When has a technology fully reached the market? When everyone is using it? If the first hype is over? Programmatic Advertising is now an integral part of the digital media business. Are we therefore at the destination? Certainly not, because as quickly as the market and its participants change, the challenges that we as market participants are faced with again and again change too.

In my view, it is the following “Big 3” in Programmatic Business that concern us and for which we must find solutions and approaches in the coming months:

1. Transparency affects all

What was and is bashed up on media agencies – the reaction is easy and will therefore be willingly striven for: “We do not know exactly what is going on – and the agencies are to blame. They enrich themselves and are the bad guys in the game”, that’s the often-heard implication in published opinion. This is asked ineffectively without a microphone and without an official position considered to represent it, and the answer is usually different and always turns out considerably differentiated. Unfortunately there is rarely a journalist around.

All the better then the presence of two advertisers at this year’s d3con in Hamburg, who tell of their collaboration with a media agency in the programmatic era and their conclusion seems to be different:”The collaboration between client and agency works like in a good marriage: You have to constantly work at it and mutual trust is imperative for both sides to get a good relationship.”

Hence my appeal: Dear advertisers, dear agencies, programmatic advertising allows transparency – use it! No agency will oppose it!

2. Fragmentation and orchestration

The programmatic world is growing exponentially: By programmatic advertising we are not only talking about on-line or mobile advertising. Digital-out-of-home, programmatic radio, addressable TV and other disciplines are part of this or these are already part of an overall programmatic campaign. This fragmentation poses a major challenge, in which technology can help us and offer new possibilities. But to the great majority who are serious about programmatic advertising it will be or is already clear that no technology in the world removes the central task from them: the correct orchestration of marketing measures – based on more and more devices and more data.

But is this new? Certainly not, this has always been the job of a media manager and his agency. Only, I think it is becoming increasingly clear where the journey for the agencies is heading: If we are not able to be a real consultant for customers in this fragmented world, we will soon have to consider what our job is. Because to retreat to purchasing or the sheer volume of purchasing is no longer sufficient to meet all the requirements of an efficient campaign. The integration of creation in programmatic campaigns has not even been mentioned, although this will certainly be the deciding factor!

3. Quality

When talking about data-based communication, the issue of quality is ever-present. But what do participants understand by quality? When asked for a definition, it is complicated and the answers are very different: Since quality is described, for example, as “maximum effect”, or even as “an advert seen by a person,” up to “quality includes the relevant message.”

None of this is wrong, but neither of these statements is truly comprehensive. And maybe that’s the conclusion: There is no uniform concept of quality! What quality is, is defined by each viewer from their own perspective. This presents us with the central challenge, to ask each other in advance of any communicative action what kind of quality is to be achieved in the end.

Or rather on what basis we should optimise a campaign. And here is the crux, because there are in fact very different fields that need to be integrated. Whether we are talking about the quality of coverage, quality of content or data quality – it will not be easy to build a common understanding of quality here.

Conclusion

Programmatic Advertising has fully arrived in the market and has been able to prove its benefits relatively quickly. But as with any stage of technological development we have to do some homework. The basis, like customers and agencies working together in the future, is just as important as a common understanding of key issues such as transparency and quality. Therefore let’s talk about them.

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