From Programmatic to Programmable Advertising

I am an avid fan of programmatic advertising from working with the great minds at the Accuen trading desk where I was first introduced to testing and running programmatic display adverts for my clients which proved successful to seeing the category continually evolve working with a young dynamic and ever evolving Affiperf trading desk.  We have seen the explosion of all sorts of inventory being traded from social, video, private market place, premium advertising and audio advertising.

The concept of programmatic advertising is that we are buying an audience and this is a powerful one.  The definition, programmatic is an automatic way of buying and selling eyeballs. So when I came across an article on a new category on the horizon I was all the more curious.

Appnexus talk about Programmable Advertising and are pioneering its evolution.  Here is a summary of the thought leadership-

What is the Programmable Internet?  This is a vast and dynamic network of interconnected devices and cloud-based applications, each in conversation with consumers and with one another.  It's vastly more powerful than the static programmatic internet of 2006.

What is the difference between The Internet and My Internet?  The internet of 2006 was monolithic and one-dimensional with text and images on a page or in a one-way communication between two people.  Today's programmable internet is highly personalised. For example your Amazon landing page will look different to mine.  The news feed on my Twitter account is unique.  The programmable internet is distinguished by its capacity to customise user experience.

Below are examples of companies AppNexus are working with -

OneSpot- this is a content marketing platform working with Fortune 500 brands like Kraft Heinz, Delta Faucet and Whole Foods Market. They apply machine learning to content marketing, analysing vast sets of content interest data among consumers, to predict the best next piece of content in real time. So, a leading food retailer applied OneSpot's capabilities to its 7,000+ recipes, blog posts and seasonal entertaining how-tos. As a result, they drove four-times repeat engagement rate, and repeat visitors checked out an average of more than eight pieces of content over 30 days. That’s deep learning in action.

Twelvefold, with brands like Allergan, AT&T, Fiat Chrysler, H&R Block, Lincoln, Microsoft, Pfizer, Quaker and Samsung, use proprietary machine learning, Twelvefold curates articles and videos and identifies trending topics and audiences in real-time. This allows advertisers to activate against them with powerful and effective placements. They align brand messages with the most influential, authentic and relevant content online. 

Captify fuses the accuracy of search with the scale and creative impact of display, powered by an exclusive first-party data network and proprietary semantic technology. For example, a leading auto brand used Captify’s Search Intelligence to power a high impact brand skin campaign. Search Intelligence uncovered those users they knew would be most interested in the new car model and it revealed the actual attributes and features of the car that were most aligned to their lifestyle and interests, using semantic analysis. Captify then activated a high impact skin campaign with a product carousel displaying the actual features of the car most indicative of their preferences for a rich and tailored advertising experience.

So the all important question, is programmable marketing essential for all brands and agencies?  It’s the new table stakes. If your tech platform isn’t programmable, then you can’t engage audiences across today’s highly personalised and customised internet. It’s not that programmable is a nice-to-have. It’s a must have, because the very nature of the internet has changed.

And there you have it, the thought leadership.  Whilst we in the advertising industry have just about got our heads around programmatic advertising, I'm keeping my eye on programmable advertising.  To learn more AppNexus are running a programmable marketing forum on the 8th June 2016.

Sources:  

http://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/no-programmatic-no-problem-future-automated-marketing/1393474#yomgezUhmYxcSZCR.99

http://events.appnexus.com/programmable-marketing-forum-register/

The Internet of Things, Top 10 Companies Leading the Charge

The Internet of things is a subject which is talked about regularly but what does it actually mean and who are the companies leading the charge?

It simply refers to any smart devices that send information, wirelessly, back to a computer server or smartphone app. IoT helps people make better decisions and keep tabs on machines to prevent problems and better use their resources.  A personal favorite of my own is the Hive app, launched by British Gas.  It means I can control my hot water and heating settings from my mobile phone at the touch of a button saving electricity and in turn doing my part for helping the environment.  

Some other examples include when roads are most congested and public car parks are most popular, or to monitor operations on a remote oil rig in the middle of the ocean.  Children are also getting involved with the IoT, I've got my eye on a start up called SAM Labs which was founded in 2014, SAM Labs creates tools and software to help kids get involved with the Internet of Things programming projects that allow them to build smart inventions. It got its first 800 or so customers via a successful Kickstarter campaign.  It has tied up with more than 1,000 schools, which use its IoT learning kits as part of their learning or after-school programmes.

So we know start ups are launching in the field but who are the top 10 big IoT companies? I've researched a number of companies in the market and here are the top picks - 

Amazon Web Services 

The cloud is playing a big role in IoT, and the biggest cloud provider is Amazon Web Services (AWS). The cloud is a natural spot to store huge amounts of data, and Amazon is increasingly offering powerful services to gain insights on that data. In 2015 AWS launched its Internet of Things platform, which uses tools like Kinesis (a real-time streaming service), S3 (the Simple Storage Service), and DynamoDB (the massively-scalable NoSQL database).

Bosch

German conglomerate Bosch is perhaps best known for its automotive parts division, but it also makes products ranging from home appliances to enterprise software. Bosch says its range of products will be connected to the IoT to ease maintenance and monitoring of devices, making it one of the key enablers of IoT. Plus, the company has built an IoT cloud to process all that data.

Cisco

Cisco predicts that by 2020, there could be 50 million devices connected to what it calls the Internet of Everything. It’s hoping many of those devices will use the company’s networking equipment to communicate. Cisco has carved out a range of IoT services, from network connectivity (including switching, routing, wireless access and embedded network hardware), to fog computing services (which bring data collection, storage and analysis to the network edge), to data analytics, security, management and automation.

Dell

As an enterprise hardware manufacturer, Dell is preparing its infrastructure components for a world of IoT. It’s offering endpoint connectivity for devices plus back-end storage and analytics platforms to manage IoT data. In 2014 Dell opened its IoT Lab in Silicon Valley in partnership with Intel.

GE

GE is credited with coining the term the ‘Industrial Internet of Things’ to depict the idea of connecting devices used in manufacturing to the Internet. GE hopes to help facilitate that through its Asset Performance Management platform, which aims to use data and real-time analytics to prevent unplanned downtime. Predix, a cloud-based data and analytics service, is another pillar of GE’s IoT plans.

Google

Google’s IoT ambitions span consumer and enterprise-facing initiatives. Google paid $3.2 billion for smart thermostat maker Nest, which the company could expand to include a whole connected, smart-home system. On the business side, Google says its combination of fiber-optic back-end network, combined with its massive public cloud mean it is in a unique position to serve the needs of IoT.

Huawei

Chinese telecom/network vendor Huawei made a big push in the IoT market last year by releasing LiteOS, a micro operating system for IoT devices. It joined the Cloud Foundry open source community to help create an IoT application development platform, too. Huawei is taking on the IoT market in Asia and increasingly in the U.S., hoping a world of connected devices will usher in new opportunities for its core networking products.

Intel

In a world of connected devices, all those gadgets are going to need processor chips. Intel wants to be the company supplying silicon for the Internet of Everything. The company has rolled out a variety of products to serve IoT, from its Quark line that provides low-power computing for small-form factor appliances, to Atom processors that are ideal for rich graphic rendering.

Salesforce.com

While many other companies on this list are building ways for connected devices to impact industrial and commercial operations, Salesforce.com says that the IoT presents a new opportunity for marketers to gain deeper insights into their prospects and customers. Connected devices allow chief marketing officers (CMO) to learn how their products are being evaluated and used, what stage of the process the prospects are in and potentially what factors influence buying behavior. Salesforce.com has introduced its IoT Cloud, powered by its real-time processing engine named Thunder. IoT is not just about connected machines; it’s about connected products and marketing, too.

Oracle

Oracle wants its databases and applications to be the platform its customers use to manage and analyze IoT data. Oracle is building connections for its SQL, NoSQL and Hadoop databases to ingest IoT data and integrate data back into the company’s applications (Oracle Sales cloud, Service Cloud and CRM). Oracle has an IoT service and IoT cloud that prepackage these workflow services into a product.

Source Links: 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/gartnergroup/2015/02/26/corporate-leaders-arent-prepared-for-the-internet-of-things/#18cc898c6d4b

http://www.networkworld.com/article/2287045/wi-fi/wireless-153629-10-most-powerful-internet-of-things-companies.html#slide16

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/london-startup-raises-3-2m-introduce-internet-things-more-kids-1557810

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/eu-investing-120bn-create-giant-internet-things-what-about-security-risk-1556873

'More Peppa Pig' - Children's Media Consumption Habits and Attitudes

One evening my 2 year old toddler was requesting 'More Peppa Pig', I'd reluctantly allowed her a 30 minute slot to watch her favourite programme, the episode had finished and she pointed to our Samsung Smart TV repeating 'More Peppa Pig' then a little louder 'More Peppa Pig'.  She then grabbed the control and pressed the Sky remote attempting to forward the adverts to get to the next episode.

All too aware of Why to avoid TV before 2 research which suggests screen viewing has negative effects on children's language development, reading skills, short-term memory as well as sleep and attention, I wanted to understand the media consumption of other children.  There is a survey telling us that 40% of infants watch some sort of video by the age of 5 months and this rises to 90% by the age of 2.

What do other data sources say?  OFCOM conducted a study which they started in 2005 analysing Children and Parents Media Consumption and Attitudes.  Over a 10 year period we are able to understand how media consumption habits have changed.  Here are some highlights from the latest 2015 report -

The amount of time 8-11s and 12-15s spend online has more than doubled, from 4.4 hours a week in 2005 to 11.1 hours in 2015.

In 2005, 61% of 8-11s and 67% of 12-15s had access to the internet at home. In 2015 close to nine in in ten 8-11s (91%) and nearly all 12-15s (96%) have internet access at home, either through a fixed broadband connection or through using a mobile network signal.

In 2005 3% of 8-11s and 13% of 12-15s had internet access in their bedroom. In 2015 this has increased to 15% of 8-11s and 34% of 12-15s who have internet access via a desktop, laptop or netbook in their bedroom, and many also use portable devices, like tablets and mobiles, to go online. One in ten 5-15s now only go online

According to OFCOM tablets are proving popular with toddlers, over half of 3-4s and three-quarters of 12-15s use a tablet in 2015.

And since 2005 the mobile phone has overtaken the TV set as the device 12-15s would miss the most.

In 2015 traditional TV is being challenged by other types of audio-visual content. Among 12- 15s who watch both TV and YouTube content, for the first time more say they prefer to watch YouTube videos (29% vs. 25% in 2014) than TV programmes (25% vs. 30% in 2014).

Fewer 12-15s in 2015 nominate Facebook as their main social media profile while more are nominating Snapchat.

So back to the challenge of TV time, a separate article by Babycenter provides the best way to tackle TV time.  The idea is to think of it as refined sugar, the advice is to limit the time your toddler spends watching TV, make screens physically inconvenient, go with calm and quiet programs, watch programming and not television and watch with your child whenever possible.

The research is in and the statistics are eye-opening, I prefer the refined sugar approach and who knows what platforms and media my toddler will be consuming by the time she is a 12 year old, gone will be the days of Snapchat and Facebook?!?

Hooklogic - The Retail Search Exchange, New Start-Up all Retail e-Businesses should know

The word exchange is already common place in the media world. In my previous post I talked about DAX (the digital audio exchange). We have seen the emergence of yet another important exchange known as the Retail Search Exchange  launched by start up Hooklogic which two weeks ago secured further funding.  LUMA the venture capital fund explained the reasoning behind investing in HookLogic and cited the company was “leading the industry in three market trends that they are watching closely: e-commerce properties transitioning to media companies, results-driven advertising versus proxies, and mobile growth.”  LUMA continued explaining that HookLogic is “one of the few companies powering a true marketplace at scale outside the walled garden platforms of Google, Facebook and Amazon.”

This is truly a new frontier for many brands.  During 2015 Hooklogic  had a strong year in sales, in which it surpassed USD100 million and launched an aggressive international expansion where in the UK Argos is on board as partner and yielding results for advertisers. 

In the US, major retail websites like Walmart, Newegg, Target, Toys “R” Us and Sears are popular shopper destinations which were previously disregarded and unexploited by brands and OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) from a search advertising standpoint. 

Advertisers such as Intel, Hasbro, Philips, Coca Cola are starting to realize this huge opportunity and technology like HookLogic’s Retail Search Exchange allows them to bid for top search result placement across major retailers.

The company has also been recognised by Forrester as one of 20 start-ups all retail eBusiness executives should know.

I'm excited to understand their growth plans here in the UK and further opportunities they yield for my clients beyond Argos.  This is one to watch and I'll be keeping a close eye on them. 

Sources: http://www.privateequitywire.co.uk/2016/04/14/238472/luma-capital-partners-invests-hooklogic

Sources: https://hooklogic.com/about-us/blog

DAX - Digital Audio Exchange

This isn't a blog about the German Stock Exchange.  It's about an audio platform on the market known as the Digital Audio Exchange which is gaining traction with my clients.  

With digital marketing it's about continually testing, learning and optimizing.  There are always new platforms on the market and as representatives of our clients we have to make a decision on which are the best ones to choose. 

Did you know 17 million people stream audio every week, morning, noon and night? DAX is the first digital audio advertising platform that gives access to music moments that matter to consumers.  

The access to audience data is phenomenal with over 70 segments that can be bought directly or programmatically and if this doesn't suit a clients need then custom segments can be made.

The platform reaches over 140 publishers including Global's digital brands such as Capital and Radio X, plus the likes of Ministry of Sound, Absolute, Musicovery, Rdio, AudioBoom and Bauer's Absolute Radio Network.

The first tests are underway I look forward to the verdict on this platform soon. 

Sources:  thisisdax.com, thedrum.com

 

Retail Marketing and Amazon Market Services

A mentor recently re-inspired me to blog.  I've always enjoyed sharing the knowledge I have gained from the Advertising Industry and I've been fortunate to be surrounded by talented colleagues along the journey who have shared their own knowledge.

The topic I'm going to talk about today will cover Retail Marketing and some of the challenges being faced.  Particularly with the attribution of sales to digital media channels.  A client can implement tracking up to the point a consumer is on their owned website, however as soon as a consumer clicks off to a retailer owned site the data is lost and we no longer can understand which particular media or combination of media influenced the final sale.  The retail giants such as Amazon, John Lewis and Currys are reluctant to include tracking and why should they. They are the sales powerhouses, they own the data and they control the market.   

Often expensive econometric modelling isn't an option for clients or we simply don't have all the data to make it realistically work, so what can we do?   We can look to maximise the platforms we have true visibility on and what we know delivers performance that now go beyond Search, Affiliate and Programmatic Advertising.

There are some key platforms which are exciting and in the market. Firstly, Hooklogic usually managed by a knowledgeable search expert integrates deeply with retailer partners such as Argos, learning shopper behaviours so you can show your products to the right shopper at the right time. They use a unique combination of real-time consumer intent and past shopper actions to ensure the product that is most likely to result in a sale is the one that’s shown. It’s data science at its finest.

Secondly we are seeing the emergence of Amazon Market Services (AMS), where you can reach engaged Amazon shoppers, pay only when shoppers click, optimise performance with detailed sales reports and reach the right customer.  

These platforms are helping to solve real business challenges in the retail world and closing the data gap which means media agencies can start to effectively optimise budgets and focus on delivering ROI for clients through real time data analysis.

It would be great to hear your thoughts so feel free to comment!

Sources:  ams.amazon.co.uk, hooklogic.com 

Facebook launches real-time bidding for online ads | IAB UK

Facebook launches real-time bidding for online ads | IAB UK

Facebook is launching an Exchange service, which will enable marketers to bid for online advertising in real-time across the web.

The service will also allow marketers to reach specific types of people based on their browsing history, including what they look at on third-party websites, on the social network itself.

Cookies will be employed in creating 'retargeted' online ads on Facebook, which internet users now have the option of opting out of.

Company spokeswoman Annie Ta told Bloomberg: "Prices will be based on the cost per thousand viewers and spots will be sold via third-party technology partners."

Facebook Exchange is expected to be rolled out within weeks, she added.

This is just one of the ways in which the social media site has tried to expand its presence in the online advertising sector in recent weeks.

On May 29th, Facebook launched a scheme offering up to £60 worth of free ad credits to around 500,000 small companies in the UK.