ADVANCE 2024: Why Meaningful Ad Engagement Calls For a Simplified Workflow

There’s a purple light illuminating New York City today. 

Smartly proudly kicked off our inaugural flagship event ADVANCE, with programming designed to celebrate the convergence of social, commerce, technology, and storytelling. 

Smartly CEO Laura Desmond kicked off the day with an inspiring call to arms for marketers, creatives, brands, and agencies to ignite change and advance advertising as a force for good. 

Exceed Engagement Expectations ‍

Desmond implored the audience to listen and respond to the changing tides to build stronger relationships through creating valuable exchanges and engagements. 

“Consumers are telling us they want advertising to evolve and change for the better,” Desmond said. “People are calling for a new value exchange with Brands. A majority ( 74%) of adults expect personalized advertising experiences, up 10 points in the last 3 years. And 80% want AI-driven solutions that are responsible, safeguard and respect their privacy rights."

The line between advertising and entertainment continues to blur as consumers are spending more time on platforms where they can connect and be entertained more than ever before, an average of 1 hour and 50 minutes on social media alone each day. That’s nearly double the time spent since 2014.  

The onus is on us: Media, Creative and Performance Tech pros in the big ideas business. While big ideas come from creativity, innovation and connection, Desmond noted that we let process get in the way of creativity and personalizing experiences.

“The complexity of the messy middle of advertising technology has gotten in the way of what we set out to do every day: Engage consumers, grow brands and do it sustainably and responsibly,” she said. “But perhaps we have been building solutions that are too complex. To get back to the big idea, we must reimagine the way we work. This requires every part of our ecosystem to work together. We must simplify what has become complex.”

Simply Storytelling, Discovery, and Connection
Desmond shared her hope for the future of driving more meaningful audience engagements with a refined focus on helping brands find people and people find brands. 

This is Smartly’s bread and butter. Check out the stats: 

• Smartly’s Advertising Platform powers more than 800 billion impressions and generates more than 300 billion creatives annually 
• We see $5B in ad spend across the largest media platforms
• We work with 700+ brands worldwide
• 27% uplift in overall performance using Smartly’s GenAI produced creatives

PwC Verified in June 2024

• 42 min saved every hour using Smartly
• 5.5x ROAS 
• 3.3x Faster than Native Platform tools

We’re committed to helping advance the industry to a new view of what advertising and creative can be in the digital age. Stay tuned on our blog over the coming weeks for more inspiring takeaways from ADVANCE and follow the event discussion on social media with the hashtag #ADVANCESmartly2024.