Brand safety and targeting accuracy key for ‘programmatic’

There have been developments around programmatic buying that have sought to fight the menace of ‘ad fraud’.  The IAB initiated ‘ads.txt’ has gained some momentum but not enough to make a notable change, either among the advertisers or the publishers.  Even though, among the early adopters are some of the biggest media groups like The New York Times, The Washington Post and ESPN.  Lack of resources and time to implement ‘ads.txt’ is being cited as one of the reasons for the slow adoption.  Additionally, ‘blockchain technology’ is being viewed as a more scalable and long-term solution.  ‘Blockchain Programmatic Corporation’ will soon launch the first ever blockchain programmatic RTB platform.

There is another side to ‘programmatic’ that requires a refresh – data that powers it.  Majority of the DMPs today are powered by first and third-party data.  However, with marketers continuously pushing the limits on ‘personalisation’ to differentiate and succeed in achieving consumer retention, DMPs have started integrating ‘second-party’ data as well.   But there are concerns about scalability.  Recently Salesforce launched a ‘second-party data market place’ claiming more scale and wider access.  Data Studio is not restricted to only Salesforce DMPs but to any third party DMP.  

Apart from advertising, personalisation is a recurring theme across all other functions of marketing.  Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) are getting traction because of the complexity of integrating different data sources to paint an accurate picture of an individual customer.  The 4 key differences between DMPs and CDPs are listed as:

Advertising focused vs. marketing focused:

DMPs are primarily being used in advertising campaigns for better targeting while CDPs have the potential to streamline data across all the various marketing channels.  This provides a more holistic understanding of customers across a broader set of data points, with obvious benefits beyond just advertising.

Third party vs. first party data focus:

DMPs generally focus on ‘anonymous third party’ data for targeting while CDPs are built with first-party customer data focus.  Both can integrate with any data set, but the difference is in the focus.

Segments vs. Individual level profiling:

Because DMPs mainly use anonymous third-party data, they build broader categories and segments as customer profiles.  CDPs on the other hand can create individual customer profile using first-party data.

Paying for targeting data vs. customer data: 

With a DMP you are paying for ‘advertising audience’ while with a CDP you are paying for ‘customer data’ that can be integrated to any/all marketing tools – including advertising tools.

As per the ‘’Status of Programmatic” report by Tailwind, mobile and video consumption are the key drivers for ‘programmatic’ adoption in MENA.  The study also quotes the tactics buyers and sellers in MENA are adopting to address ‘brand safety’ issues.  More than 50% of ‘Buyers’ use more trusted channels to access programmatic inventory like ‘Publishers Alliances’ and ‘Direct Deals’ while 40% of the ‘Sellers’ claim to have partnered with ‘Publishers Alliances’ or ‘Sales houses’.