Commentary
'Programmatic' Is Problematic
- by Tyler Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_tyler, October 2, 2014
OMMA RTB at Advertising
Week in New York got off to an interesting -- and fitting, given the complexity of the topic -- start. When asked to define "programmatic," every panelist had a different answer. We even
vicariously heard from the 11-year-old son of Craig Atkinson, chief operating and digital officer of PHD.
Atkinson was speaking on the first panel of the day: “Can a robot make you cry?” He said his son recently asked: “Why are you always talking about problematic media?”
The definition of “programmatic” proved problematic, as all four panelists had different (and interesting) definitions.
Troy Lerner, founder and president of Booyah Advertising, defined “programmatic” as the baby of CRM and a media-buyer.
Jen Brady, founder and CEO of Fred & Associates, said people don’t really understand the definition of “algorithms” either, another buzzword favorite. To make things more confusing, Rachel Pasqua, head of mobility at MEC North America, defined programmatic as “algorithmic, or mathematical.” Pasqua expounded: “It’s the algorithmic application of media to get the best media for the best price, because we know those things fluctuate.”
Eric Porres, CMO of Rocket Fuel, gave a concrete description of “algorithm,” explaining it as “a set of instructions designed to achieve a specific outcome.” He likened algorithms to cooking recipes, and pointed out that recipes can be tweaked depending on who you’re cooking for -- much like algorithms can be tweaked depending on campaign goals.
Porres then likened programmatic to how IBM Watson is working with oncologists, helping them sift through mass amounts of data. He said programmatic is the “co-pilot,” and can “help advertisers make better decisions about where their media is or isn’t placed.”
Matt Rednor, chief strategy and innovation officer at MRY, summed up the panelists’ definition of programmatic in one wonky sentence: “So programmatic is about making babies, cooking and oncology.”
Glad we cleared that up.
Tyler Loechner is a MediaPost Reporter covering real-time, programmatic, RTB and more. You can reach Tyler at tyler@mediapost.com.
Programmatic buying may produce more efficient ad delivery to a target audience in an objective world, but ad recall and brand relevance are highly subjective and emotional. The pendulum will undoubtedly swing back toward creative implementation once the futility of this hair-splitting becomes obvious to those who sign the checks.