adform rtb trend report europe q4 v2 copy - mediaspecs rtb trend... · fourth, video’s increasing...

February 2014

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Adform RTB TrendReport EuropeQ4 2013

Adform RTB Trend Report Europe

Table of Contents

I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY................................................................

II. GENERAL TRENDS.......................................................................

III. PERFORMANCE / BRANDING....................................................

IV. MOBILE DEVICES.......................................................................

V. A LOOK FORWARD....................................................................

VI. INTERVIEWS WITH MARKET LEADERS.....................................

1

4

11

25

27

29

MAKING DISPLAY ADVERTISING SIMPLE, RELEVANT, REWARDING 1


I. Executive Summary

ExecutiveSummary

2013 was a year of extraordinary growth for programmatic advertising.

Advertiser spending jumped 366%, with each quarter seeing significant increases. The fourth quarter was no exception; spending increased 32% over the previous quarter. Anyone who thought RTB is a passing fad must now be convinced of its staying power.

The start of the holiday season (October 2013) saw a spike in programmatic buying, followed by a distinct decline. The decline may be explained by the fact that brands and advertisers pre-book large swaths of inventory for direct campaigns, limiting availability in the RTB markets. Despite the decline, it must be noted that overall RTB spending in Q4 2013 was higher than it had ever been.

CPMs continued their ascent, growing an impressive 67% in 2013 and achieving all time highs during the fourth quarter. What’s particularly notable is the absence of sharp spikes in prices – an indication that the industry is maturing. As more advertisers and publishers build programmatic into their yearly plans, we can expect to see continued price stabilisation.

CTRs were 16% higher in the months of September through November, thanks to the combination of back-to-school and early holiday campaigns. More notable, engagement rate and time are on the rise, the latter jumping by an astounding 42% in the fourth quarter. Engagement time achieved an impression 15 seconds. Looking back at 2013, we see a distinct evolution in campaign-types flowing through programmatic pipes. Early in the year, marketers relied on RTB for their performance and retargeting campaigns. By the fourth quarter, emphasis was on personalised, Rich Media campaigns.



Above-the-fold ad units continue to outperform those below it, especially when considering the cost-per-action (CPA) each delivers. The top-earning banner units are still the 320x250 (article), 720x90 (top) and 160x600 (sky scraper). The native mobile 320x50 earned just 1% of ad spend, though it did maintain its place in the top-ten list of banner formats.

Once again, the article format offered an appealing combination of lower CPMs and respectable CTRs, making it an attractive option for marketers during the business holiday season, and throughout 2013. More importantly, the attention-grabbing mega-format (930x180) and video banners proved that advertisers are willing to pay a premium for banners that deliver stellar performance.

Programmatically purchased mobile and tablet inventory grew 518% in 2013, and today accounts for over 13% of all RTB impressions sold; a significantly higher percent than in direct sales. In this respect, RTB may be doing a better job in following the consumer to the mobile web than the direct channel. The publisher’s direct sales channel has been slow to offer mobile packages, forcing advertisers to turn to programmatic channels to launch mobile campaigns at scale.

The huge increase in mobile RTB inventory is a clear indication that advertisers are eager to reach consumers on their mobile devices. But demand may be just a part of the story. Supply is also on the rise as publishers implement a ‘mobile first’ strategy, with mobile apps, content, ad units and a browsing experience specifically designed for small screens.

In the fourth quarter we examined how a variety of sectors leveraged programmatic buying to determine of some are using it more effectively than others. Based on our calculations (presented later on in this report), we’ve found that the early adopters of RTB (Travel, eCommerce, Food & Drink, Arts & Entertainment) are also the most efficient users of the technology.




Numerous trends point to continued stellar growth in 2014. Rich Media inventory is becoming widely available in the global ad exchanges, making digital advertising an attractive option for brand managers. Moreover, programmatic is proving an effective means to scale mobile and video campaigns, and we expect to see those campaigns flow through RTB pipes.




II. General Trends

General Trends

Programmatic trading technologies (RTB buying, private exchanges, Rich Media) took the spotlight in the online advertising industry during 2013.

Though programmatic marketing is still a relatively new concept, it’s growing rapidly, with many pundits predicting it will become a primary method for trading digital inventory in the coming years.

RTB spending over 2013 followed predictable, though interesting patterns. January’s slow start was followed by steady – and spectacular – growth. Each quarter saw big increases in spending (Q4 was 32% higher than Q3) and by the end of 2013 spending had grown by a stunning 366%.

RTB spending peaked in October 2013, about the time that holiday advertising began in earnest. This comes as no surprise given that many of the largest brands pre-booked holiday campaigns with publishers, which meant there was less inventory available in the RTB markets (November and December were peak months for directly sold campaigns).

Going forward, we believe that programmatic will continue its upward trajectory in 2014 for several important reasons:

First, publishers are offering greater amounts of Rich Media inventory for sale via the ad exchanges, providing brand managers the opportunity to launch digital brand campaigns at scale. In fact, we anticipate 2014 to be the year that Rich Media programmatic goes mainstream.

Second, marketers are eager to reach the consumers where they spend the most time – on their mobile devices. To date, publishers have been slow to support mobile deals directly. Programmatic, on the other hand, is an efficient way to scale mobile campaigns.



II. General Trends

TOTAL SPEND ON RTB PER MONTH (EUROPE)

Third, more direct spend will shift towards programmatic channels. In fact, many publishers are actively integrating programmatic initiatives into their direct sales channels so they can secure a greater portion of the advertiser’s overall budget.

Fourth, video’s increasing popularity will spill over to programmatic, sending RTB ad spend even higher.

Finally, the economies of Europe are beginning to improve, which means advertisers will no longer feel the need to hold back in launching campaigns.

Jan-1

3

Feb-1

3

Mar-1

3

Apr-13

May-

13

Jun-1

3

Jul-1

3

Aug-13

Nov-13

Oct

-13

Sep-1

3

Dec-13

TAKE-AWAYS

The October surge in RTB campaigns indicates the start of the holiday shopping season. Marketers should plan on the early start date going forward.

After the initial spike in October, RTB spending declined, perhaps as a result of numerous direct sales, which created a scarcity of inventory in the real-time markets. If this is the case, marketers should plan on booking direct deals as early as possible.

As stated above, we believe the market will surge as Rich Media inventory becomes widely available. Brand marketers are likely to embrace Rich Media digital and programmatic campaigns.

Programmatic will prove to be a reliable method for scaling mobile and video campaigns; marketers seeking to reach a large audience should consider RTB for their campaigns.



II. General Trends



II. General Trends

CPMs Throughout 2013, CPMs maintained a steady pace of growth. Gone are the days of significant peaks and valleys in the prices advertisers are willing to pay for RTB inventory. The year’s price stability represents a maturing market.

The price trajectory followed the normal course of advertising. For instance, prices dipped in the summer months, a traditionally slow season for the European advertising market. In September, CPMs rebounded and continued their upward climb.

Publishers enjoyed a 15% bump in CPMs from Q3 to Q4 (perhaps the scarcity of inventory during the holiday season drove prices up). Overall, programmatic CPMs grew 67% in 2013 – boding well for publishers and the industry as a whole. Higher CPMs will certainly serve as an inducement for publishers to make more of their inventory available via RTB pipes.

AVERAGE CPM ON RTB (EUROPE)

Jan-1

3

Feb-1

3

Mar-1

3

Apr-13

May-

13

Jun-1

3

Jul-1

3

Aug-13

Nov-13

Oct

-13

Sep-1

3

Dec-13



II. General Trends

TAKE-AWAYS

Higher CPMs will attract more publishers to participate in the real-time markets, as well as prompt existing participants to increase the number of impressions available for programmatic campaigns.

With higher CPMs earned, publishers will integrate programmatic activities into the direct channel, with sales teams instructed to go after the direct and programmatic budgets of their top advertisers.

Higher CPMs will justify – and serve as an inducement – for publishers and advertisers to invest in private exchanges.



II. General Trends

CTRs On the whole, click-through rates mirrored normal advertising trends in 2013.

The month of July saw CTRs decline somewhat as advertising in general slowed, but were back on track in August and September as marketers launched their back-to-school campaigns.

CTRs were highest in October, no doubt a result of increased ad spend stemming from a combination of back-to-school and early holiday campaigns. Additionally, the October time frame saw an increased demand for video banners, which typically feature strong, CTR-focused calls to action.

We fully anticipated CTRs to surge in the fourth quarter as brands and retailers launched competitive retargeting campaigns. While CTRs were 16% higher in September, October, and November, they failed to maintain October’s highs, indicating that other factors may be at play. We’ve long expected CTRs to decline as marketers optimise their campaigns for other metrics, such as brand awareness and brand engagement. And, the industry is rife with commentary questioning the value of CTR as a metric, so perhaps marketers are focusing on other metrics.

That said, CTRs were relatively stable, and stability is always a healthy market trend.

AVERAGE CTR (%) ON RTB PER MONTH (EUROPE)



II. General Trends

TAKE-AWAYS

Banners with videos tend to deliver strong CTR; advertisers who are interested in achieving high CTRs should consider video campaigns.

During the holiday season, marketers launched numerous performance campaigns resulting in a higher average CTR in Q4.

Given the frequently cited flaws with CTR, combined with the availability of more nuanced metrics, marketers should consider optimising their campaigns on other metrics, such as specific actions (eg sign up for a test drive, open a new account, download a coupon).

Jan-1

3

Feb-1

3

Mar-1

3

Apr-13

May-

13

Jun-1

3

Jul-1

3

Aug-13

Nov-13

Oct

-13

Sep-1

3

Dec-13


Above/ Belowthe Fold

Ditto for CPMs, which saw at 24% increase for above-the-fold units, and a 12% decrease for those below it. For most of 2013, the CPM gap for the units had narrowed. In Q4, however, that gap grew wider.

Perhaps all of the attention on viewability (ie determining if an ad actually appeared in the user’s browser) has scared marketers away from below-the-fold ad units.

The true metric of interest for advertisers is cost-per-click (CPC), which once again, demonstrates the appeal of above-the-fold inventory. CPC for above-the-fold inventory jumped by 16%; below it increased just 2%. But given the low clicks and relatively comparable CPMs, above-the-fold inventory is still the better option for marketers.

MAKING DISPLAY ADVERTISING SIMPLE, RELEVANT, REWARDING


III. Performance / Branding

CTR (%) ABOVE/ BELOW THE FOLD

Above Below

CTR Q3 CTR Q4

CTRs for above-the-fold ad units grew by 5% from Q3 to Q4, while CTRs for below-the-fold units plunged by 14%.

MAKING DISPLAY ADVERTISING SIMPLE, RELEVANT, REWARDING 12MAKING DISPLAY ADVERTISING SIMPLE, RELEVANT, REWARDING



CPC ABOVE/ BELOW THE FOLD

Above Below

CPC Q3 CPC Q4

CPM Q3 CPM Q4

CPM ABOVE/ BELOW THE FOLD

Above Below




TAKE-AWAYS

Given the focus on viewability, agencies are wise to shy away from below-the-fold inventory as ads have less a chance of being seen. Brands and advertisers are increasingly sensitive with regards to paying for impressions that consumers will never see.

The proof is in the pudding, and when it comes to performance-based campaigns, CPC is the metric to optimise. Above-the-fold ad units have a lower CPC, which makes them the most cost-effective option for campaigns.

The above/below-the-fold consideration may fall by the wayside as publishers adopt innovations such as infinite scroll, and as advertisers demand viewability as a minimum standard for purchasing media.




RTBPerformanceBy Country

In ten of the countries tracked, CTRs increased from Q3 to Q4; some, such as Belgium, Finland and the Netherlands saw spectacular growth, bringing up the overall average for the region.

Q3 Q4 Avg. Q4

Czech R

epublic

Belgiu

m

Denmark

Germany

Icela

ndIta

ly

Spain

Norway

Poland

Sweden

Switz

erland UK

Netherla

nds

Finla

nd

Lithuania

Q3 CTR (%) BY COUNTRY

Austria

This comes as no surprise since these banner formats offer an appealing combination of premium prices and CTR, making them reliable ad units for both buyers and sellers.

The most popular banner is still the rectangular 320x250 (article), which saw a 2% spending increase in Q3. Given the massive volume of units traded, a 2% bump is significant. A possible reason may be that 320x250 is now used for mobile ads as well as display (mobile buying increased significantly as we report in the next sections).




Q3 Q4 Avg. Q4

ENGAGEMENT RATE (%)

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

Belgiu

m

Czech R

epublic

Denmark

Finla

nd

Germany

Netherla

nds

Icela

ndIta

ly

Lithuania

Norway

Poland

Spain

Sweden

Switz

erland

UK

3.5

ENGAGEMENT TIME (SEC.)

0

5

10

15

20

Q3 Q4 Avg. Q4

Belgiu

m

Czech R

epublic

Denmark

Finla

nd

Germany

Netherla

nds

Icela

ndIta

ly

Lithuania

Norway

Poland

Spain

Sweden

Switz

erland

UK

The increase in both engagement rate and time throughout the year point to another significant trend: a shift in programmatic campaigns from performance and retargeting campaigns to more personalised and awareness-raising campaigns, as evidenced by stronger demand for Rich Media inventory and higher engagement rates and times.




TAKE-AWAYS

Newer programmatic Rich Media formats and video inventory will enable marketers to launch innovative and engaging campaigns. We expect Rich Media campaigns to surge in 2014, along with engagement rate and engagement time.

Brand managers who are principally concerned with brand engagement should consider programmatic campaigns to achieve their goals. Programmatic offers the creativity and scale they need to influence massive audiences.

Performanceby IndustryVerticals

Retargeting, a key driver of CTR, is a favourite tool of retail marketers, particularly during the holiday season.

Food & Drink is the second top performer, and it too saw a lift in CTR this quarter. This sector is noted for its banner creativity, inviting consumers to click for recipes, coupons, and other attractions.


Shopping trumps all other verticals when it comes to delivering CTR, and it comes as no surprise that the category saw a significant boost in the fourth quarter.



Meanwhile, engagement time increased 10 seconds from Q3 to Q4; growing dramatically across every sector. No doubt the growth was due in large part to the increased number of video ads and banners with videos that were bought via RTB.

CTR BY VERTICALS

Arts &

Ente

rtain

ment

Autom

otive

Business

Fam

ily &

Pare

nting

Food &

Drin

k

Health &

Fitn

ess

Home &

Gard

en

Law, G

ov’t & P

olitic

s

Personal F

inance

Shoppin

g

Socie

ty

Style

& F

ashio

n

Technology &

Com

puting

Travel

Q3

Q4

Avg. Q4




Each passing quarter sees video boosting engagement time, offering ample proof of the power of sight, sound and motion to capture the consumer’s attention.

ENGAGEMENT RATE (%) BY VERTICALS

Q3

Q4

Avg. Q4

Arts &

Ente

rtain

ment

Autom

otive

Business

Fam

ily &

Pare

nting

Food &

Drin

k

Health &

Fitn

ess

Home &

Gard

en

Law, G

ov’t & P

olitic

s

Personal F

inance

Shoppin

g

Socie

ty

Style

& F

ashio

n

Tech. & C

omputin

g

Travel

ENGAGEMENT TIME (SEC.) BY VERTICALS

Arts &

Ente

rtain

ment

Autom

otive

Business

Fam

ily &

Pare

nting

Food &

Drin

k

Health &

Fitn

ess

Home &

Gard

en

Law, G

ov’t & P

olitic

s

Personal F

inance

Shoppin

g

Socie

ty

Style

& F

ashio

n

Tech. & C

omputin

g

Travel

Q3

Q4

Avg. Q4




INFOGRAPHIC

This quarter, we dove deeper into the data to assess which verticals are most successful in using RTB efficiently in their campaigns.

The infographic below depicts usage of RTB by vertical, and is based on a points system using the amount of impressions, CTR, engagement rate, and engagement time to calculate a level of effectiveness.

The Travel, Shopping and Personal Finance sectors have mainstreamed RTB as a marketing tool. Other sectors, such as Food & Drink and Art & Entertainment are less advanced, but have notable players that use RTB to drive campaign ROI and to reach consumers across screens (for example, in Q3 Swedish TV Channel Kanal 5 used RTB to drive tune-ins of new TV shows).

Other verticals, such as Automotive and Style & Fashion, rely on RTB for branding campaigns, and rely on Rich Media ad formats to showcase their styles and captivate consumers. The Automotive sector also relies on RTB for performance-based campaigns. These campaigns focus on specific actions, such as signing up for a test drive with a local dealership.

Style &Fashion

Family &Parenting

Law, Gov& Politics

PersonalFinance

Society

Technology &Computing

Shopping

Home &Garden

Travel

Health &Fitness




BusinessArts &

Entertainment

Food & Drink

Automotive


Banner FormatsBannerFormats

SPENDING

Once again, the RTB market was dominated by four most popular banners, which combined accounted for 94% of all RTB impressions.



This comes as no surprise since these banners offer the best combinations of price and CTR. As a result, competition for these banner formats is stiff, driving up CPMs.

The rectangular 300x250 (article) banner maintained its top position throughout the year, though Q4 saw a slight increase (1%) in spending.

The second next popular banner is still the 728x90 (top banner), after slight 1% decrease in Q3 spend is now stable and we see no changes in Q4. The third most popular banner, 160x600 (sky scraper) saw no change in spending levels.

The attention-grabbing 930x180 (mega-format) banner still earned just 1% of the total spend, though it continues to earn the highest CTR and CPMs.

The recently introduced mobile banner format (320x50) earned 1% of the ad spend, the same as in Q4. This is a shame, given that too many advertisers rely on the 300x250 ad unit for mobile ads, which is less than ideal. Given the consumer’s penchant for mobile, advertisers should make the effort to create mobile-friendly ads.

That said, comfort must be taken from the fact that the 320x50 maintained its place in the list of top 10 banner sizes, indicating a growing understanding of the nuances of mobile advertising among agencies and marketers.

A surprising trend seen in Q4 is the appearance of the video banner in the top ten list. The video format, used as YouTube pre-roll, bumped the Facebook (99x72) banner off of the list. The popularity of the video banner may be the result of the advertisers’ desire to appear on as many screens as possible during the holiday season.




300x250

728x90

160x600

930x180

468x60

120x600

980x120

video

980x150

320x50

SPEND BY BANNER SIZE Q4

SPEND BY BANNER SIZE Q3

300x250

728x90

160x600

930x180

468x60

120x600

980x120

980x150

320x50

99x72

42%

17%

10%

26%

1%1%

1% 1%1%

1%

42%

17%

10%

26%

2%1%

1% 1%1%

0.5%




TAKE-AWAYS

Consumers are never far from their mobile devices, making the channel extremely important to both publishers and advertisers. The native mobile banner format should attract more ad spend than it currently does.

While advertisers are eager to try mobile advertising, they should cease to re-use the standard desktop banner formats for their campaigns. New mobile-friendly formats have emerged, opening the door for more creative and engaging mobile ads.

Video banners have a strong track record in terms of engagement and performance, and we are beginning to see inventory trade in larger volumes in the ad exchanges. Marketers should consider YouTube pre-roll as a strategy for their marketing campaigns.

TOP BANNER FORMATS CPMS AND CTRS

2013 saw little change in CPMs or CTRs for the top five most popular banners. The mega-format (930-180) still commands the highest CPMs and delivers the best CTR by factors; the article banner (300x250) still delivers an appealing combination of affordable CPMs and respectable CTRs.

We anticipated an increase Q4 CPMs as a result of inflated holiday budgets, and overall they were up 15% over Q3. Across individual banner types, CPMs were up 10% to 21%.

Demand, performance and price are closely related throughout 2013, with buyers willing to pay the highest CPMs for the top-performing mega banner and video banners.

With the exception of the video ads, CTRs were relatively low during the holiday season. Advertisers were anxious to lock up as many ad slots as possible in order to get their messages out, resulting in lower campaign performance as measured by CTR.




CPM Q3 CPM Q4 CTR Q3 CTR Q4

CPM, CTR BY TOP BANNER FORMATS

300x250 468x60930x180160x600728x90 99x72

TAKE-AWAYS

The advertisers’ willingness to pay a premium for top performing banners has remained constant throughout 2013. Each quarter has seen a steady ascent in mega-format CPMs; and video banners, with their exceptional CTR performance, are in the stratosphere. Publishers eager to improve the eCPM of their programmatic inventory would be wise to offer more of these banner formats to the real-time markets.

High demand and strong performance are the primary drivers behind the high CPMs earned by the top banners. If standard market forces prevail, prices will continue to rise in 2014.

Advertisers demand for exceptional banners is unlikely to slow in the months to come. Further, demand has the top potential to surge as more brand managers view the digital ecosystem as a viable channel for their brand-awareness campaigns.

video



IV. Mobile Devices

Banner FormatsMobileDevices

RTB mobile ad spending saw steady gains throughout 2013, as advertisers embraced the importance of the channel in maintaining brand relevance with consumers.

RTB-sold mobile and tablet impressions grew from 2,65% in January 2013 to 13,75% of all RTB impressions in December, that makes a 518% yearly growth.

There are several factors driving this growth. Over the past year, many publishers have adopted a ‘mobile first’ strategy, designed to make their sites more friendly to mobile readers and mobile ads. Most have developed a mobile app for their sites, and many have developed issue-specific apps, all of which are optimised for mobile advertising. Other innovations, such as infinite scroll, support a greater number of ad units, since sites are no longer constrained by pages. Additionally, the new HTML5 can be used on all platforms, including mobile, which increases coverage.

Finally, many advertisers are finding that the best way to scale mobile campaigns is via the real-time markets.

Of course, the 518% growth is tempered by the ground the industry must still cover; by all accounts, mobile and tablet advertising lags far behind consumer adoption and usage. Still, with nearly 14% of all RTB impressions destined for a mobile device or a purchase, it’s clear that programmatic is doing a better job in following the consumer to the mobile web than direct sales.

In 2014, we will see that gap narrowing as advertisers experiment with the new mobile ad formats. In fact, we expect RTB mobile impressions to rise up to 20% in Q1 2014.

TabletMobile

% OF TOTAL RTB IMPRESSIONS (EUROPE)

0.00%

2.00%

4.00%

6.00%

8.00%

10.00%

12.00%



IV. Mobile Devices

14.00%

16.00%

Jan-1

3

Feb-1

3

Mar-1

3

Apr-13

May-

13

Jun-1

3

Jul-1

3

Aug-13

Nov-13

Oct

-13

Sep-1

3

Dec-13

TAKE-AWAYS

Marketers and advertisers should continue to experiment with reaching consumers on their mobile devices and tablets; programmatic is proving an effective means to achieve scale.

The publishers’ mobile-first strategy is creating bigger volumes of inventory, all of which is mobile friendly. Still, advertisers should take care to build creatives using the banner-specific formats.

We expect ad spend for mobile and tablet ad units to make 15%-20% of all RTB impressions in Q1 2014.



V. A Look Forward

A Look Forward

We anticipate that 2014 will be another banner year for programmatic marketing, as both publishers and advertisers look to increase the role of the tactic in their overall sales plans.

PREMIUM/ RICH MEDIA INVENTORY

Use of private marketplaces will increase in 2014, with both sides making investments in the technology required to support them.

An influx of Rich Media inventory to the ad exchanges will attract premium brand managers. We will likely see branding campaigns executed via the public exchanges as well as private marketplaces.

Programmatic direct sales will increase as publishers begin to assume a holistic approach to monetising inventory, and instruct their direct sales teams to solicit the programmatic budgets of their top clients.

MOBILE & VIDEO

Marketers will rely on the real-time markets to execute their mobile and video campaigns at scale.

Mobile and tablet impressions will account for 20% of all impressions sold via RTB by the end of Q1 2014; throughout the year, the gap between mobile web traffic and mobile advertising will continue to narrow.

The market will see a bigger volume of mobile inventory as publishers adopt mobile first strategies, which cater to content and ads viewed on mobile devices and tablets.

Mobile video banner formats will be a significant driver of growth in mobile RTB.



V. A Look Forward

VIEWABILITY

Widespread publisher and advertiser adoption of the viewability metric will lessen the reliance on above-the-fold/below-the-fold as a buying requirement.

Innovations such as infinite scroll will increase the number of viewable impressions available in the RTB markets.



VI. Interviews With Market Leaders

Peter Loell,Digital Janitor

1. Has your view on programmatic changed over the year? Has programmatic fulfilled your expectations?

RTB fulfilled our expectations. In the beginning most inventory on RTB was below-the-fold leftovers. 2013 marked a turning point in available inventory; we saw more premium inventory flowing into the ad exchanges. We went from 4 billion to 7 billion bid opportunities, which is good; but we still need to address the challenges of visibility, context and “tiling”.

2. Where do you see the greatest opportunities within programmatic / RTB in Denmark?

Two areas are going to provide growth:

RTB-enabled video and Rich Media formats with user level targeting will turbocharge RTB spending. Currently the market is struggling with creating and engaging awareness campaigns.

Overriding the standard ad server so that bidding higher will actually get you that user instead of it going to a “direct” campaign.

3. What’s needed to take mobile advertising to the next level and to match up digital revenues in 2014?

Advertisers need to embrace adaptive technologies. Mobile ads have to be different from web ads because the medium is different – the screens are smaller and the way that people interact with mobile devices is different. Currently, mobile advertising is too much cookie focused and no smartphone features such as use of location, gyroscope is used.




Simon Halstead,Director


Programmatic continues to grow for Microsoft. We have launched initiatives around Programmatic Direct which will come to market in 2014, and have seen strong evolution across all European markets. The depth of demand and active buyers is significant across all markets in Europe, with more markets reaching a mature stage.

At Microsoft, we continue to expand the number of active RTB markets with the Microsoft Advertising Exchange, including Austria, Switzerland, Finland and Turkey, bringing the total number of active markets to 14 and we expect further expansion. We are also growing the offering itself, with 2013 seeing Outlook and Skype inventory enter the exchange. Ongoing evolutions of audience-driven and richer experiences for consumers and more brand-focused campaigns are evident, as well as continuing growth in demand. Programmatic has fulfilled our expectations, and future developments in 2014 will be exciting.

2. Where do you see the greatest opportunities within programmatic / RTB in the UK?

The UK continues to lead the growth of programmatic opportunities. There are a number of strong multinational organisations basing strategy out of the UK or European centres, and we continue to see the growth of strong independent companies in the marketplace. These companies are well placed to seize on increasing opportunities in additional channels such as mobile and other programmatic solutions outside RTB. Programmatic solutions that aren’t RTB based will expand significantly in the coming 12 months, with direct API-driven reserved booking. We can also expect to see increased maturity in higher funnel deals delivered via the RTB infrastructure. Another area for growth is creative concepts and executions that encourage interaction with the consumer.


Microsoft is evolving its mobile advertising offers to enable advertisers to offer the best possible connected experiences to consumers. We cannot, however, comment on digital revenue.




Andreas Rau,Head of

PerformanceIntelligence


No, I wouldn’t say that my view has changed; I believe that RTA (Real Time Advertising) is very powerful if utilised properly.

Speaking of Germany, we saw a substantially increased volume of RTA campaigns during the second half of the year. Advertisers were willing to invest bigger budgets due to successful campaigns and supply has developed quickly, including relevant premium publisher inventory.

More international players entered the German market in 2013, so we did several tests to compare the performance of campaigns set by specialised full-service RTA companies and our agency-managed setup. Results showed that even the most sophisticated bidding algorithms achieve lower performance compared to an integrated approach of people planning the RTA campaigns and algorithms that optimise campaigns based on the complex, data-driven layer.

The main points leading to a successful RTA campaign are:

Knowledge of the local market;

Healthy relationships with important publishers;

Experience in media planning and analytics;

Team of optimisation experts.

All this, combined with a deep understanding of the possibilities and limitations of RTA are, in my view, the fundamental assets that need to be in place to successfully execute RTA campaigns. It is a combination of art and science.

2. Where do you see the greatest opportunities within programmatic / RTB in Germany?

RTA in Germany is growing quickly and volumes are increasing. Advertisers are moving from retargeting and performance to branding campaigns.




However, with this development I see increased demand for qualitative data, additional formats as well as cross-channel (cross-device) tracking and attribution. Measurement and optimisation KPIs need to be aligned with the different objectives along the funnel. I think that agencies and publishers will continue to cooperate in search of effective models. This is the next step towards programmatic premium.


Well, that’s a tough question to answer. To be honest, I haven’t seen a solution yet. Before mobile, digital advertisers had to deal with obstacles like the ROPO effect (Research Online Purchase Offline), which has developed more into a RMROPOOPO effect (Research Mobile Re-research or Purchase Online or Purchase Offline). So technologies such as mobile and cross-device tracking should play an integral role here. As with any new media, mobile advertising needs to prove that it is a reliable way to advertise big brands and to drive sales. Measurement is a key factor here.




Manuel Mercader,Owner


It’s a revolution and it’s the new way of planning. In my view a very large part of advertising – if not all – will be moved through RTB in the future. RTB is the way to put two points that are absolutely fundamental: the supply and demand in a perfect market, on the one hand, and on the other to apply the technology part to achieve maximum qualification and segmentation of the user.

2. Where do you see the greatest opportunities within programmatic / RTB in Spain?

RTB is the way to put two points that are absolutely fundamental: the supply and demand in a perfect market, on the one hand, and on the other to apply the technology part to achieve maximum efficiency, reaching the customer at the right time and place. This explains why we integrate many analytical, statistical and mathematical profiles. With all the analysis of DSPs or models of Real Time Bidding we can move those goals with more potential and be more expandable than with conventional planning; the impact is much higher and therefore the cost per acquisition for advertisers is much less.


In Spain more than 15% of the digital content consumption is on mobile devices so the potential is huge. We have to adapt each message and each campaign all the time and on each device, and mobile is a large part of it. It is absolutely a driving force of any campaign; it lets you interact much faster and brands need to understand the nature of mobile campaigns.

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