Programmatic Advertising – The ‘It’ Word of 2015
Programmatic. It’s a word that’s been thrown around on the internet a lot recently, with headlines that it’s the next big thing in 2015 – it’s already taken Sweden by storm – and the Association of National Advertisers titling it their 2014 Word of The Year. But nobody really seems to know what it is. So here at Exaget we’re going to de-mystify ‘programmatic’ and its relative ‘RTB’ (a.k.a Real Time Bidding) with our ‘Dummies Guide’.
In one sentence, programmatic advertising is a technology that allows advertisers to automatically target consumers based on certain qualifiers, such as location, age, and gender, referred to as ‘smart impressions’. (We’ve got a little handy glossary at the end of the article).
Programmatic is ad buying that is processed by a machine, cutting out the need of a human middleman – the sales rep – and his juicy commission. With the smart impressions programmed in its mind, the machine is able to find inventory spaces that are suited to the advertiser’s targeted audience. The next step is for the advertiser to then decide whether or not they want to buy this inventory from the publisher. Now, if you’ve come across RTB – Real Time Bidding – then this is where it comes in.
With programmatic being a method to determine if an advertiser wants to purchase their inventory space, RTB is a way of purchasing it, through real-time auctions. The old-fashioned – that is to say, pre-2009 – way of advertising was based primarily on assumptions; assuming where the target audience is likely to be and what they’d be likely to be doing, and sending their ads there en masse, with the hope that the advertiser’s audience will match the publisher’s.
In contrast, real time bidding is about high volume and precision targeting, by seeing what the target audience is doing now and where. This allows advertisers to buy impressions that directly target individuals.
Programmatic is taking off in a big way. In Sweden nearly 90% of publishers will make their inventory available for programmatic buying. Meanwhile, the UK is to retain its status as Europe’s biggest market for programmatic ad spending; a study by the International Data Corporation forecast earlier this year that the UK’s programmatic ad spend would reach up to $320 million. And American Express, one of the largest online display advertisers in the US, are planning on becoming as programmatic as possible.
There is one little glitch that’s holding programmatic back, and that is quite simply that many either haven’t heard of it, don’t understand what it is, or don’t know how to use it or what exactly it does. But with its growing popularity there are bound to be more articles, webinars and studies to clear away any confusion.
The team at Exaget are excited to keep an eye on programmatic and its impact in the New Year – and ‘dummify’ anything you might not understand for you!
If you are interested in becoming a broadcasting partner, or would like to know what our integrating technology can do for you, contact our Partnership Account Manager Matthew Layton – matthew.layton@exaget.com or +447533517396
If you are interested in advertising opportunities, please contact the CEO of Exaget, Shankar Meembat –shankar.meembat@exaget.com or +447411130680
Glossary of Terms:
Smart impressions : Ads placed in a targeted audience segment. E.g. for audio smart impressions, that means ads placed in the ears of listeners who have been qualified as the targeted audience. The most common qualifiers are location, age, and gender.
Programmatic : A big and scary word that’s too easily misunderstood. Ad buying that is processed by a machine, using automated programmed smart impressions. A method that allows advertisers to target consumers, with the machine finding suitable inventory spaces.
RTB : acronym for Real Time Bidding. An auction-house style of buying and selling consumer-targeted inventory spaces. Looks at what the targeted audience is doing now – in real time.
Advertising Shake Up for 2015
January 29, 2015
The Super Bowl is one of – if not the – biggest sporting events watched in America, synonymous with showy half-time celebrity performances and adverts. But not just any adverts – brands pull out all the stops with their big-budgeted celebrity-endorsed ads. This year even features the likes of the Victoria’s Secret Angels and queen of the derrière, Kim Kardashian. And being ostentatiously American, any adverts shown and any songs performed will trickle down through social media and reach – and impact – the rest of the Western world.
The Super Bowl Sound Awards for Excellence in Audio Creativity
Perhaps no other sporting event is so lucrative for televised celebrity performances and brand adverts. But for this year’s Super Bowl, TV adverts are not getting all of the attention. The Super Bowl Sound Awards for Excellence in Audio Creativity – yes, it’s a mouthful – is a chance for advertisers to strategically use audio in order to increase their consumer outreach. And the judges? Radio listeners, of course. Westwood One, the flagship network for radio’s Super Bowl XLIX coverage, stated, ‘Our Super Bowl broadcast is the perfect environment for advertisers to leverage their commercial creative, thanks to our incredible reach and sheer volume of audience across platforms.’
It’s not just Super Bowl-related ads that are getting a shake-up this year
The latest figures by Borrell Associates indicate where the biggest growth for advertising lies for 2015. Video ads are
still top players, with an estimated growth rate of 39% to $7.7 billion. Targeted display ad spending will nearly
double to a monumental $28.2 billion, a humongous growth rate of 92.4% from 2014. Audio ad growth for radio is a much smaller estimation figure of 8.3% to $300 million. Overall, Borrell state that audio ads will capture just 1% of all digital money spent by advertisers. But these figures for audio ads may be bolstered by two factors. The first is the influence of the Super Bowl. If their new radio ads scheme works, more brands may feel more confident in investing their time and money in audio ads. The second, is that of the ‘mobile effect’. Within five years, Borrell estimates, nearly 70% of online advertising will be done via a mobile device. Listener-targeted audio adverts in mobile radio apps, despite being quite a mouthful, could be the key to a more increased audio ad growth rate.
Native advertising is set to get a boost too
BIA/Kelsey has forecast that native ad spend in the US will reach $18 billion by 2019. Facebook’s shift to in-feed advertising and their transition to mobile puts them at the heart of native advertising. In fact, a vast majority of Facebook’s $7.9 billion in advertising revenues for the first 9 months of 2014 came from none other than native formats; in-feed on desktop and in-stream on mobile. And this year, Facebook are pushing ahead for native video advertising. Just how they will gain revenue from these ads has not yet been announced, but it is possible that whilst the videos will appear on a user’s newsfeed, they won’t play automatically – suggesting cost-per-click. But one thing is for certain; native advertising will bring in big revenue for Facebook, and in return for native video advertising overall. That leaves native audio advertising as an area that has been vastly untapped.
In with the old and in with the new
The traditional platform of advertising, via the much-beloved television set, is and probably always will be a highly effective way for brands to reach out to existing and new consumers. But with digital platforms being an ever-increasingly important aspect of our lives, it is time for advertisers to embrace these new shake-ups if they really want to realise their potential and expand their outreach – and essentially make more money! After all, with over 90% of adults listening to radio, it is surprising that technology changes have not been embraced as much as they should be.
If you are interested in becoming a broadcasting partner, or would like to know what our integrating technology can do for you, contact our Partnership Account Manager Matthew Layton – matthew.layton@exaget.com or +447533517396
If you are interested in advertising opportunities, please contact the CEO of Exaget, Shankar Meembat –shankar.meembat@exaget.com or +447411130680