Every year since 2009, ad agency leaders have gathered to discuss ongoing trends and the future of the ad industry in the annual 4A’s (American Association of Advertising Agencies) Transformation Conference. And at this year’s event, the spotlight was firmly on programmatic.
Programmatic Is The Future
The event kicked off with the release of a White Paper report on the transformative potential of programmatic buying, and throughout the event, the current industry practice and positioning of programmatic ads were discussed at length, with the general consensus being that programmatic is valuable both as an audience targeting tool and as an automation process for buying ads. As the White Paper concludes:
Advertisers and their agencies must align with technology providers here, as well, to promote greater visibility into the new infrastructure being created. Accountability, trust, quality and value are four key pillars on which the foundation of a programmatic future must be laid.
TV Will Continue To Be A Powerhouse
Many attendees still trust TV based on its 60-year track record and solid research. John Montgomery, GroupM’s COO, told 4As that traditional TV business will continue to deliver audience as a “real powerhouse” that is “100% viewable”. It offers volume and scale like no other medium, said Montgomery, and “video pales in comparison”.
Cross-platform Targeting Ties Everything Together
While TV advertising drives awareness and word-of-mouth, digital screens are more personal, and content is chosen very specifically, lending to a more direct engagement with users. As advertisers continue to expand their campaigns across different screens, the full value of video advertising can be unleashed by shaping the messaging by platform.
A panel led by ESPN Research. for instance, highlighted some results from their “Valuing Video” study on the effectiveness of video ads across TV, digital, and mobile platforms. Digital video impressions combined with TV impressions drive performance—especially purchase intent, ESPN concluded.
Head image taken from www.aaaa.org
