Brands Deserve Better Than Paying for Horrific Content

Brand managers, it’s 10 PM. Do you know where your ads are running? For many, the answer isn’t pretty. Last week, Digiday posted an article highlighting just how sloppy some of the biggest online ad networks and exchanges have become. The article points to large brands such as Nissan, Sherwin-Williams, Wolverine Shoes and Polaris finding their digital ads running alongside some of the most horrific content imaginable.

Unfortunately, the trend of brands finding their ads running in questionable places is becoming all too normal. While many exchanges and ad networks claim that technologies are put in place to safeguard against these types of mistakes, most exchange-based ad buying is riddled with, according to Digiday, a “daisy chain of middlemen that makes it nearly impossible for agencies and marketers to understand exactly where the inventory they’re buying is coming from.” According to Adweek, this is a truth that a senior manager at Carat learned first-hand as she tracked down fraudulent placements running through an ad network for her Red Bull client.

Brands and agencies would never approve of these unsafe placements if their ads were being purchased transparently and directly. However buying guaranteed digital placements at scale is difficult without having the right partner. At Centro, a company with technology that spans guaranteed media buying and RTB (real-time bidding) capabilities, we recognize the allure of running RTB and ad exchange-based buys. The efficiencies and scale are real. However, too many brands are told that the only way to get massive scale is to run across all the ad exchanges. This simply isn’t true.

Executing a national campaign online shouldn’t come at the cost of transparency or brand safety.  Brands deserve better. This is why Centro offers an alternative – and much safer – solution for brands and agencies concerned about where their message shows up on the web. Our unique software allows us to scale national campaigns across 100% of the best inventory on the web. We have access to more than 15,000 publishers and 25 trillion impressions each day and know which ad units are safe and which ones aren’t. Inventory can be purchased on a guaranteed and transparent basis across any number of sites, meaning that brands control exactly where their ads are running. There are no surprises. Better yet, we don’t relegate our clients to only small squares and rectangles as ad units. This has enabled many of our 1,000+ clients to execute national campaigns with unique creative units that lift brand metrics and make a real impact.

For brands looking to scale national campaigns in a big and powerful way, yet ensure that they aren’t going to be embarrassed with where their ad shows up, Centro is the partner for you. Learn more about how Centro’s proprietary software can help you scale national and brand-safe campaigns.