IAB Canada has been busy in-session with Councils this month. Reflecting on Q1, while we continue to face an underlying theme of economic uncertainty, there is no shortage of concrete issues on the minds of our members on both the buy and sell side of our industry. We wanted to take the time to outline three of the many core themes that emerged from our discussions over the past weeks.
Talent Time Warp
All stakeholders continue to face challenges on the workforce front. While organizations are hesitating to mandate back-to-office policies, many are offering incentives and “purposeful” days of the week to entice in-person presence. Culture-building has suffered because of this inconsistency in attendance but on a graver note, our members are concerned with a major hit to their ability to transfer skills and nurture the next generation of leadership. Some tactics that seem to be stemming the problem include special guest speakers, team-building activities and educational programming that incentivize employees to show up.
Bottom of the First Inning on Net Zero Carbon
In discussions around reducing carbon emissions across digital media, our members are feeling that the groundwork is being laid towards measurement and that this will be a critical first step towards meaningful change. The consensus is that we remain in the early stages of the process and while there is an understanding that the industry will be held to increased accountability, without a broadly accepted standardized measurement in place, it remains difficult to define success metrics. Our publisher members are taking as much action as is possible at this stage. In the meantime, IAB Canada has launched a Digital Social Responsibility resource centre where we will keep track of topics like net zero carbon advertising, DEI, and other emerging issues that are focused on building a sustainable digital advertising industry.
Countdown to Compliance – Law 25
On the policy front, all eyes are on privacy and the countdown to enforcement of the new Quebec privacy law in September of this year. Most of our members are leaning in and doing due diligence to find consent management platforms that will be TCF-enabled and ready to go for the new law. IAB Canada is hosting a timely workshop on this topic May 3rd, 2023 to delve into the implications and help prepare our members for compliance. You can register here.
IAB Canada is also busy getting ready for State of the Nation 2023 and the annual AGM. This marquee event will provide a macro-level perspective on state of the digital advertising industry in Canada with attention to economic conditions, emerging policy files and technical developments that are being developed to help our industry meet the challenges and opportunities ahead. We look forward to seeing you there!