Advertising in the attention economy
In the past, it was a common occurrence that online consumers were being exposed to communication that wasn’t at all relevant, resulting in ad fatigue and brands not being able to reach their target market.
To combat this, advertisers’ focus needed to shift to the experience for the end consumer, which would, in turn, improve the impact of brands’ campaigns by:
- reaching the right people;
- being contextually relevant; and
- reducing ad wastage, which would increase ROI and create buying efficiencies.
Programmatic solutions were an entirely new way of thinking that changed digital advertising by taking the way consumers were being targeted to a new level. By utilising various indicators, the programmatic solution was able to deduce data points that could paint a better, more intricate picture of the user.
The adoption of this new way of reaching people by marketers meant that messages could be tailored to appeal to individuals with unique personalities and needs, as opposed to a generic communication.
So what is programmatic advertising, exactly?
Programmatic advertising is the automation and consolidation of the buying and selling of online advertising based on target-audience segmentation.
Basically, data is used to segment and target audiences to ensure advertisers pay for the right ad reaching the intended audience at the intended time.
Online consumers can be identified and segmented by data points like:
- demographics
- geography
- interests
- behaviours
- time of day
- weather
- device
A programmatic platform can use this data to inform the purchase of digital ad inventory through an auction, as well as place them in the places the audience cares about.
In this way, ads are personalised to each consumer’s unique interests and behaviours, creating intelligent connections, generating insights and optimising ad performance.
Programmatic efforts today can access any format and any channel, including mobile, audio, desktop, outdoor (digital) and smart TV.
Stumbling blocks
With any new technology, the initial introduction of this technology meant that new skills were needed in the industry to utilise the full capabilities this innovation availed, and this took time to master. In many cases, programmatic buying was misunderstood and misused due to a lack of expertise.
Dentsu Aegis Network’s programmatic trading desk has a dedicated team of specialists who have been trained by the best in the industry and have over 10 years’ collective experience in this field. We are able to execute successful programmatic campaigns based on highly personalised targeting strategies that utilise the full capabilities of our advanced tech stack.
In addition to this, we have a global footprint and the expertise of similar or more mature programmatic markets we can tap into to ensure we stay ahead of the trend in our technical abilities.
This allows us to develop protocols and strategies that allow our advertisers and brands to stand out and reach their target market in an ever-evolving and dynamic landscape.
