According to 2016 Smith & Beta data, 93% of agency employees feel they are not exceeding client expectations.

It's an ironic stat, considering the entire digital media industry was built on the promise of technology doing more, reaching more customers, and being more effective – but the tools and systems we're using are outdated, fragmented, and inefficient, and we can't provide the performance or the results our clients are looking for.

We've reached another new inflection point in digital, and technology is the driving force. Again.

So, how do we fix this?

Automation Eliminates Repetitive Tasks

Digital media strategists are no strangers to being asked the question: "What should I buy?"

And their answer used to be an important and core value-add for clients. But, there's a shift underway in digital, with this shift comes an evolution in the role marketers and digital strategists will play for their clients going forward. As technology has evolved, there's now software on the market that's able to automate the workflow and execution process of digital media ad buying and answer that question on its own.

Where does that leave the human beings behind the technology and the campaigns? Will we eventually see a fully automated digital world that doesn't require or need human thinking?

Not necessarily. Unless we hit the point where computers can generate original, creative, and strategic ideas on their own, a strategist still has a place in digital media – though in a different capacity.

As tech shifts to this type of automation, the role of a strategist will be a better match to the job title: To be more of a strategic marketing consultant to clients, offering competitive analysis, product differentiation analysis, and determining the right audiences, goals, and KPIs for their client's media dollars. As Ad Age contributor Jack Skeels noted in a recent column, “Clients pay more when the agency is strategically focused and offers unique services."

There were, and still are, many areas where the advertising industry is woefully insufficient because too many people are spending time on mundane tasks. The days of spending an entire day pulling and formatting reports from various systems and platforms are quickly coming to an end. Automation affords agencies the opportunity to shift to a more strategic focus.

Intelligence Fosters Competitive Difference

In addition to automation, intelligence will play a major role in reshaping what people do and the value they can bring to clients. One of the downsides to today's digital landscape is that media teams are using multiple platforms and systems, and actionable and valuable insights aren't easily accessed or contained to one system. Teams are left spending time on manual and operational tasks – not strategic work. And, even if there were time for critical thinking and analysis, many agencies are dealing with a sub-par roster of metrics and analytics tools to track, report, and review campaigns.

Creating software that automates the repetitive tasks leaves more time for critical thinking, reporting, or data-driven analysis about what's going right or wrong with campaigns. And using that software and freeing up time to focus on strategy gives you the insight you need to find the best successes, execute, and report them back to your clients. Accurate, immediate, and easy access to performance data and actionable customer insights is what will drive client relationships, differentiate your agency, and set you up for long-term success.

Strategic Relationships Build Trust

The SoDA Report, which assesses the state of the agency-client relationship every year, in 2016 asked both clients and agencies to rank the areas of expertise they believe to be the most valuable. The number one thing both valued the most? Strategic leadership.

The added benefit of being positioned strategically -- and research confirms this, according to Skeels -- is that buyers wind up trusting sellers more. There isn't anything intrinsically buried into the technology stack that provides tools for cultivating stronger relationships, but it's an added (and hidden) benefit. When technology begins to provide transparency, innovation, and strategy, the relationship dynamic will no longer be based on price, standard components, or specifications. Approaching the relationship strategically, providing thoughtful insight, learning new things, and testing new approaches can only help to strengthen a relationship – providing that value keeps an agency in business, and keeps a client aware of where their money is going.

As digital evolves, so too do the tech, tools, and solutions that are available to us. The complexity of digital today often feels like more than our current tech can handle. But the answer to this digital evolution and the answer to long-term success lies in technology.

For more information on Basis Platform, read our press release or email us at [email protected].

At Centro, we know that keeping up with the trade pubs and latest trends can be tough and time consuming. To make that easier, we've compiled all the articles, reports, and other bits of awesomeness you may have missed, but should definitely read. Enjoy our latest list below!

Digital Influences TV
With digital surpassing television in media spend, is it a surprise that TV is taking tips from digital? Fox Sports is rolling out 6-second ads across much of its sports television programming. If this trend catches on, what other digitally-inspired methods will spread to TV?

Guide to Digital Video Advertising
With a goal of providing best practices and advice on “all things video," the IAB Digital Video Center of Excellence developed this guide to offer tools, tips, and guidance to help publishers, marketers, and brands better understand video in its various forms – both current and emerging.

Mobile Marketers, Beware: Fraudulent App Installs Waste $300M in Ad Spend
More than 5% of app installs from non-premium ad networks remain fraudulent, which equals about $300 million in wasted ad spend every year. A scary good reminder that not all supply-side partners are equal (and not all DSPs employ proper fraud protection).

The Next Billion Mobile Users
It's easy to think everyone who uses the internet today uses it in the same ways, but they don't. And the next billion users who get online will connect via their mobile device in ways that tech companies hadn't imagined, but are having to quickly think about.

Voice Search Changes Media Buying, Attribution
As Google pushes beyond smart phones and smart speakers (refrigerators and Microsoft partnerships) in an effort to catch up to Amazon's Alexa, comScore estimates that by 2020, 50% of all searches will be done via voice. How will this impact the way brands create content and how marketers think about buying, delivering, and measuring ads?

Ad Execs Bullish on Programmatic Radio, Digital Audio
The whole world is going programmatic! 87% of ad execs and media buyers plan to buy radio programmatically over the next 12 months, which is three times the amount today.

Dynamic Creative and the Automated Brand
As brands look to adapt with more personalized messaging, dynamic creative may still find its place -- powered by many of the same data sets that drive the automated media buy.

Coming Soon to Facebook Watch: Sponsored Shows
Facebook's new video content channel Watch is already seeing positive response from advertisers looking to sponsor new shows – from completely branded to product placement to mid-roll ads. Definitely a space to watch.

As an extra bit of awesomeness, do yourself a favor and watch the Generic Millennial Ad, because you're totes #blt.

September's DIAL is also available as a PDF. Download it here.

While you're busy this extended weekend with family gatherings, parades, and backyard lounging, don't lose track of what Labor Day is really about. This year, let's take a moment to reflect on the true meaning of this significant holiday.

Download our Labor Day infographic to read about the workers who fought hard to get us where we are today.

Ask a Centro Expert is a blog series from Centro where we break down the complicated tools, tech, and trends you've been hearing about in the trade pubs and around the office. We reach out to some of our in-house experts to ask the tough questions and turn them into bite-sized, palatable Q&As for your reading pleasure. Last month, we explored ad blocking. This month's topic: Header bidding. We talked to Jessica Burget, Centro's Director of Partner Development, for the break down.

In the simplest terms, how would you describe header bidding?

Header bidding is the technology that allows a publisher to have multiple demand partners compete to buy their inventory at the same time – and the best demand partner wins.

How is it different than how publishers traditionally manage their inventory?
Before header bidding, a publisher had to set-up a “waterfall" within their ad server, leaving the publishers to constantly evaluate which SSP/exchange partner to prioritize over the next – without actually knowing what their inventory was worth.

If publishers implement header bidding technology, they can work with more demand partners, increase revenue, and have insight and data into the value of their inventory.

Why is header bidding important?

At first, I think people and companies felt that header bidding was a passing trend or a fad that wouldn't last, but over the last few years, adoption has been tremendous on the publisher and SSP side.

In my opinion, if an SSP or publisher is not supporting header bidding, they are behind the industry and their competitors, and they are missing out on revenue opportunities.

How does header bidding work?

Currently, there are two types of header bidding: wrapper solution or server-to-server (S2S).

A wrapper solution requires placing a piece of code on a website, which allows the demand partners to bid on the inventory before the page even loads.

On the flip side, S2S technology is not within the browser, and it's when a publisher utilizes an external server solution. For implementation, a publisher and SSP will need to research the header bidding market to find the best fit for their business. After a company has vetted different partners in the space and made a decision, tech and implementation teams should be looped in to collaborate with the vendor.

What should we consider when selecting header bidding partners?

To narrow down the header bidding vendor short list, here's my advice:

• Be cognizant about maintaining relationships with publisher partners, not just the header bidding technology partner.
• To maintain unique demand, leverage the header bidding solution to secure partners that were previously inaccessible.
• Match the level of integration required to what internal staffs can handle. Not every company can tackle heavy development work for header bidding. And not every vendor can manage the development you want.
• Push for transparency in reporting insights. In S2S, if both sides don't push for this is, vendors will continue to be black boxes.
• A company needs its business to be aligned with header bidding adoption. Media operations teams need to understand how ad buys can change with this capability. And whose job is it to keep the organization informed on what you can do with header bidding?

How can the header bidding auction be accessed?

If an advertiser/DSP is working with any major SSP in today's digital world, then they are accessing header bidding inventory.

For an SSP to be a demand partner, work with the publisher to see which vendor they utilize. If both the SSP and publisher is integrated with the header bidding vendor, then come to an agreement to be a demand partner and begin the set-up process.

What are the benefits for publishers?

Header bidding allows a publisher to have access to more demand partners, increased revenue with higher valued inventory, and more accurate data on who is actually a good demand partner.

And how about the benefits for advertisers?

For advertisers buying programmatically, they now have the ability to compete directly with direct-sold campaigns.

What are the downsides to header bidding – from both perspectives?

From a publisher perspective: The downsides are scarce. From a business standpoint, it can be expensive and timely to implement a header bidding solution. From a technical standpoint, if a publisher chooses to utilize a wrapper solution, then they run the risk of page latency. If they go down the S2S route, cookie matching can be a challenge and they also need to make sure the S2S vendor isn't favoring their own demand over others.

From an advertiser/DSP perspective: The downsides are higher. Since everyone is on a level playing field, rates will increase across the board. Also, if a DSP is integrated with multiple SSPs that now have access to all of the same inventory, the cost of supporting multiple SSPs is now wasteful. I assume advertisers/DSPs will have to do more work evaluating who they chose to partner with over the next year or so.

What should we watch in the space and what does the future look like for header bidding?

Here are five things I predict we will see:

• More development supporting video solutions through header bidding.
• Publishers starting to evaluate their demand partners more strategically to ensure they have unique demand.
• Publishers utilizing both wrapper and S2S solutions to gain access to even more demand. I anticipate publishers will move demand partners in and out of each solution based on who is providing the most strategic demand.
• Advertisers/DSPs will evaluate their SSP partners holistically, and we will see advertisers/DSPs turn off inventory partners because there is too much inventory overlap and unnecessary fees.
• More SSPs will close their doors.

Looking for other Centro resources that will help you understand header bidding? Reach out to [email protected].

Back-to-school is the second highest shopping season in the U.S., and Americans are projected to spend $83.6 billion this year -- an increase of more than 10% over last year. Back-to-school shopping offers a huge opportunity for digital marketers, advertisers, and retailers to reach summer shoppers and gear up their digital strategies for the holiday season.

Where and how are consumers shopping this year? Download our infographic to study up on the back-to-school spending stats and facts.

Centro kicked off the summer with 13 new interns in Chicago, New York, and Dallas. For 10 exciting weeks, our Centerns – as we lovingly call them – were spread across multiple teams and given the opportunity to get hands-on learning experience. They took on digital ad campaigns, individual projects, and community service work, and soaked up everything they could about the industry in the meantime.

Over the next couple of weeks, we'll be featuring their experiences on the blog. Today, we'll give you a look into the internship program through the eyes of our New York Centerns.

Kaela Green, Paid Social Intern
I just graduated from Penn State with a degree in marketing and international business. While I was in school, I loved being involved in everything – from event planning to philanthropy and tutoring.

Centro's investment in the growth and personal development of employees was a huge reason I pursued the internship program. I was eager to get some experience before starting a full-time job, and the fact that Centro's interns are often given full-time opportunities is exactly what I was looking for. Aside from learning that I have a cold brew addiction, in 10 weeks, I have learned more about building and optimizing campaigns than four years of college could teach (no offense PSU)! The fact that we operate across multiple verticals and have such a diverse portfolio makes this place an endless learning experience!

I am in love with a number of learning seminars available! There are “Lunch and Learns" every week, online conferences/webinars from field experts, and I'm even going to Facebook's New York office next week to learn about best practices directly from them!

My overall advice to future Centerns is that this is the kind of place you should put your all in, because you'll get it all right back. From the people here to the meaningful work you do, I can't imagine how anyone could ever say this is a negative experience or waste of time.

Matan Horenstein, Media Associate Intern
I'm originally from Portland, Oregon, and I just graduated from Yeshiva University with a degree in business intelligence and marketing analytics.

I love coming into the office every morning. On my first day, I was assigned a mentor who has taken me under her wing, taught me how to achieve my daily tasks, and answered any question I have. I have a manager who legitimately cares about my happiness and well-being, and a team that is eager to teach and see me grow. I am surrounded by fun, passionate, and driven co-workers that I have had the pleasure of getting to know. I have learned so much about the digital media and advertising industry, which makes me feel more confident than ever to begin my professional career.

Centro lives by the values of the manifesto in everything they do, from their “raving fan" service to supporting local charities. While interning here, I helped feed 320 lunches to homeless citizens and raised hundreds of dollars to buy new backpacks and educational supplies for children who live in poverty. I often go home in awe that I've had the chance to work for such an impressive, challenging, and philanthropic company.

If you are considering applying for the internship program, don't waste any more of your time: Apply today. The program has been a life-changing and career-guiding opportunity that I will carry with me for the rest of my life.

Terrence McLaughlin, Associate Programmatic Buyer Intern
I'm from Wilton, Connecticut, and I just recently graduated from Elon University in North Carolina with a degree in strategic communications.

I've spent the past two months learning how to build, monitor, and optimize programmatic ad campaigns that will increase performance for clients – all while collaborating with other teams and navigating the digital advertising ecosystem. I work with my mentor and other members of PBT to perfect my RFPs and builds. Unlike some of my previous internships, I feel that I'm well utilized and considered an equal to every other employee. I've found that my work plays an important role in the performance of my team, as well as the rest of the company.

My advice to a prospective Centern is to come to Centro with an eagerness to learn. You're encouraged here to avoid the typical workplace curse of plateauing, be mindful of your skill level, and have a desire to learn from others. That's what has helped make for a great internship experience.

Additionally, the best Centro employees are those who are motivated by the core values of the company. When you come to Centro, it's important to remind yourself of these values and which ones are most important (for me it's self-improvement) and try to apply them wherever you can.

Berenice Mosso, Paid Search Intern
I graduated with a BA in English from CUNY Brooklyn College and I worked as a teacher for a while. While working as a teacher by day, I was a digital marketing student by night at this really cool program called COOP (I totally recommend students checking them out at coop.cx). I applied to Centro's summer internship program right after COOP and get in.

This summer has been a blast. I've met a lot of people and have learned more about paid search. I have worked on RFPs and search submissions, pulled reports from Kenshoo, researched keywords using the Adwords Keyword Planner, and created ad copy for search builds.

If you have more questions about our internship program or would like to apply to be a part of the program, please reach out to [email protected].

Centro’s Invite-Only Ad Marketplace Receives Top Grades for Authenticated Traffic and Player Size

Chicago – Aug. 10, 2017 – Centro (centro.net), a provider of enterprise-class software for digital advertising, today announced that it has attained the No. 1 position in the latest Pixalate Video Seller Trust Index (VSTI) in the U.S. The Centro Brand Exchange achieved the recognition because of high grades on traffic quality and video player size. ​Pixalate, a leader in fraud protection and data intelligence, created the VSTI to provide a cross-platform rating system for video advertising, spanning programmatic TV, mobile and desktop video. The Centro Brand Exchange is an invite-only ad marketplace that consists of premium journalistic sites across all devices. Its sources for video inventory include publishers such as Dallas Morning News and E.W Scripps. For more information, visit: centro.net/products/ad-exchange-for-publishers.

There are many concerns about the quality and opportunities in digital video ads because its high value attracts fraudulent and questionable behavior. According to comScore, ad fraud is complex, with 80% of global invalid traffic (IVT) being rated as sophisticated. The firm also observes that invalid traffic rates on video ads sourced through open ad exchanges are 4.5 times higher than those through direct buys. Furthermore, U.S. viewability rate for desktop video ads is only 41 percent. Centro is meeting these challenges through a high-class video ad marketplace where buyers and sellers are vetted carefully and only large player format is available.

“Centro Brand Exchange aims to strengthen the trust and transparency between ad buyers and sellers by combining proprietary advertising demand, journalistic content and scaled audiences,” said Katie Risch, EVP of customer experience, Centro. “When customers choose the Centro Brand Exchange, they gain a consultative, principled partner with a nearly two-decade track record of helping media organizations improve performance and drive revenue.”

The Centro Brand Exchange offers brand-safety at scale. Its invite-only approach puts publishers in select company with 1,700 top-notch journalistic sites including those published by major newspapers, magazines, television stations, radio stations, and more. Centro combats fake news by supporting authenticated real news publishers that pay content creators. According to Trust Metrics, Centro Brand Exchange sites are ranked 103% higher than industry benchmarks. The Centro Brand Exchange is continuously vetting quality video publishers and is focused on growing their highly ranked inventory.

Centro taps into direct demand by making inventory available to buyers across major channels, devices and ad formats. Publisher partners benefit from Centro’s in-market agency and advertiser relationships across 6,000+ brands, as well as ad spend from all major demand-side platforms (DSPs).

Pixalate's Video Seller Trust Index
Pixalate’s VSTI evaluates nearly 200 distinct per impression metrics based on an analysis of more than 100 billion impressions to determine reputation. Seller quality ratings are determined using machine-learning to analyze and score sellers for overall effectiveness assessing fraud, as well as new metrics including comparative Gross​ Rating Points (GRP)​, reach, player size, and engagement in compliance with recognized industry standards.

About Centro
Centro (centro.net) is a provider of enterprise-class software for digital advertising organizations. Its technology platform centralizes, organizes and automates all digital media campaigns across all channels, accessing both guaranteed and biddable inventory, to achieve any objective. Our holistic approach gives marketers a single system of record to fulfill their research, planning, buying, optimization, reporting and reconciliation needs. Headquartered in Chicago with 32 offices in North America, Centro has received numerous accolades for its commitment to employees and workplace culture.

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Contact:

Pam McBride

[email protected]

888-216-3939

Staying on top of paid search management is a crucial element to campaign success, but it's often complex. Where you do start?

The good news? You've already got a head start, because we brought you up to speed on the basics of paid search during our May webinar.

The better news? For our next webinar, we're going to take your paid search game to the next level. We'll explore advanced tactics and innovative trends you need to be paying attention to in the space – so you can target smarter, make your media dollars work harder, and stay one step ahead of the digital competition.

Join us and Centro's Associate Director of Paid Search, Lindsay Martin, on Wednesday, August 16, as she discusses:

• What to keep in mind when optimizing
• AdWords targeting that goes beyond keywords and geographies
• How the big players in the search space are innovating
• What trends to watch and how to think about the future of search

Ready to become a paid search guru? Then click here to learn more information and save your spot. Can't make it this month? Be sure to visit our resource center to view presentations and content from past 3T webinars.

Centro kicked off the summer with 13 new interns in Chicago, New York, and Dallas. For 10 exciting weeks, our Centerns – as we lovingly call them – were spread across multiple teams and given the opportunity to get hands-on learning experience. They took on digital ad campaigns, individual projects, and community service work, and soaked up everything they could about the industry in the meantime.

Over the next couple of weeks, we'll be featuring their experiences on the blog. Today, we'll give you a look into the internship program through the eyes of our Dallas Centerns.

Kate Latham, Paid Social Intern
I went to Texas Tech University and majored in marketing.

After graduating, I knew I wanted to be in digital advertising, but needed more experience. Interning at Centro was a great way to get my foot in the door and learn a lot. I help pace campaigns, adjust budgets, assist with creative swaps, and test audience availabilities on different ad sets. I also put together client-facing and internal one sheeters and case studies. I could go on for days about everything I've learned about paid social this summer, but basically: the knowledge I've gained has been invaluable.

We also got to help plan a Giving Tree project and that was very cool. I'm new to Dallas, so it was a great way to learn about different volunteer organizations and opportunities.

My advice to people considering this internship program is to just do it. You will never be in a better position to learn more -- without the pressure of being a full-time employee.

Kelsey Brockett, Media Associate Intern
I'm originally from Dallas, but I graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a degree in public relations.

My day-to-day tasks include helping the media associates with pacing, screenshots, actualizations, kickoff emails, processing IOs and traffic sheets. I also create research decks for the retail, CPG, and QSR industries, cultivate a publisher library for strategists to use, and create “Campaign of Champions" case studies, highlighting successful Centro digital campaigns.

My favorite part of this internship has been getting to learn about digital ad campaigns and the people behind them! It might sound cheesy, but Centro has the coolest people. They are patient, helpful, smart, and kind, and I am so appreciative of that.

Interning here as taught me that it's important to love the company's culture and people just as much as you love the work. Also, there are no stupid questions. Everyone is constantly learning in this industry, and personal growth and development are key.

My advice to a future Centern: Get ready for an awesome summer! Come in with an open mind, a notepad, and a pen – and make sure to say hi/get to know everyone!

If you have more questions about our internship program or would like to apply to be a part of the program, please reach out to [email protected].