Certain advertising tactics can have serious consequences for brand reputation when marketers overlook consumer preferences. While consumers have become accustomed to personalized ads and recommendations, they are irritated by invasive or annoying tactics, such ads that are excessively repetitive or adjacent to offensive content.
We spoke with Anna Maria Virzi, Senior Principal, Research in the Gartner Marketing Practice, to discuss how digital marketing leaders must deliver relevant ads and content tailored to consumer needs and interests, while also keeping privacy concerns in the foreground.
Journalists who would like to speak with Anna Maria regarding this topic can contact Elizabeth.Bishop@Gartner.com. Members of the media can reference this material in articles with proper attribution to Gartner.
Q: How do consumers perceive retargeted ads and personalized recommendations?
A: Generally, consumers have a positive reaction to targeted ads, but there are some concerns around privacy and/or brands monitoring consumer activity online.
A Gartner consumer survey of 2,001 respondents in April and May of 2024 revealed that 63% agree that brands are fairly good at inferring consumers’ purchase interests in light of the data collected from their online activities. This attitude demonstrates that digital marketing leaders are effectively meeting consumers where they are in terms of personalization, while navigating measures to increase consumer privacy and clamp down on web tracking.
Furthermore, 75% of consumers report not feeling negative toward a brand when they receive an advertisement or recommendation from that brand after discussing it online or offline, indicating that retargeting tactics are not a turn-off for consumers. One exception to this sentiment lies with baby boomers, who express less comfort with ad retargeting. 47 percent of baby boomers say they felt negatively toward a brand after receiving an ad for a product after discussing a product or brand online - this is compared to 27% of Gen Z consumers and millennials and 31% of Gen X consumers.
Although device manufacturers and media companies have long refuted that devices and apps listen to consumers, consumers don’t necessarily believe this: 81% say after discussing a product offline, they either received an ad for the product online or a recommendation for the product on a retailer’s website. While consumers receive product recommendations and retargeted advertisements due to multiple factors, including interactions with smart speakers and purchase histories, the perception that devices and apps are monitoring consumers’ offline audio conversations could potentially erode consumer trust. This suggests that digital marketers should approach delivering excessively personalized advertisements and recommendations with caution.
Q: What measures should digital marketers adopt to protect a brand’s reputation from harmful tactics?
A: There are media planning and buying practices that contribute to tarnishing a brand’s reputation. Nearly one-half of consumers (49%) report negative views of a brand after seeing a brand’s ad adjacent to offensive or upsetting content.
Consumers also express low tolerance for repetitive audio and video ads designed to increase purchase intent - this overexposure instead leads to ad fatigue. Digital marketing leaders can avoid reputational risk by collaborating with ad tech partners to drive audience scale. In addition, they can leverage private marketplace and programmatic guaranteed inventory rather than buy ad inventory from open marketplaces.
Brand impersonation and spoofing attacks also damage a brand’s reputation. Leaders must make it a priority to combat content that falsely purports to represent a brand by implementing social media monitoring tools to monitor the spread of misleading content. By engaging with communications and legal teams, leaders can create crisis communications plans that quickly address evolving threats.
Q: How can marketers tailor advertising tactics to consumer needs and interests?
A: Digital marketing leaders should pursue the following advertising strategies that take into account consumer preferences and ultimately safeguard brand reputation:
Build consumer trust and confidence through transparency around how and why a brand collects data to retarget and provide product recommendations.
Leverage AI-driven ad tech platforms to adapt consumer data collection to evolving privacy regulations and cookie deprecation.
By integrating personalization into retargeting tactics, leaders can drive higher conversion rates and deliver content that resonates with consumers.
Embrace first-party data for targeting in this privacy-first landscape.
Monitor how tech companies are personalizing ads based on signals from consumers.
Gartner clients can learn more in the report: “Avoid Ad Tactics That Negatively Affect Brand Perception” by Anna Maria Virzi.
About Gartner for Marketing
Gartner for Marketing provides the objective, expert advice, and proven tools that CMOs and other marketing leaders need to seize the right opportunities with clarity and confidence, and to stay ahead of the trends that matter. With in-depth research and analysis, Gartner for Marketing helps you focus on the opportunities with the greatest potential to deliver results. More information on Gartner for Marketing is available online at www.gartner.com/marketing. Follow news and updates from the Gartner Marketing practice on X and LinkedIn using #GartnerMKTG. Members of the media can find additional information and insights in the Gartner Marketing Newsroom.
