party cookies. Seedtag's research data shows superior brand uplift and increased purchasing intent compared to average campaigns, as well as web quality assurance and performance measurement.

Key components for success in the evolving digital advertising landscape

While the video gives perspective on the intricacies of the natural language processing market and investment in contextual performance, our report "May I Have Your Attention Please? — The Future Of Digital Advertising" analyzes the online advertising industry. As companies collect more internet data, consumers' concerns about data storage and usage are changing their consumption habits and pushing companies to adapt. The online attention economy is being reshaped by shifts in consumer demands and viewership, with video dominating over 50% of the market and viewership shifting to search and social platforms.

To succeed in this evolving landscape, advertisers must address four key components: sustaining technological innovation, investing in diverse and enriched offerings, consolidating the audience, and embracing alternatives to third-party cookies. This includes leveraging contextual advertising effectiveness  and communities, privacy sandbox testing, and new identifier solutions to deliver performance in a privacy-first way.