In this article…
Digital marketers face an ongoing challenge in the form of “walled gardens,” closed online ecosystems where it is difficult to access user data. As we get ready for 2024, it’s more important than ever for marketers to evaluate the current challenges and opportunities surrounding walled gardens and to take stock of the impact of walled gardens in marketing as an industry.
What is a walled garden?
A walled garden is a closed online ecosystem controlled entirely by one tech company. Advertising on these ecosystems is fairly locked down, as major tech companies with walled gardens tend to tightly control access to the user data, content, and advertising that appears within the ecosystems.
Some examples of walled garden ecosystems include Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Apple. These walled gardens have particular advantages, like access to massive user bases and precise targeting within the individual ecosystems. It can also be difficult to reach said audiences outside of the ecosystems, reducing the amount of control you have over your advertising strategies.
Learn more about walled gardens.
Learn the differences between walled gardens and hedged gardens.
Integrated marketing is more important than ever
Today, it’s become more crucial to connect with consumers over multiple touchpoints, which can be done from tech like connected TV (CTV) to websites, mobile devices, and even shopping in a physical store. However, as integrated marketing gains utility, many platforms with walled garden ecosystems have increased, making a truly integrated and personalized marketing strategy more difficult in many situations. As a result, many marketers have realized the value of a more streamlined marketing approach, emphasizing the importance of fully integrated advertising strategies.
Though there are surely marketing advantages to gain from walled garden ecosystems, especially in audience size, the challenges they pose will require you to innovate and find more creative ways to engage with your audience from platform to platform.
Perspectives on walled gardens from Cannes Lions 2023
Offering a poignant view of industry trends and ideas, the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity of 2023 had much to say about the significance of walled gardens in the marketing world. Let’s look at two key takeaways from this year’s festival.
Retail media
In recent years, many retail companies have started selling ad space within their own walled garden shopping platforms, dubbed “retail media.” Platforms like Amazon and Walmart have developed their own particular advertising ecosystems where they sell ads to marketers within the shopping environment itself.
Navigating the sell-side of retail media’s walled gardens
While retail media offers marketers unique opportunities, it’s not without its challenges. For one, ad space in these environments is limited, so the competition can be difficult on the sell-side, leading to higher ad costs. Additionally, this shift in dynamic also forces marketers to change how they prioritize their marketing channels, looking closer at the results of their efforts rather than focusing on particular channels within the platforms themselves.
Opportunities in the buy-side of retail media’s walled gardens
Brands on the buy-side see various benefits from advertising within retail media channels and walled gardens. By browsing in an online shopping environment, the users in these ecosystems are likely high-intent shoppers, people who are further down the sales funnel and who are ready to make a purchase soon. Shoppers can also be precisely targeted within these environments, as marketers are given the ability to access very specific audience segments based on details like shopping behavior, preferences, and even purchase history.
Omnichannel marketing
To more effectively engage audiences even among an abundance of walled garden ecosystems, speakers at the 2023 Cannes Lions Festival discussed the importance of omnichannel marketing. By emphasizing strategies that reach the consumer through multiple touchpoints, marketers can deliver a unified brand experience across channels. This allows marketers to focus more on results than specific advertising channels, including walled garden platforms.
Walled gardens aren’t going away in the near future
Though various challenges are associated with walled gardens in advertising, they aren’t going anywhere. So, what’s the current state of these environments throughout the industry?
Efforts are being made to break down walled gardens in tech
In a handful of countries, regulatory actions have been put forward to address how dominant many major tech companies are in their respective markets. One major example of this is Meta and Google’s entanglements in Canada. Currently, neither company can display news on their websites in the Canadian market. This decision was reached to give Canadian news agencies more control over their advertising revenue since, previously, the tech giants received more views and, therefore, gained the ad revenue. Though relatively small, this does indicate a certain shift in dynamic.
Why companies are resisting
Despite their challenges, walled gardens in 2023 persisted, mainly because they are particularly adept at generating revenue for the tech companies that control them. In 2022, 78 percent of global digital advertising revenue came from these closed ecosystems, and projections expect that figure to rise to 83 percent by 2027. From the viewpoint of a company that operates in a walled garden, the idea of releasing their control over their environment represents losing out on a stream of vast revenue, making letting go of a walled garden ecosystem an unattractive prospect.
The future of walled gardens
As time progresses, what can digital marketers like you expect from walled garden ecosystems in the near future?
A cookieless future
A huge element to consider is the transition to a cookieless future. Many major browsers have begun phasing out the use of third-party cookies. In the wake of this decision, many are looking for reasonable alternatives that allow for behavior tracking and more personalized advertising experiences. Solutions like Experian’s identity resolution can provide a strong alternative option, allowing marketing strategies to adapt to the current landscape.
An influx of mini gardens
You should also anticipate the proliferation of various smaller, specialized walled garden ecosystems in the future. These so-called “mini gardens” specialize in more niche audiences and industries, and they can present their own challenges and opportunities.
Alternative IDs
As you search for new identification methods outside cookies, various alternatives have presented themselves, requiring further exploration and experimentation. Among these are privacy-compliant solutions like Unified ID 2.0, which allow you to serve more personalized ads without compromising the consumer’s privacy.
Navigating the evolving landscape of walled gardens in 2024
As we begin 2024, you will continue facing opportunities and challenges regarding walled gardens. The 2023 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity re-emphasized how important it is for marketers to stress omnichannel marketing within walled garden environments and become well acquainted with identity resolution solutions as we move into a cookie-less future. All of this requires you to become comfortable with walled gardens being here to stay and innovate to navigate an evolving and developing landscape.
We’re here to help you navigate the evolving landscape of walled gardens in 2024. Contact us today.
Latest posts
For as long as the ad buying process has existed, most brands and agencies have put an emphasis on the channel – meaning there were specific campaigns for direct mail, email, TV, social media, banner ads, etc. In fact, the teams responsible for these campaigns often work in silos. But with more people consuming information through multiple channels, it’s important for brands and agencies to put the customer at the center of the ad buying process – to develop and implement true omnichannel campaigns. I recently wrote a byline article for Broadcasting & Cable that explored the concept of the “PeopleFronts.” While the Upfronts and Newfronts have dominated the ad buying world, brands and agencies need place larger emphasis on the customer. At the end of the day, the right mindset can open the door for more powerful campaigns and relevant messages that resonate with the consumer.
As ever, marketers have to be strategic to reach the right customers. Ensure seasonal messaging reaches the right customers with audience optimization.
With Tapad, part of Experian, technology, AdsWizz AudioMatic is the first Audio buying platform to offer cross-device identity resolution across the U.S. and EMEA NEW YORK and LONDON, July 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Tapad, part of Experian and a global leader in digital identity resolution, today announced a new joint capability with AdsWizz , the leading technology provider for digital audio advertising solutions. The partnership combines Tapad's digital cross-device technology with AdsWizz's AudioMatic buying platform, enabling the ability to connect audio ad experiences across screens. AudioMatic, AdsWizz's audio-centric buying platform, supports programmatic audio buying and entirely new audio ad experiences for listeners. The integration of The Tapad Graph onto its platform enables new opportunities for marketers to reach, engage and measure each interaction with their desired consumers on digital radio and podcasts channels, and across devices. This partnership makes AdsWizz the first audio buying platform to offer this enhanced cross-device identity capability in the US and EMEA markets. "Marketers need privacy-safe digital identity resolution to reach their consumers," says Tom Rolph, VP of EMEA at Tapad. "With audio becoming an increasingly powerful medium for engagement, it's important that our technology extends to this channel, which is why we are excited to announce our integration with AdsWizz's AudioMatic platform." Digital audio is experiencing high growth, with 84% of advertisers and agencies saying it will play a bigger role in their media plans in the future. Today, 60% of digital audio is consumed via a mobile device.* The Tapad Graph is the largest digital identity resolution graph with differentiated global scale. The partnership enables audio advertisers to leverage The Tapad Graph for enhanced attribution, analytics, and targeting. Alexis van der Wyer, CEO at AdsWizz, added, "Digital audio is increasingly becoming ubiquitous in our media consumption and in our daily digital interactions, and because of that, audio advertising offers tremendous opportunity to personally interact with consumers in every moment of their daily lives. By integrating with Tapad, we enable our advertising partners to increase the effectiveness and the relevance of their marketing messages across audio channels." To learn more about Tapad and our digital identity resolution products, visit our identity solutions page. *Digital Audio Exchange, "The Rise of Digital Audio Advertising," https://thisisdax.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/DAX-Whitepaper.pdf Contact us today! About Tapad Tapad, Inc. is a global leader in digital identity resolution. The Tapad Graph, and its related solutions, provide a transparent, privacy-safe approach connecting brands to consumers through their devices globally. Our one-of-a-kind Graph Select offering enables marketers the flexibility and freedom of choice to correlate devices to varied objectives, driving campaign effectiveness and business results. Tapad is recognized across the industry for its product innovation, workplace culture and talent, and has earned numerous awards including One World Identity's 2019 Top 100 Influencers in Identity Award. Headquartered in New York, Tapad also has offices in Chicago, London, Oslo, Singapore and Tokyo. About AdsWizz: AdsWizz has created the end-to-end technology platform that is powering the digital audio advertising ecosystem. AdsWizz powers well-known music platforms, podcasts and broadcasting groups worldwide with a comprehensive digital audio software suite of solutions that connect audio publishers to the advertising community. From dynamic ad insertion to advanced programmatic platforms to innovative new audio formats, AdsWizz efficiently connects buyers and sellers in digital audio. AdsWizz is headquartered in San Mateo, California, with an IT Development hub in Bucharest, Romania, and presence in 39 markets around the world. About AudioMatic: AdsWizz Demand Side, audio-centric DSP and audio buying platform, AudioMatic, enables programmatic audio buying and entirely new audio ad experiences that are proven to be more engaging and more effective, and have delivered measurable results for agencies and their brands all over the world. All the biggest ad agencies have used our programmatic trading platform, including Omnicom, GroupM, Havas, Publicis, Mobext, and more.