Curation will be the next evolution in programmatic buying
Joel Franklin, senior supply consultant at The Programmatic Advisory details the role, benefits and use-cases of the curated marketplace
Programmatic advertising is an ever-evolving industry, constantly driving efficiency forward. While evolution is often positive, it can also create complexity.
Take the programmatic supply ecosystem – with multiple routes to impressions, multiple format types, multiple KPIs each impression is trying to achieve, and a long list of technologies involved in the process – it is not surprising that marketers and media buyers have found navigating the supply path challenging.
Collectively, the programmatic industry is returning to a ‘consumer-first’ approach. That along with changes around identity and the growth of emerging formats such as CTV, are likely to further complicate matters for buyers, which is why many are looking for methods to support them in achieving their goals, to help them drive spend towards better-performing inventory.
While marketplaces are nothing new to programmatic advertising – with Open and Private Marketplaces already a tried and tested method of buying – curated marketplaces are a technologically advanced but operationally simple way in which buyers can manage these complexities and reach their goals.
Moving to three-way deals
Over the years, our industry has matured, taking a step back in efforts to simplify the complex landscape.
Supply chain transparency concerns have driven closer relationships between buyers and sellers. Marketers, now more understanding of the supply chain, have sought to regain control not just over their ad spend but the overall performance of their campaigns too.
Fast forward to the present, with changes to the identity landscape already in flight, these issues become more poignant than ever as marketers seek out new routes to achieving relevance in advertising for the consumers.
Curated marketplaces shift the two-way transaction between a buyer and seller, to a three-party transaction, where a curator sits between the demand-side platform (DSP) and the sell-side platform (SSP).
Their role is to curate custom or pre-packaged inventory deals that transact through the DSP of your choice.
This allows buyers to optimise their path to supply, based on factors most important to them, putting control back in their hands rather than being outsourced to a complicated supply chain with many intermediaries taking a cut.
With cross-industry collaboration the key to moving our industry forward, this is why we believe curation is the next evolution of programmatic buying.
Make curation work for you
Buyer use-cases for curated marketplaces fall largely into four areas, offering flexibility and choice to build a bespoke marketplace that works just for you.
These use-cases, outlined below, do not have to operate independently of one another and are often most effective when interlinked.
- Auction Packages – A collection of open marketplace inventory, specified by targeting criteria set by you or your SSPs. Driving closer collaboration between buyers and sellers, auction packages are an affordable and scalable solution for buyers looking to gain greater control over their media.
- Deal Management – Forge strategic direct partnerships with trusted publishers and create bespoke deals in the form of Private Marketplaces. Use publisher first-party data to enhance campaign performance.
- Control Over the Supply Chain – Transparent arrangements with all SSPs and publishers, increasing efficiency and effectiveness. Ensure brand safety/ suitability and maximise performance benefits and responsible media investments into trusted partners.
- Access to First Party Data – Leveraging publisher audiences through programmatic pipes in a privacy compliant way.
A chance to radically rethink supply paths
Ad tech is known for its innovation but it tends to be incremental. Curated marketplaces represent a significant leap forward in the programmatic evolution, bridging the gaps that are found in current programmatic buying methods, whilst adding significant value for buyers.
Scalability – Continuous consumption of media content across devices makes it increasingly difficult to capture the attention of consumers. Curation enables buyers to build scalable marketplaces to meet these changes.
Performance – Return on ad spend continues to be an added pressure for buyers but through curation, buyers can streamline their campaign spend to focus on supply which is performing.
Transparency – Curation brings buyers and sellers together allowing for direct relationships to be formed, creating a fully transparent buying experience.
Greater control – Building a curated marketplace enables buyers to gain control over the supply they purchase by applying targeting configurations around the elements that matter to them from within the SSP. This also enables buyers to have economic control over their supply meaning that their ad spend is rationalised, eliminating that which is non-essential or does not meet their brand suitability thresholds.
Media buyers now have the opportunity to radically rethink their supply paths and operations, ultimately defining a new value proposition for their marketers.
There is more information about curated marketplaces in a Buyer’s Guide from The Programmatic Advisory in partnership with Xandr