AUSTIN — Many digital media executives expect it is only a matter of time before “programmatic” advertising – the collection of techniques which automate online ad-buying and which has taken hold in the display ad world – will work its magic on television.
Indeed, many tech and data vendors are already trying to make this happen today. But GroupM chief digital officer Rob Norman thinks the industry should walk before it can run.
“Digital natives who don’t have the context of pre-digital have a somewhat naive view of the integrity and the intricacy of the television market,” he tells Beet.TV in this video interview.
“There are people who have had a mission for years now to take all the data that’s available … and apply it as close to the time a decision has to be made as possible. The upfront market… isn’t going away any time soon.
“The bit of automation we are most interested in is addressability… (it) is rapidly becoming a reality. That’s not the same thing as programmatic television. The technology doesn’t exist in any way that is scaled.”
GroupM’s own Modi Media unit is focused on exploring programmatic TV ad buying, but Norman sees programmatic being applied more valuably in online video, with traditional TV benefitting from addressability for upfront-bought ads.
Norman was interviewed by Beet.TV at the 4As’ (American Association of Advertising Agencies) Transformation 2015 event in Austin, Texas. Our coverage is sponsored by Videology.
