Performance Marketing TechnologyProgrammatic Advertising
Three Quarters of Businesses See "Compelling Case" for Blockchain
With a significant shift towards the adoption of blockchain technology, does it have the opportunity to deliver value and transparency in both affiliate and performance advertising?
Mustafa Mirreh16 May 2018
Nearly three quarters (74%) of companies across seven countries see a "compelling business case" for the use of blockchain technology within their industry.
According to a survey by Deloitte on more than 1,000 business executives from the U.S., China, Mexico, UK., France, Germany and Canada, 34% said that their company has already adopted some sort of blockchain system, while 41% are expecting their organisation to implement blockchain technology within the next 12 months.
An additional 40%, meanwhile, stated that their business intends to invest $5 million or more in blockchain in the coming year.
These stats indicate a significant shift towards blockchain technology with 84% of businesses agreeing that blockchain is scalable and has the potential for mainstream adoption.
Furthermore, 43% identified blockchain as one of their "top five strategic priorities" and when asked on which blockchain use cases they are working on, 53% identified supply chain-focused systems, 51% internet integration projects and 40% digital records.
Among other uses of blockchain, 30% of respondents said they were creating payments applications and 40% were producing digital currency.
Linda Pawszuk, head of Deloitte's financial services blockchain group in the US, said that the survey showed that "momentum is shifting from a focus on 'blockchain tourism' and exploring the technology's potential to building practical business applications.
"As more organisations put their resources behind this emerging technology, we expect blockchain to gain significant traction as its potential for greater efficiency, support for new business models and revenue sources, and enhanced security are demonstrated in real-world situations." she added.
Blockchain in performance
Blockchain technology has come up on several occasions in digital advertising, including the affiliate and performance space when it comes to programmatic ad buying and media transactions.
In programmatic advertising, for example, blockchain technology has been hailed as a "silver bullet" in bringing better transparency for all parties. The Marketing Group (TMG) is just one example, recently launching global media agency TRUTH with aims to deliver "100% transparency" through blockchain-based contracts.
Mary Keane-Dawson, the agency's CEO and founder believes that blockchain technology has the ability to deliver a "transparent, verified and immutable perspective in near real-time of your media campaign."
Meanwhile, within the affiliate world, e-commerce company Rakuten launched its own cryptocurrency Rakuten Coin earlier in the year based on blockchain tech to build on its Super Points loyalty programme; affiliate network RefToken, meanwhile, set out to remove "bloated middlemen" by building on blockchain and cryptocurrency technology to enhance payments between partners and provide additional reward-based incentives.
While the technology has been welcomed by some, others have questioned its risk to disruption, with Awin's business innovation director Edywn McFarlane recently expressing doubts on whether there was enough demand within the performance marketing industry for the technology to establish a foothold, at least among networks.
"Generally speaking, disruption comes from solving a problem or making life easier, and I'm not convinced there are material enough gains in a blockchain affiliate network that would make them appealing in the more traditional industries," said McFarlane.
"A network tends to live or die by its reach, and nothing about a blockchain affiliate network would give it more reach, more advertising opportunities or make it more attractive to advertisers, so the risk of disruption feels low for now."
What are your thoughts on blockchain technology and the impact on the affiliate and performance marketing industry? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.
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Mustafa Mirreh
Twitter - @@Mos210890
Mustafa Mirreh's LinkedIn Profile
Mustafa is a senior journalist at PerformanceIN. Reporting on the latest day-to-day news and updates from the world of performance marketing, while also doing social media promotion, live reporting of events, article features and interviewing key industry players.
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