Re-defining Digital Ad “Inventory” - Part II

Context-based planning is about more than just ads

In part I of this story (April’s 2 minute takeover), we explored how data and technology were changing the way we conduct audience-based planning in the digital channels. While I hope you’d give it a look if you haven’t already, the short version of the story is that we can now leverage a variety of technology and data solutions to more effectively target desired quantifiable and qualified audiences, regardless of context…and we are. This trend comes at the expense of budgets allocated to premium publishers and ad networks alike and enables us to tell a very compelling data story across the digital ecosystem.

The strategic opportunity to leverage the technology to control messaging (frequency capping, message sequencing, dynamic messaging, etc.) is important to capitalize on as well. Now, at the other end of the spectrum, we have an equally compelling opportunity. To set the table, here’s a reminder of how we introduced context-based planning back in April.

- Context-based planning: By virtue of the surrounding content, my brand has relevance. For example, I want my ads for Cat Litter placed on as many cat-focused sites as possible. I need not investigate the demographic makeup of the audience of such sites as I believe that, by definition, the site’s audience is my target.

The endemic opportunity for highly relevant context varies for every brand.  Sometimes we have to find strategic places to create it!

Strategic media partnerships center around assets, not just ads
As Nick Vale aptly pointed out in the March 2 minute takeover entitled ‘More Ideas, New Ideas’, “Brands’ digital homes are changing” and moving to places where consumers already are versus trying to drive everyone to a single destination. As we move away from attempting to drive large amounts of traffic to a brand’s website (which has proven rather inefficient), our efforts are centered more and more around the distribution of a brand’s content or assets to the right contextual environments.

This is not to suggest that we’ll no longer place ads in these environments but, just like with audience-based planning, we’re taking this to a new level. We should be focusing our strategic energy on working with partners on deeper relationships centered on assets and insights. The discussion around brand assets and how we develop, manage and deploy them away from our brand sites is becoming more important in our strategic view of the digital opportunity and fertile ground for great media innovation.

Bringing in a new era of partnership, creativity and innovation
More and more frequently, we are finding ourselves working with [digital] publishers to find unique ways to connect our brands with their audiences in one of three key ways: Entertainment, Information or Utility. Some brands lend themselves to any one of these things or to a combination of them. One approach to this is to find a select number of highly relevant environments in which we can embed our own brand assets.

One example of this is embedding “how-to” videos from Tresemme into their Sponsorship of Fashion Week in New York City, to create value and provide engaging content to the audience seamlessly embedded in the overall experience. The opportunity here for a deeper attitudinal impact is significant (such as driving affinity or preference for our brand and establishing it as an authority).

Stylist Tips from Tresemme are a great way to bring utility to the consumer by embedding it in places where they are looking for this kind of information, like Fashion Week or Elle.com’s Hair and Beauty section.

In some instances, there may be opportunities to work with partners to create new content that is a great and synergistic vehicle for the brand (and in some instances, like the following example, can provide entertainment, information and utility). When the Maxus North America team engaged Discovery Networks’ TLC on behalf of the brand First Response (pregnancy and fertilization tests), what resulted was the creation of a web-based series called “A Conception Story”, which followed six women in their journey to pregnancy.

Even brands that might not jump out at us as having the opportunity to engage in this way can do so with the appropriate focus and time to come up with the right combination of assets and partner. When our sister agency MEC was challenged with revitalizing Pepperidge Farms’ Goldfish brand and to deepen its connection with kids, they teamed up with Nickelodeon to create The Goldfish Zone- a fully branded virtual world on Nick.com where kids could play with well known characters and talk to one another through an approved social network dialog.

We will continue to see more and more digital marketing programs that are about a deeper distributed experience with our brands. The buying of ads, while still a part of the ecosystem to be sure, will be used for higher level message delivery and support. They are now but a component of a deeper relationship.

Once again the key to success is art + science
So with audience and context based planning both moving to the extreme, it seems we’re moving into a post-RFP driven market in the digital ad space (see shift below).   We now have the ability to define an audience and deliver ads to them with limited/no waste at one end of the spectrum, and this enables our strategists to focus more time understanding how select partners can help us engage their audiences in a deep and meaningful way.

As Joe Zawadzki (CEO of MediaMath) recently noted in an article for AdAge.com, “It’s not art or science, people or machine. It’s mad men AND math men”. We couldn’t agree more and feel that honing the math side of the equation frees us up to do the art side more strategically.

Jon.Kaiser@maxusglobal.com