In a year of turbulent change, the digital advertising industry is seeking strategies that future-proof against every eventuality. For programmatic, IPONWEB believes there are a few methods to ensure success.
Speaking during a fireside chat at The Drum’s Digital Summit, IPONWEB director of business development in APAC, Niraj Nagpal uncovered key strategies that will help future-proof programmatic. To see the full session for free, sign up here.
Nagpal believes that the ubiquity of programmatic will render the term redundant soon enough, as all digital media will be somewhat programmatic in its delivery.
“It is because we’re in such a rapid change that programmatic is not a one-size-fits-all strategy. Programmatic will change and no longer be a way to buy media, it’ll just become Digital Advertising. While you have special agencies doing programmatic for you, or as a function, that’s going to go away, it’s going to be digital buying using programmatic as the backbone ” he explains.
It is because of this ubiquity that he directs the industry to a few key actions that will help them stay on top of changes: getting control of your data, looking into hybrid in-housing and leaning into change.
Getting control of your data
With regulation changing to push advertisers into working on a privacy-first basis, the time is now to assess the value of the data brands have and how it can inform digital media decisions, and partnerships.
“As a marketer, you have valuable data that will allow you to do something different than what your agencies allow you to do today. If you’re a marketer and you find that you are changing your agency every two to five years, maybe it makes sense to start thinking about a 10-year plan to have your own data in-house. This [can help] prevent you from losing your past learnings and campaign optimizations as you switch agencies. If you’re buying a significant amount of volume, do you have a direct relationship with media owners? If not, why not?,” says Nagpal.
Hybrid in-housing
For Nagpal, the argument to at least look at a hybrid in-housing model is beyond just cost-savings, which has historically been a driver for many brands attempting to do media buying themselves. He believes that for brands that want to look at more interesting outcomes from media and build beyond basic metrics, a hybrid model may be worth exploring.
“That’s not to say, to quickly go ahead and replace your agency, but at least start thinking about it in a different way. So they’re not just a vendor to you, but a partner,” he explains.
Leaning into change
As many brands will furiously agree, particularly after the events of this year, Nagpal believes that the ability to adapt quickly is key. Ultimately, if brands have more control over their data and a grasp of what’s possible alongside their agency and tech partners, they’ll have a strategy that can weather the inevitability that is ‘change’.
“We find that ultimately, the winners and losers in this space are going to be partners and agencies and brands that have a higher degree of nimbleness and adaptability. If the year 2020 has taught us anything, it is that there’s no certainty, and that the only certainty that there’s going to be is change. Brands and agencies that lean into that change are going to be the ones that are really going to prosper,” he says.
Niraj Nagpal, Director of Business Development, APAC at IPONWEB gives a practical guide to future proofing programmatic strategy and answers questions in a fireside chat with The Drum deputy head of content and publisher, APAC, Charlotte McEleny. The session went live on 12 November and can be watched as catch up here.
