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Ad viewability measurement standards persist as a hot button debate between advertisers and publishers. eMarketer rounds up a few research reports to illustrate how important, and confusing, the definition itself is for marketers. Imagine how publishers feel when they receive different demands from clients, and those demands may even deviate from the agreed-upon industry definition! As it stands today, the Media Ratings Council (MRC), the governing body charged with self-regulating the media industry, states that an ad is deemed viewable when half of it is in the browser for one continuous second. Yet, according to April 2015 research from SQUAD during an ANA conference, only 30% of advertising professionals recognized this as the industry standard. Instead, 56% of them believed at least 75% of ad pixels had to be in view. It’s easy to see how publishers can get flustered when they are following the rules of the ad game but get dinged by their clients, who are playing by a whole different set of rules.
GQ Redesigns Site with Viewability In Mind
Taking no chances, men’s lifestyle media company GQ has made some initial redesigns of its site (ahead of a major overhaul coming in the fall). Advertising Age’s Tim Peterson points out that the new features were built with viewability in mind. A new slideshow format features a banner ad below it and one beside it. These ads remain in place as people swipe through a slideshow, while additional ads appear in-stream in the slideshows itself. This is one way to make sure people see brands like Mr. Porter, Mont Blanc, Tiffany & Co. and LG – who are the first to try this format. The article cites an interview with CBS Interactive's chief revenue officer and the Interactive Advertising Bureau's chairman David Morris saying that viewability is the biggest issue currently facing publishers. However, in a survey by market research firm C4, 78% of respondents said they find slideshow ads somewhat annoying or completely frustrating, and 54% said these ads diminish the respondents' perception of the brand. So you can see how publishers can get flustered when they are following the rules of the ad game but get dinged by their readers, who don’t seem to like the rules.
Programmatic is Mainstream? Yes!!! Well, maybe…
While it may be too soon to proclaim that programmatic advertising is mainstream, a lot of signs indicate that it will be soon. And to think that RTB, the first iteration of programmatic advertising, was an industry of $0 a little over five years ago. This year, it accounts for $15 billion in ad spend! Nevertheless, according to AdExchanger Research analyst Joanna O’Connell, the firm’s annual report shows how allocation of programmatic budgets for open exchanges is still going strong. Even though there is legitimate fear about inventory quality and ad fraud in open environments, there is still a lot of value in RTB. For starters, it’s still comparatively easier to execute than other types of programmatic buying such as programmatic direct or private exchanges, which are difficult to scale for any advertiser. Now, here’s a caveat from this survey – it asks about the allocation of a programmatic budget, and not allocation of overall digital budgets. Even though many advertisers are putting money into programmatic advertising, not all of them are jumping in heavily. “Mainstream” may be too aggressive to describe programmatic, but there’s no doubt that more and more trust (and spend) is shifting to this way of buying ads.
Thanks for joining us for this edition of the Programmatic Zeitgeist. Keep your eyes peeled for more Programmatic commentary.
Live streaming is one of the newest opportunities in social sharing. But what is it and should marketers take notice?
Through a simple app download to a smartphone anyone (or any company) can live stream to their existing social media followers, and anyone else who happens to be looking for a feed via the app or social media. Twitter is the primary vehicle here.
The two apps, which debuted earlier this year and have continued to grow, are Periscope (part of Twitter) and Meerkat. Both offer nearly the same experience: broadcast a live stream and watch as streams evolve and compete, win out completely.
While live streaming has been around for several years, brands are starting to take notice and creating ways to, as Periscope’s tagline says, “explore the world through someone else’s eyes”. Or at least in this case, through a phone.
With the recent shift to more brands becoming publishers, live streaming could be a natural extension for brands to own their content, and earn views/shares. Consumers, particularly millennials, don’t want to be blatantly advertised to and there is an expectation for good authentic content. This makesthe value exchange for their time/eyeballs fair.
Success for marketers comes in finding a balance between what brands want consumers to know and what consumers actually care about. And since the majority of streams are not available after a broadcast, the sense of scarcity is real, which, of course, only intensifies the consumer’s FOMO (fear of missing out).
So what are some ways brands can embrace live streaming via Meerkat or Periscope?
Product Announcements: unveiling a new product launch or a creative unboxing video for the latest must-have gadget
Live Chat: a real-time time Q+A with a leading political contender, an AMA with the actress starring in an upcoming release, or an opportunity for the product engineer to discuss the inner-workings of the latest release
Behind the Scenes: exclusive access whether it is on a red carpet, backstage, or wherever most people can’t (and probably will never) access
Each of these scenarios create more valuable and personal experiences offering the opportunity for real-time feedback via comments and likes in the app. This active participation (lean-in experience) will be critical to the success of the live streaming platforms, and is one of the unique differentiators from many of the previous live-streaming applications.
Expect to see the search and discovery features advance, as Periscope and Meerkat continue to evolve through new releases and consumer adoption growth.
This is an area ripe for experimentation that requires little to no additional cost, and can be incorporated into an upcoming campaign for experimentation with a little planning.
So start broadcasting that stream and see where your consumers’ vicarious curiosity lies. Does the way you see the world align with what your customers want to view? Why not start streaming and see!
Choosing a DSP partner can be hard – and so can learning how to grapple with programmatic. If you’re looking for some guidance, we can help. In this brand new Centro Speaks video, Katie Risch, senior vice president of publisher development at Centro, takes a look at how – with the right partner – publishers can develop the knowledge and confidence to tackle digital and expand their in-house programmatic expertise.
As a publisher, it’s imperative that you grow the programmatic capabilities on your own team, as opposed to migrating a strictly managed service route. “Look for a partner that’s not afraid to come in and get their hands dirty,” Risch recommends. Here are a few other areas to consider when looking for a DSP partner:
As programmatic buying continues to explode, bringing a DSP in-house is now, more than ever, essential to making lasting and powerful changes to your business. Risch’s advice: focus on finding a partner who will offer a flexible level of support, guidance, and hands on training so that you can propel your business into the programmatic space. Ready to learn even more? Check out the video below. In case you missed them, check out part I and part II.
150 Publishers Driving Revenue by Using Centro’s Cross-Channel Programmatic Buying Platform; Publishers Gain Scale and Help Advertisers Reach Audiences on Multiple Sites and Devices
Chicago, IL – July 9, 2015 – Centro (centro.net), a provider of unified, enterprise-class software for digital advertising, today announced the general availability of Centro DSP for Publishers (www2.centro.net/publisherdsp). Early adopters include Tribune Publishing, The McClatchy Company, The E.W. Scripps Company, PureWow, Emmis Communications, Freedom News Group, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Columbus Dispatch, Philly.com, and TVInsider.com. Centro DSP for Publishers is an ad-buying technology tool that can be used by any media company to become a one-stop-shop for advertisers. The technology gives publishers the capability to quickly scale campaigns and reach local or national audiences through a multitude of ad units and sites on any device. In the past few months, Centro has been onboarding 150 publishers to help them leverage the platform to compete for more ad budgets.
Publishers have an opportunity to manage larger portions of advertisers’ media buys by extending their audience reach anywhere on the web that allows them to serve advertisers better. Publishers can use technology to gain a competitive edge against specialty ad networks and managed DSPs that are crowding the marketplace.
“Many publishers have been long-standing partners with brands and agencies. As audiences have moved more of their media consumption online, these publishers are rightful navigators for advertisers, knowing how audiences behave, not just on their own sites, but anywhere on the web,” said Rick Ducey, Managing Director, BIA/Kelsey. “Media companies that want a larger share of ad buys need to harness their audience intelligence for wide-reaching, multi-channel campaigns that drive results for advertisers.”
“Our markets utilizing Centro DSP have the flexibility on price and tactics necessary to deliver results for advertisers,” said John Jordan, director of digital revenue development, The McClatchy Company. “Centro helps our team seamlessly make the transition to programmatic buying and optimization. For example, our Fresno market has gained six-digit incremental revenue this year by landing clients that are normally out of reach without programmatic capabilities. We empower our sales teams to take larger shares of local, regional and statewide ad buys.”
“Being able to show marketers that we can scale a campaign quickly, target audiences precisely anywhere on the web, and deliver diversified ad products is a differentiator and a competitive advantage,” said Kevin Stetter, SVP of sales and operations, PureWow. “Centro’s technology platform enables us to go to market showcasing our expertise and know-how in digital media and then deliver performance for our clients.”
A pioneer in digital extension, Centro has worked with publishers for the past five years to create solutions that offer advertisers audience reach across the web. With the growing availability of inventory via ad exchanges, publishers can bring Centro DSP in-house to create unique offerings for their clients on desktop, mobile, video and more. With Centro technology being used by publishers across North America, sales and ad operations teams are finding ways to differentiate and drive efficiency for their business.
“We have armed publishers with the same type of technology that networks and managed service players have long used to grow market share. The publishers’ distinct advantage are their enduring direct relationships with agencies and brands,” said Katie Risch, SVP of publisher development, Centro. “Centro has been helping nearly 200 publishers create digital extension solutions through our services, and now we are enabling these organizations to take our technology in-house to widen their margin, grow expertise organically, and operate self-sufficiently.”
Centro’s technology encompasses audience buying on all major devices, web sites and ad units. A key benefit for publishers is the ability to navigate cookie-less environments by using GPS capabilities and device ID data management for comprehensive mobile targeting. Features include:
About Centro
Centro (centro.net) is creating a platform to make digital advertising easier. Its enterprise-class software 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. Since 2001, Centro has successfully planned and executed more than 250,000 campaigns across all digital display platforms and ad format types. 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:
Anthony Loredo
646-462-4888
So you’ve got the data. Now what? In the second part of our publishers and DSPs video series, Katie Risch, senior vice president of publisher development at Centro, recommends putting a digital extension program in place as a next step. Digital extension solutions help publishers attract more ad dollars by offering a full arsenal of ad products that leverage first-party data. That means, publishers are able to offer inventory not only on their own site but across every website, exchange, device, and platform. More significantly, they’ll be able to:
To establish expertise and reach in every major channel beyond owned and operated properties, many publishers are already reorganizing their sales strategies and offering digital extension capabilities. If you want to learn more about growing revenue through these powerful solutions, check out the video below. In case you missed part I, you can find it here.
Like peanut butter and jelly, search and social channels have a harmonious relationship that make them better when they’re together. For a long time, the relationship status between these channels were labeled as “it’s complicated.” Yet, over time, research continued to point toward an interconnection between the two.
In 2009, GroupM released one of the first studies that cited a 50% CTR increase in paid search when consumers were exposed to social media.1 In 2013, Kenshoo published that paid search audience segments exposed to Facebook advertising generated 30% more ROAS.2 Kenshoo reinforced these findings most recently in a 2014 report that provided additional evidence that Facebook advertising has a direct, positive effect on paid search performance and that the cross-channel impact increases as the investment ratio of Facebook to paid search spending rises.3 So it comes as no surprise that Centro would experience a similar finding with a client that integrated social into its search program.
The client, a food and grocery brand, was in the business of delivering quality meat in bulk to consumers at great value. The client started off its campaign in early January with a search focused program. The client’s goal was to drive sales through online orders and earn an aggressive ROAS above $4. Believing that search was the lowest funnel channel to result in the best ROAS, it invested over $160k for a five month program. Immediately, the non-branded keywords attributed to the highest performance.
In March, Centro recommended adding a Facebook program to the marketing mix as a two week test in the Jacksonville and Denver markets. At the end of that experimental period, search started to see noticeable lifts in impressions. Most significantly, the increase in traffic came entirely from brand-specific keywords, resulting in 7x more budget being spent in this category. In terms of sales, search experienced 111% increase in Denver and 212% increase in Jacksonville for all brand terms. A spike in search volume told us that awareness for the client’s brand increased during this time.
Chris Costello, Kenshoo’s director of marketing research, explains this phenomenon perfectly. “At the end of the day, search inventory is finite. There are only so many people searching for things. Running Facebook ads can not only get more people to search but they can make the search ads work better by instilling brand preference in searchers and driving them to convert at higher rates. It means that marketers can get more bang for their search buck.”4 In addition to driving incremental search lift, social exceeded the client’s goal by earning a $5.69 return on ad spend, thereby securing additional investment for future markets.
And so we come to understand this symbiotic love story between search – a powerful medium for capturing intent – and Facebook – a proven platform for driving more people to browse, share, and buy. Each platform influences the customer at a different stage in their journey, thus creating an influential experience as they move down the funnel. Brands seeking to create successful digital campaigns should focus on fostering collaboration between the different platforms. Once a united front is created, marketers will be able to maximize the power of each platform and reach their brand’s ultimate potential.
At Centro, we offer a modern approach to digital media. With over 13 years and 100,000 campaigns to our name, we leverage advanced technology, proven tactics, and industry expertise to build campaigns around the channels and platforms that drive the greatest results for our client’s specific business needs. People and technology are at the heart of Centro, and are the essential parts in every #CentroInAction story.
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As we move into the holidays at hyper-speed, pause for a moment and take a look around. Who’s next to you in line at the store? Who are you chatting with at your office party? Who is on your gift list this year?
Chances are, your mental list is diverse – one that includes people from all ages and stages. The same holds true in digital media. Whether you’re a media buyer, publisher or advertiser, unless you’re working with a highly specialized product, your audience is probably comprised of a wide variety of prospects – from recent graduates to adoring grandparents, and everyone in-between.
Ironically, casting a wide net can be tricky. One message doesn’t actually fit all, so understanding the nuances of your individual groups is critical. While everyone is spending their hard-earned money for the holidays, there’s never been a better time to evaluate the best way to engage the biggest consumers.
In this second part of our five part series entitled, Unwrapping the Holiday Shopper, we’re taking a look at Millennials, Gen Xers, and Baby Boomers. This infographic will help you better understand how and why these generations are buying. We’ll also highlight the top reasons why you should engage them. Take a look to see if you’re reaching the right targets this holiday season. And if you’re not, there’s always time to optimize.
Without further delay, we bring you Unwrapping the Holiday Shopper: Part 2.
Publishers are finding more and more opportunities to use their audience data to not only target ads on their own sites, but target ads to customers on other sites on the web. One way to make this possible is to use a data management platform (DMP), centralized software systems that gather first-party data, integrating with third-party data and applying this data to advertising. DMPs are giving publishers and their advertisers more clarity abut audiences and their interests.
Although publisher ad inventory is getting more and more commoditized, first-party audience data is still holding its value and is a unique differentiator. A publisher’s core strength is knowing its own audience and knowing how that audience (and ones similar to it) behaves. Publishers know what the audience reads, clicks on, buys, etc. Using this information to target ads on a publishers’ own sites is great, but it also empowers a publisher to target that audience (or ones that are like them) elsewhere on the web.
However, simply having deep intelligence about audiences doesn’t make the data actionable. While a DMP helps publishers understand data, a programmatic ad buying platform, also known as demand-side platform (DSP), is necessary to take action on it. By using a DSP to target audiences or “look-a-like” pools of publishers’ audience across other sites, publishers can show advertisers a unique value proposition that combines first-party audience data and wide reach anywhere on the web. This leads to more fruitful conversations with marketers that can lead to winning larger portions of ad budgets.
In 2014, Americans spent an estimated $307 billion on travel. This figure seems lofty until you see the projected $337 billion consumers are expected to spend in 2016.. It’s also no surprise travelers are going digital to book their excursions, which presents a huge opportunity to reach plenty of eyes, on plenty of screens and devices.
But travel and tourism isn’t the only opportunity for marketers this summer. Once those trips wrap-up and the umbrella drinks cease to flow, back-to-school sales will be in full swing. Back to school spending leaves a forecasted &74.9 billion in retail sales up for grabs. As the second largest buying season, an increasing number of advertisers are turning to digital to not only influence the right consumers but reach them at the right time and on the right device.
Learn how marketers are reaching these hungry travelers and prepping them for a return to the classroom by checking out our infographics.