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DATA, INSIGHTS, ACTION

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04 Welcome & Introduction

06 Show Up. Speed Up, Wise Up

10 Beyond The Hype

14 Is Programmatic Incremental Or Transformational?

18 It’s Time: Get Ready

22 The Network Always Wins

26 Programmatic: Views from the Crowd

“Programmatic is about serving the needs of

people, not just serving ads. Google have done good job of getting that

across.” Paul Frampton, CEO, Havas Media.

“Incremental or transformational?

Google offer help to test programmatic. It’s all about control, testing and learning at speed”

Andrew Burgess, Founder and CEO, equimedia

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Programmatic is a word we’ve all been hearing a lot, but until now it’s been hard to

understand what it is and what it stands to do. That’s why we wanted to gather together to share a jargon-free explanation to help you get started in tapping its full potential today.

Put simply, programmatic marketing is just marketing but with new tools that make you smarter and more efficient. We believe it is transformational for brand and performance clients and there is an imperative to act now.

Don’t be confused by the jargon; programmatic is a natural progression. In fact you’re already

using automation now in other areas of your business. Programmatic just means putting the customer at the heart of your marketing by making your insights real-time and your relationships personal.

Already both brand and performance marketers are achieving significant results from programmatic today by getting the right people working together, turning data into insights, acting on real-time audience signals and using technology as the enabler to build personal relationships at scale. These opportunities are already available and ready to go; the time to act is now.

Meanwhile as audience signals rise to a new level in a connected world,

the businesses that continue to invest in acting on their real-time insights and getting the right people working with the right technologies will be best placed to succeed. The power of programmatic lies in its ability to enable brands to build personal relationships at scale – this next stage promises to be transformational.

We’ve asked a host of industry experts to share their vision for programmatic and illuminate the steps your business can take to get started. Matt Brittin starts things off with his simple definition, while Andy Mihalop offers an illustration of a brand using programmatic to build personal relationships at scale. A panel of experts debates whether

programmatic is incremental or transformational, and Damian Lawlor explains how to turn data into insights and insights into action. Finally, Peter Hinssen, author of The Network Always Wins, explores the business landscape of our increasingly connected world.

Enjoy the read,

Phil Miles, Google

Did You Know?Spend through

programmatic channels will exceed £1bn in 2014.

Source: IAB UK.

P.Miles

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Show Up, Wise Up & Speed Up

When Google’s VP for Northern and Central Europe Matt Brittin opened Think Programmatic at BAFTA, he started by looking just down the road and back 120 years. Programmatic might seem new, complicated and scary, but he explained it’s simply

“using technology to do more faster, and to get smarter as you go.”

Lyons opened its first teashop in London’s Piccadilly in 1894, went on to build a retail and

hospitality empire, and by 1951 had launched the world’s first commercial computer to automate its payroll. Automation allowed a lot of work to be done fast and accurately, saving about 80% of the costs of manual payroll processing and eliminating many errors.

Taking inspiration from the computer Lyons built more than half a century ago, Matt revealed his simple definition of programmatic:

“Using technology to do more faster, and to get smarter as you go.”

In that context, many will quickly realise we’re already using programmatic in our day-to-day business – think yield management, electronic point of sale and just-in-time assembly. Comparing programmatic to a cup of tea, Matt said, “It’s refreshing, it’s everyday, it’s approachable and it’s something you’re going to enjoy, rather than something that’s intimidating and scary. It’s not a dark art that you need to jump into – you’re probably already

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doing it in some way or another.”

Of course, it is true that the world is changing at a breakneck pace. In the UK, over 53% of households have cable or satellite TV, and internet penetration is about 85%. In some matches during the World Cup, up to 25% of UK viewing took place online.

The online-only TV series House of Cards provides an example of programmatic put to use in this new landscape of multiple screens and constant connectivity. The Emmy-winning show famously used a new commissioning model. “Netflix backed it using their own programmatic data about the kind of audience they have, the kind of shows they like to watch and the kind of money they’re able to make from a commission like this,” Matt said.

For another example, look no further than AdWords. “Whether you use it as a consumer or a business, Google search is programmatic,” he explained. “AdWords customers use the web to connect at scale in a programmatic way to anyone in the world who is looking for their

content.” To put it another way, search allows you to buy media according to pre-determined rules and objectives, in real time, automatically, and to learn from each impression how to improve performance in the future.

Programmatic opportunities now extend far beyond this and will be key going forward to make the most of search, display and video. Taking advantage of its opportunities will make it easier for brands to

effectively “show up, wise up and speed up” – critical steps Matt believes any company needs to take in order to succeed. “The first thing is to show up; understand what are those moments that matter to your consumers when they’re making purchase decisions,” he said. “The second point is wise up to what you’re being told by the data, use tools to understand

the information in real time and get smarter every time someone engages with you. That’s what the automation part of programmatic can do for you. Then, the other thing that’s really challenging is speeding up,” Matt said. “Because the pace of change is only going to get faster.”

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Programmatic uses data about audience signals – activated via ad technology – to buy

media programmatically across channels and devices. This makes it possible for brands to deliver the right message, at the right time, on the right device to every connected prospect and customer. In reality, though, what could programmatic look like? As a way to get beyond the hype, Andy shared scenarios putting programmatic into practice, showing how it stands to enable brands to win those moments that matter throughout the consumer’s everyday life.

“Imagine I’m looking to renew my

home insurance policy,” he said. “As I’m browsing the web looking at articles on how to save money on home insurance, I’m served an ad that tells me other customers in my postcode have managed to save a sum of money on their home insurance.” Audience signals tell the advertiser that Andy’s likely to be in-market to buy a policy, while IP data indicates his postcode.

Thanks to the competitive quote and great customer experience, he purchases the policy. A few days later while browsing via tablet, he’s served an ad from the new insurer offering a free app. He downloads it because it provides real value, allowing him

Beyond The HypeWe’ve all seen how ecommerce can transform a small company, enabling it to grow, connect with customers and build personal relationships at scale. According to Andy Mihalop, industry head for the insurance sector at Google UK, programmatic is the means through which large brands can achieve these

same transformative results.

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to keep all policy details to hand, upload photos of his possessions and register them in case of a claim.

The insurer also knows from customer data that he recently purchased a new car, so it later

serves an ad on his smartphone promoting an app that connects to the car’s Android operating system. The app offers the potential for a lower price on car insurance if he drives carefully. The insurer uses real-time driving data to assess his

risk profile, adjusts the pricing model and then activates the data to serve him an ad with a lower car insurance quote. As well as acquiring a new customer, the advertiser has moved beyond the typical annual insurance renewal

cycle, driven brand engagement and utility, created benefits for the customer and increased lifetime value. “This has been achieved,” Andy explained, “through the use of data, technology and programmatic.”

Sounds good, right? To get started, Andy advised getting to grips with the key opportunities and challenges existing in this space. The first opportunity is around the growth in personal devices. Here advertisers can use programmatic to drive engagement, brand preference and action by delivering targeted, personalised communication. Secondly, bear in mind that every

data point equals an audience signal telling you something about your consumer. Use programmatic together with these signals to drive more effective, customer-centric marketing.

In order to become data-led and customer-centric though, many organisations need to challenge their existing internal structures and break down silos, particularly between marketing and IT. Marketing is fast becoming a technology-powered discipline that goes beyond the traditional CMO remit, so ensure you have someone with responsibility for ad technology and systems integration within your organisation. And then? “I believe that when we really embrace the opportunities and tackle the challenges,” Andy said, “programmatic becomes truly transformational.”

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To discover the potential impact of programmatic on business, technology

journalist Michael Nutley put four panellists on the spot. Kristi Rogers of The Boston Consulting Group, OMD UK’s Hamid Habib, BT’s Alison Thorburn and Louisa Wong from Aegis International weighed in, discussing skills, data, planning and industry readiness along the way.

Is programmatic transformative or does it merely offer incremental change?KristiOne of the industries we always talk about in these conversations is the financial industry. Before electronic trading, you basically traded stocks based on hearsay and relationships. With electronic trading, you’re able

to judge the value of a stock in a transparent market using data in real time. With programmatic you can do the same thing, so advertisers can judge the value of a consumer using data in a transparent, real time market. That’s really powerful – that’s transformational.

HamidI’ve seen it be transformational for anyone who works in the digital

space, the direct response space. But for brands where the business isn’t performance-led, it’s incremental.

AlisonIt changes the way we engage and plan. Online, you traditionally bring consumers in, get a direct response and you’re finished. But now you’re not – you continue through and target your customer base with the relevant messages so they come back. It’s about the brand engagement rather than ‘you took that product, you’re out the door.’ It changes your approach.

LouisaRather than thinking ofprogrammatic as problematic, think about how programmatic can be part of your DNA. Programmatic media buying is machine-to-machine automated buying. You’re already doing programmatic. It should be part of everyday life, not something that sits over there with you saying, ‘We’ve got to do something with

programmatic.’ It’s clearly been transformational for the buy side and the agency side, but more important is what I see clients doing with programmatic, and that’s growth of business at scale.

How can brands meet challenges of joining up data?AlisonEveryone will have databases full of

Is Programmatic Incremental Or Transformational?

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information. But actually getting a database to interact in real time – that’s a different kind of database. That’s where investment has to go, and that’s the bigger picture for the long term.

LouisaWe talk a lot about using data for targeting; that’s a very limited approach to understanding how data can be useful in marketing. Signals mean that you can actually react in real time to customer needs. So if I were a mobile operator and my network was down in Great Portland

Street, what would I be doing at that point in time? How about communications to my customer to say, ‘It’s down, but actually you can walk to this Starbucks and get free wifi.’ I think we should think about data in a more diverse fashion and say, ‘What do we actually want to get out of it?’ Then organise it in a way where we can actually deliver useful business solutions at scale.

KristiToday programmatic is being done really opportunistically. You may have a YouTube video and a search cookie list, and you might say, ‘Let’s throw it on there and see what we can do with retargeting.’ You really miss out on those opportunities to think about it in a smart way, to think about the full funnel, not in this kind of opportunistic ad hoc manner with your data. That’s where the mind shift has to happen.

HamidFor us it’s really interesting when we start looking beyond our clients’ data and our own data, and start looking at other data. We work with a company that pulls in hundreds

of data sources. Each one in itself is not particularly meaningful or actionable, but when you put them together, what they tell you is incredibly valuable. We’ve got to get more into the mindset of thinking in those terms.

What needs to happen next for companies to really grasp this opportunity?KristiThe biggest thing holding back programmatic is fragmentation. There are a lot of things you can do, but I think a really good first step is collaboration. It’s about choosing the right tech partners and choosing the right agency to really partner with for the long term to get these bigger gains.

HamidWe need to upskill the planning fraternity. We need to take programmatic off one line at the bottom of a plan that we don’t really talk about, and actually explain the thinking that has gone into it, bring the insights that we get out of it forward and actively demonstrate the results in a much more compelling way.

LouisaPut a plan together and say, ‘Ok if I want to dabble in programmatic, what would I like to test and learn?’ Measure the outputs, then sit down with your partners and say, ‘How do we do this at scale?’

AlisonOn a day-to-day level, don’t be afraid to fail. It’s better to try it, and if it doesn’t work you know it didn’t work. And it doesn’t mean it’s not going to work again in six months’ time. Take away learnings, keep ploughing them back in and you will get results.

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00:00:00Now Is The Time

Although growing complexity in the media landscape may make reaching the right consumer at the right time with the right message seem more daunting than ever, Google’s Damian Lawlor, Managing Director for Media Buying Solutions, revealed how businesses can take advantage of the promise

of programmatic to take action now.

Today advertisers are facing a three-part “complexity conundrum.” From the launch of multi-channel TV in the Nineties to the internet surpassing TV as the most viewed media this year, audiences are increasingly fragmented. Similarly in devices, we’ve gone from the launch of the iPad in only 2010 to 50% tablet penetration expected by the end of 2014. Consider smartphones, connected TV and wearables, and it’s easy to see how fragmentation across devices will only grow.

The final piece in the complexity conundrum is the vigorous proliferation of technology solutions in the marketing space. “It’s safe

to say that two of these trends are really outside of our control,” Damian said, “audience fragmentation and multiple devices. So what trend can we actually have some impact on? The way we use technology.”

To start to engage programmatic technology to seize those moments that matter, Damian recommended focusing on three essential steps. “The first is, don’t be a waster. We’re all aware of the John Wanamaker quote, ‘Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.’ The quote is well over 100 years old. It’s time to solve this.”

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that’s driven by programmatic, look for the Burberry Kisses campaign online.

Damian’s third recommendation was to “make efficiency fun.” This means using programmatic to improve

operations and drive cost and scale. Adopt integrated platforms and change your organisation to be able to use these optimally by

breaking down silos and improving workflows and processes. According to Boston Consulting Group, a single technology stack can improve productivity 33% across campaign lifecycles. Time saved in this way can be used to unleash new insights and create better ads.

These opportunities are exciting enough, but the best is yet to come. “We’ve only started on this journey,” Damian said. “Think of simple, powerful tools that allow accurate attribution and targeting online, offline and across devices – that is what we believe is the full promise that this technology offers. And in the future, we may actually deliver on Wanamaker’s challenge!”

Damian likened badly targeted ads to his daughter’s suitors who show up at the door even when the signals she’s sending should discourage further attention. “We can laugh at the real world example, but how many of us are guilty of showing up multiple times at our

client’s online door with a message that is out of date, irrelevant or just plain intrusive? We need to collect the data, use it properly and target better.” Businesses that do this will be able to make real time decisions

about how and when to engage.

If getting targeting right is step one, what’s step two? Damian said it’s about engagement. “Make your customers love you. We talk about programmatic driving media buying processes, but don’t forget about

creative opportunities. At least 50% of the power of an ad is to do with how engaging, relevant and fantastic the creative is.” For an example of a multi-device brand experience loaded with personalised engagement

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The Network Always Wins

Today you can follow the Bible story by iPad while riding a wifi-enabled donkey in Galilee; children write letters to Santa citing Amazon URLs; Generation Y defines work as “the brief period during the day where they still have to use old technology.” According to Peter, “We’re in a situation where we forget old technology really, really quickly.”

In this rapidly evolving environment, a fundamental shift has occurred. “It’s not about the technology anymore; it’s about the network effect, the fact that we’re always connected,”

he said. “We’ve become extremely addicted to the network, and the network is taking over.”

The RAND Corporation spent 40 years trying to build stable models and predicable analytics of the world, eventually giving up and adopting a concept called VUCA instead – Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity. “They said the world is moving so fast that there will never be stable models,” Peter explained. “You can’t focus on certainties; you have to become expert in managing uncertainties.”

The future that Peter Hinssen predicted in his book The New Normal is already here. “Technology,” he says, “has become

completely normal.” His latest title, The Network Always Wins, reveals that staying agile and fast enough to succeed depends on companies redefining themselves as networks

where information is the currency.

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Businesses must redefine themselves as networks to stay fast and nimble enough to stay ahead. Take Nike – the company has announced that although FuelBands are ranked among the world’s top wearables, it will no longer produce the device. “They said, ‘We’re going to concentrate on the data. We want to become an information company.’”

For marketers, this new world puts consumers at the heart. “It’s not about averages anymore, it’s about the

individual,” Peter explained. “If you want to stay relevant, the only way to do that is to understand the power of information once it flows into the network.” His advice? “Mike Tyson nailed it when he said, ‘Everyone has a strategy till they get punched in the mouth.’ Don’t overdo strategy. Experiment, learn, do – don’t wait.”

Consequently, companies must adopt a fluid strategy. “You have to move fast. Velocity is no longer an option, it’s mandatory. And you have to become agile. That’s crucial to survive. The benchmark is no longer the other competitor. The benchmark is the speed of the network.”

Importantly, the ebb and flow of information on the network provides a sense of human behaviour. “We’re getting to get into that stage where technology is enabling us to do something relevant with that information. Information is clearly core; information is an absolute asset.”

There’s a challenge though. “The big D in ‘Big Data’ could become a big D in ‘disappointment’ if you don’t manage it well,” he said. Capacity isn’t the issue, but rather filtering data effectively in the age of networks, where information has started to flow. “This is fundamental. We used to view information as a pond. Now, it has become a river.” Here old structures no longer work, which is why many companies have disappeared while PayPal, Airbnb

and & Zillow are flourishing in their place. Technologists are no longer building technology but instead are using information to leverage customer information faster than traditional companies. “Every market that is information-rich is being attacked by people who understand how to use data.”

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Programmatic: Views from the CrowdTo bring programmatic to life, Google’s Harry Davies led the crowd in a live interactive session. Audience members used paddles – red on one side and green on the other – to respond to key questions. Technology captured these audience signals and reacted instantly, conveying the results in real time on the BAFTA’s big screen.

Source: Think Programmatic, 2014. 217 participants.

Programmatic is ...

28% Incremental 72% Transformational

Programmatic is about...

49% Insights 51% Automation

My business has...

Data in one place

Yes

Right data people Right data tools

No

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