Programmatic Marketing Quo Vadis?

PROGRAMMATIC MARKETING In this interview, Roger Bauer (Netprofit) and René Wüthrich (media BROS.) discuss their frustrations in 2015, as well as their hopes and trends for 2016 in the field of programmatic marketing.FROM IVANO CELIA*Symptomatic of the general relationship between innovation/technology and what markets make of it is probably also the way programmatic marketing is handled. At the moment, only a fraction of the actual potential is being exploited. The possibilities of programmatic marketing for brands and advertisers have never been as diverse as they are today. So what's the problem that this promising discipline is not being given its deserved pedestal in the Olympus? Many national and international brands/advertisers have reacted quickly to this online marketing achievement and are reaping success with it. More will do so in 2016. In contrast, a proper attitude and market-driven solutions on the topic of Real Time Advertising (RTA), Real Time Bidding (RTB) and Programmatic Marketing seems to be a real challenge for our publishers here. After all, this is a worldwide phenomenon. But also not everywhere as pronounced as in Switzerland. Ringier seems to be thinking globally among publishers - even if it has not yet arrived in pricing - and has hired a professional from New York who brings with him experience from the more developed US market. This gives hope for improvement in 2016!What was frustrating in the field of programmatic marketing in 2015?ROGER BAUR On the whole, I wasn't frustrated. But I expected much more from the topic of programmatic advertising in 2015. At my client, I have done a lot in the last two years to be able to be there from 2015 when it really takes off. Unfortunately, this was only noticeable in the last few months of 2015 and was therefore somewhat frustrating.RENE WÜTHRICH Swiss publishers have discovered programmatic marketing for themselves and implemented corresponding offers on the market in 2015. Unfortunately, I had to realize that with the extremely high floor price offers, the functionality of programmatic marketing was cut in the base and not understood. In the end, we are mostly talking about "residual inventory", which is utilized at the lowest end of the monetization pyramid and was previously made available as in-house advertising and for partner deals with the publisher. The quality and value of the placement (user, time of contact) is only generated on the basis of the data and algorithms of the respective programmatic system used. If the advertising contact with the user is in the "Path to Conversion", the system is also ready to spend significantly higher CPM's which can even exceed the rates of the publisher. There is no limit in auctions. The one who bids the most gets the winning bid. That's the theory. Unfortunately theory because publishers try to control this auction mechano. There's something wrong with it. The private deals - as an attempt to circumvent dynamic pricing - don't work because they are contingent as remaining space and delivery is periodized at the lower end. Yet the rates being offered are very high. This frustrates clients/advertisers and unfortunately damages the reputation of Programmatic Marketing. Right now, a lot of budget is escaping abroad due to this attitude. This is a shame and unnecessary. Google, YouTube, Facebook & Co. benefit from this and we can of course book programmatic campaigns on them and reach most Swiss users in an equally qualitative environment. But we would rather push the Swiss publishers. However, this requires appropriate dynamic pricing. The Swiss publishers should rethink their market approaches and are required to present practicable market solutions.What is your wish for the field of programmatic marketing in 2016?ROGER BAUR I want customers, publishers and agencies to gain confidence in the topic and then also invest in their infrastructure and use the opportunities. Programmatic advertising has a great advantage for all parties involved in delivering the campaigns efficiently and precisely to the target group. But what I would like to see in any case is that all parties involved seek a transparent cooperation. Viewability and ad fraud are a big topic and all parties involved have to be interested in approaching the whole thing openly and transparently. If we don't do that, many clients and agencies will continue to be reluctant. It is very important to understand the value creation in the topic in order to then do everything to use your money properly.RENE WÜTHRICH That sums it up. I, too, would like to see transparency in the Swiss market and more understanding of how it works. What are the relevant trends in programmatic marketing in 2016?RENE WÜTHRICH Trends on long-term strategies, planning of annual campaigns (similar to Google Adwords). Presentation, analysis and review of campaign trends, target group typologies and much more.ROGER BAUR 1. First, I think the topic of "Automated Guaranteed" will increase and the booking of premium inventory will be simplified. The topic of Excel lists should then decrease noticeably.2. as clients and agencies increasingly use their own technologies, direct deals (PMP's) between clients/agencies and publishers will certainly increase and that is pleasing. This will allow publishers to work with their customers on multiple levels and thus offer their inventory in an optimized and transparent way.3. What should also increase in my view is a market shakeout. Pure middlemen, who offer aggregated traffic from any inventory suppliers, intransparently, will hopefully soon be gone. We need a transparent and hopefully for all accessible marketplace of premium inventory. Like Ringier and Tamedia are doing at the moment and are thinking carefully about which partners they want to work with and who they give access to their inventory.4 I also wish that mobile would finally make the breakthrough in programmatic advertising. We have so much mobile inventory that is still underutilized. The target groups are moving more and more into the mobile channels and the advertising market is still hesitant to invest in exactly this.5. I see education and training on the subject of programmatic advertising as one of the big issues. The more responsible people in companies and agencies who are familiar with programmatic advertising, the more they will understand the added value and make the right decisions.6 Finally, I would like to see the topic of header bidding get a bit more attention in 2016 and also be properly educated. It seems to me at the moment that there again a technical solution is pushed and no one knows again really how it works. I find the approach very good and also desirable. But it should not be again so that everyone who offers this kind of technologies, says he is the only one who can...