• by Paul Hugens , June 21, 2002

Forget phones and faxes. XML puts insertion orders online. O.K. so you’re not technical, but just once you’d like to be seen as clued in about the technology of media. Try the following:

Mention how glad you are that there is an open XML standard for insertion orders, so that soon you and your staff won’t need to manually reenter information into your agency’s systems.

Continue on about how adXML.org has introduced a “Document Type Definition” (DTD) to juggle inventory, contracts, acknowlegements and creative content, without ever using a fax, phone or FedEx.

Say, “I’ve even heard that it is possible to manage accounts from a variety of computer platforms, even a Palm Pilot.”

Then sit back and watch your techie friends frantically surf their browsers to http://www.adXML.org and order XML programming guides.

Meanwhile, get comfortable with this:

XML (eXtensable Markup Language) is a programming language related to HTML (the language your average web page is written in). However, XML will let you “tag” the data on the page. Every time you mention your client’s name in a document, a computer will be able to recognize and process that data.

This is especially valuable for transferring data from one computer system to another. Here is a possible scenario: • Your client requests an insertion order through your website • You email this insertion order to your vendor • The vendor’s inventory system reads the order and generates an acknowledgement and a contract • Your accounting system tracks and processes the billing. And no one will ever need to reenter the data again.

I admit this is an idealistic view of technology growth. We all know that media agencies are slow to adopt new practices. (I only had you say this was “possible,” remember?) There will be many system problems and misfires on the way to the picture I drew above. But, eventually, it will happen. Here’s why.

It is conservatively estimated that media planners and buyers send upwards of 20% of their time simply chasing paper in one form or another. Vendors and clients stand to save buckets of money by streamlining the process. Margins on advertising sales are going to become increasingly slim as the digital age unfolds. The only way for an agency to survive is to increase the quantity of orders processed, and make ordering dead simple for both the client and the vendor.

The key to success for open XML adoption will be usage. It’s like a videophone—only valuable if all your friends have one too. If agencies, clients and vendors divide into separate camps each claiming their DTD is better, then there is little point to using a universal standard.

But when you consider that adXML membership already includes Flycast, DoubleClick, Solbright, Mediaplex and many others, it’s almost clear that the adXML DTD is well on it’s way to being accepted as a standard. All of these organizations realize there is a lot more to be gained by agreeing with each other than by fighting a petty turf war.

So now you know. Admittedly, none of this will make up for the last time you down loaded an email virus to your entire network, but at least you know which way the wind is blowing in order processing...maybe.