What does “media transparency” really mean for programmatic?
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The trust crisis, outlined by Campaign in this video, is a culmination of underlying habits in media that have been snowballing for a long time.
It all climaxed with the ANA’s recent transparency report finally making official and substantiated claims that media is arbitraged, that some undisclosed companies representing advertisers buy media from partners with vested interests and that rebates are commonplace.
59 out of 117 of the report’s sources had direct experience with a variety of nontransparent business practices. While the range of under the table practices were endemic across all types of media, programmatic media trading was identified as the most prolific area.
So two questions arise from this issue when considering using programmatic media campaigns in your marketing strategy:
- How transparent is programmatic media trading?
- How do I ensure transparency if I decide to use it?
Programmatic = Transparent?
There is a direct correlation between control and transparency in programmatic media trading. We must remember that programmatic essentially means the automation of media buying by technology, and like every other activity revolutionised by technology this provides more information, not less.
Therefore, transparency is linked to how much information there is and who has it. In the case of media trading, the people with the most information are those with direct access to the technology that spits out the campaign information.
So why has programmatic been singled out as the easiest method for extracting money from the value chain?
Simply, it is where there is the most distance between the client and the campaign information.
If you, an advertiser, knew how every part of the value chain worked for a particular media investment, then you would have perfect information on the cost of that investment and no supplier in that chain could shroud their hidden costs from you.
The reality of business is that we would all love perfect information when choosing business tools and services, but 100% clarity is not realistic — we all have our own specific jobs to do rather than trying to be a jack of all trades and master of none. This is where partnering with 3rd parties, be they consultants, agencies, service providers or technology platforms, becomes important to understand and exercise control over the system.
There seems to be excessive outrage at the concept of rebates in media, where as an advertiser’s internal procurement team are often targeted against securing similar concessions from suppliers. So why is everyone up in arms when a supplier does the same thing?
At the core of the issue is understanding that a saving still belongs to the original investor. But let’s remember, the return of savings acquired by a partner that you delegated responsibility to is ultimately down to the investor to control and enforce.
In examples of nontransparent practices in programmatic media trading it meant that the advertiser did not have enough control over the process.
How do I ensure transparency?
So the answer is to increase your control over programmatic media buying. How do you do that?
The two clearest ways to increase your control as an advertiser when working either on your own or with your partners are:
- Becoming an expert on the process.
- Ensure you receive more information automatically.
Becoming an expert = educating yourself on programmatic media trading. If you invest a portion of your time into understanding how media is transacted programmatically then you will find working with partners far easier given you both know what can and can’t be done. Take it a step further and you can start considering even taking it in house.
As for information, with technology and automation perfect information is much closer than most people realise, and technology providers are keener than ever to show you how you can squeeze the most value out of their reporting functions.
The solutions are out there. The recent hype around transparency lacking in media was a merely a symptom. The cause is advertisers lacking the knowledge to overcome a noisy market and relinquishing too much control.
There are no good guys and bad guys in this market. Everyone in the ecosystem will win when there is more knowledge around how programmatic media trading works. As those who control the purse strings, advertisers should invest in their own understanding so that any communications with partners are clearer and there are no surpises in the cost of media investments.
When everyone knows where they stand on price and capability, the only remaining comparison a buyer can make is the delivered outcome. Sounds ideal.
