Advertising Week 2024: Top 3 Takeaways

If there’s one thing you can count on with Advertising Week New York 2024, it is that you will leave with your head buzzing with ideas, insights and the latest industry trends. It is the advertising event of the year. With more than 60% of attendees director-level or above from leading brands, agencies and adtech companies, it is a thought leadership event of truly epic proportions.

Snowflake was there in style with the Snow Mobile, speaking sessions, dinners and Data Cloud Now’s Ryan Green with executive interviews. If we missed you, no problem. We have you covered with the top three takeaways from this premier industry event.

1. AI is front and center

The advertising industry has long used AI and ML, but this last year has seen a tidal shift in the volume of use and creativity in execution of AI strategies. Unsurprisingly, AI was a core theme at the conference, with speaking sessions and panel discussions exploring traditional and generative AI use cases, essential considerations and where industry leaders see it advancing in our dynamically changing future.

AI adoption highlights

With an entire track dedicated to AI and multiple panel discussions on a variety of topics, a few key themes rose to the top:

• Campaign optimization: With its ability to analyze vast amounts of data in real time, advertisers are using AI to make prescriptive adjustments to improve targeting and performance. 

• Alleviating ad fatigue: Advertisers are using AI to help combat consumers’ very real ad fatigue by analyzing preferences and proactively surfacing more relevant, engaging campaigns. 

• Transforming TV: More audiences will soon be experiencing hyper-personalized recommendations in-platform, all powered by AI.

Check out Nvidia’s Jamie Allen’s latest on AI, privacy and industry trends in this video:

2. Data clean rooms are an advertiser’s best friend

Advertisers have received the message loud and clear: Protecting privacy is essential, and they are taking action to protect it with data clean rooms (DCRs). With privacy a driving force behind advertising strategies, companies across the entire advertising ecosystem are turning to data clean rooms to enhance campaign targeting and measurement while maintaining the highest standards of consumer privacy.

Data clean rooms are powering the privacy-first advertising strategies of many Fortune 500 businesses to enhance their campaigns in a variety of ways:   

• Enhanced audience segmentation: Companies and partners can securely collaborate in a controlled data environment to gain deeper insights and build granular audience segments without compromising consumer privacy. 

• Improved measurement and attribution: Gain a more accurate view of campaign performance and customer journeys with secure collaboration with publishers, advertisers and measurement providers. Optimize your ROI through more refined targeting and budget allocation. 

• Customizable and interoperable solutions: Built to be flexible and  interoperable, Snowflake Data Clean Rooms offer ready-to-use templates that can be tailored for custom AI models, workflows and data logic. 

Learn more about Snowflake Data Clean Rooms. 

3. Data gravity is driving data strategy

Data has been the backbone of advertising strategy for decades, but it’s becoming more important to intelligently leverage data. Across the ecosystem, we’re seeing the concept of data gravity take hold even more — where more data is attracting more data. And, as AI use increases across the campaign lifecycle, feeds on data to optimize and personalize, it’s generating even more data. The result is a new cycle where data and AI reinforce each other.

But AI is only effective when you have quality, actionable data. A smart, robust data strategy is essential to cutting through the noise and delivering tangible business outcomes. A solid data strategy isn’t just about gathering data anymore. It’s about using it effectively and, very importantly, with the high standards of consumer privacy in mind.

Watch this video and get the latest scoop on the AI Data Cloud from Snowflake’s Bill Stratton:

As Advertising Week 2024 in New York wrapped up, one thing was crystal clear: We are in a new era in advertising. From AI-powered campaign personalization to the growth of data collaboration and clean rooms, how brands connect with consumers and their data is transforming. For brands and advertisers, this means that staying ahead requires fully embracing a data strategy that prioritizes AI innovation and privacy-preserving data collaboration. 

Want to hear how customers are having AI success with Snowflake? Read our Secrets of Marketing Success ebook.