• by Tyler Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_tyler, August 15, 2013

Personalized ad tech provider ChoiceStream has released their August Audience Cost Calendar (which is July data), a report that looks at segments trading on real-time bidding (RTB) exchanges. The Cost Calendar breaks down the segments by cost and then gives a value (index rating) relative to all segments. So a "100" rating indicates that a particular segment is trading at the average of all segments. A "120" would indicate trading 20% above average, etc.

One of the biggest risers was Hyundai, which rose 226 spots to 56th. While not the only Automotive segment to see big gains (Buick rose 229 spots, Suzuki went up 231, and Mercury 262), it's fair to assume that Stephen Colbert's viral Draft Punk music video helped. That video, according to content marketing platform Kontera, resulted in general Hyundai content consumption rising 574%.

In general, the strong month by Automotive segments marked a nice turnaround - 14 of the 15 biggest fallers in the previous Cost Calendar were Automotive brands.

I've spoken with Bill Guild, vice president, product management and marketing at ChoiceStream, about their Cost Calendar before, and one of the things that interests him most is the range of the index. The index in the August Cost Calendar was 45 to "nearly 300," a spread of 255. This is of note because in the July and June Cost Calendars, the spread was only about 130.

In the release, Guild commented on the wide spread of the index: "That shows things are heating up in the programmatic media space and that is impacting the relative costs being paid to reach the right audience through our clients’ digital ad campaigns.”

The top segment in July was Holidays & Events: Pet Events, which Guild can't explain. "Sometimes the reasons a segment rises in average cost or ranking is beyond perplexing,” he stated. “Looking back at the month, there were no major events like the Westminster Dog Show, National Spay/Neuter Day or any major holidays like Christmas that would occasion the gifting of a pet." He called the rise from 89th to 1st (with an index rating of 300) an "anomaly."

As people get ready for a new school year, related segments continue to rise on the relative cost index. The Elementary & Middle School segment went from spot 251 all the way up to 45, while Special Education rose from 252 to 116.

ChoiceStream's infographic can be found here.