2. 2 3
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
3. 4 5
P
rogrammatic 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
4. 6 7
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.”
L
yons opened its first teashop
in London’s Piccadilly in 1894,
went on to build a retail and
hospitality empire, and by 1951 had
launchedtheworld’sfirstcommercial
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
tojumpinto–you’reprobablyalready
5. 8 9
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.”Toputitanotherway,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.”
6. 10 11
P
rogrammatic 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 Hype
We’veallseenhowecommercecantransformasmallcompany,
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.
7. 12 13
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.”
8. 14 15
T
o 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?
Kristi
One 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.
Hamid
I’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.
Alison
It 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–youcontinuethroughandtarget
your customer base with the relevant
messages so they come back. It’s
about the brand engagement rather
than‘youtookthatproduct,you’reout
the door.’ It changes your approach.
Louisa
Rather than thinking of
programmatic 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?
Alison
Everyone will have databases full of
Is Programmatic Incremental
Or Transformational?
9. 16 17
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.
Louisa
We 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.
Kristi
Today 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.
Hamid
For 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?
Kristi
The 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.
Hamid
We 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
thinkingthathasgoneintoit,bringthe
insights that we get out of it forward
and actively demonstrate the results
in a much more compelling way.
Louisa
Put 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?’
Alison
On 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.
10. 18 19
00:00:00
Now 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.”
11. 20 21
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%
ofthepowerofanadistodowithhow
engaging, relevant and fantastic the
creative is.” For an example of a multi-
device brand experience loaded with
personalised engagement
12. 22 23
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.”
Inthisrapidlyevolvingenvironment,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.
13. 24 25
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
consumersattheheart.“It’snotabout
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’ttheissue,butratherfilteringdata
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.”
14. 26 27
Programmatic: Views from the Crowd
To 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
