If programmatic advertising technology means automation, what place does programmatic have the in the increasingly digital TV business?
Unlike the typical picture of programmatic which most people have, TV ads are sold upfront, ahead of time, rather than in real-time. What could TV possible want with programmatic.
A panel convened by Beet.TV discusses the options…
Value in the 7%
Real-time bidding of video from open markets equalled just 1% of TV ad spending last year. So Videology has shown interest in the larger segment of businesses more keen to spend on digital video using upfront, TV-style budgets, according to Videology North America SVP Brent Gaskamp.
He said: “The 7% world was (saying), ‘I’m selling a guaranteed sort of placement type of audience in my digital ecosystem or I’m managing a pool of inventory that I want to actually sell and package that way or buy for advertisers that way’. So the 7% club kind of became very important to us.”
Programmatic confusion
The word “programmatic” for advertising automation no longer encompasses the rich palette of tools on offer, and requires lots of effort, according to DataXu TV VP Tore Tellefsen.
“… The ‘p’ word, the programmatic word …I hate the term,” he said. “I don’t like it because it causes confusion. If I broke down the amount of time I spend on just education and clarification, it’s far more than it needs to be or should be.”
Automating TV
TV may historically be a direct-sold, upfront advertising business. But that doesn’t mean it won’t become programmatic automated as it becomes digital, according to Clypd strategic development VP Jason Burke.
“When we look at TV, we often hear, ‘Well TV’s easy – we don’t need to automate that’,” he observed. “I agree – I think the digital folks in the room will go through ten different layers to make that $50,000 IO happen. That doesn’t happen in TV.
“But automation’s needed as you start to bring in advanced data sources so that research teams can understand a forecast against Mercedes owners, so that, longer-term, they can sell them that way. Doing that across a multibillion dollar business across thousands of clients in a futures market … requires software. That can’t happen with a spreadsheet and a whiteboard.
This panel was chaired by Prohaska Consulting founder Matt Prohaska.
This panel was conducted at Beet Retreat 2016: The Transformation of Television Advertising, an executive retreat presented by Videology with AT&T AdWorks and the 605. Please find more videos from the event here.
