Chris McCann, president, 1-800-Flowers.com, called data the world's next natural resource during his keynote presentation at OMMA DDM this morning. "If you look at it, you can say that data is the world's next natural resource. Some people...will have more than others, some places or business are better at mining that resource, and the winners will be those who utilize this resource to create competitive advantage. Simple as that," he told the audience. ...Read the whole story
Exchange-based programmatic media-buying continued to outpace the overall growth in advertising spending during April, expanding 35% over the same month last year. During the same period, total ad spending expanded only 14%, according to data compiled from the actual media buys processed by a majority of Madison Avenue's major agency holding companies by Standard Media Index. ...Read the whole story
Publicis' VivaKi unit has named Anke Kuik director of audience activation for its Audience on Demand platform, a new position at the agency's trading desk. Based in Amsterdam, Kuik will head up operations for the unit's recently launched European Activation Center there. ...Read the whole story
Ad tech provider Integrate gave RTM Daily the inside scoop on the release of their new self-serve demand-side platform (DSP), which they announced today. The DSP will be added to Integrate's existing AdHQ platform. Bodhi Short, SVP operations & product development, Integrate, said that the new DSP is designed to be used by newcomers and seasoned vets alike. Short said that the DSP is Integrate's first digital product. The addition of a self-serve DSP to the AdHQ platform has always been part of the plan, according to Short. He simply called it "the next step in terms of growth for ...Read the whole story
Huddled Masses, a "boutique" real-time trading desk, will today announce a partnership with Sony Music. Charles Cantu, CEO of Huddled Masses, spoke with RTM Daily about the deal, why record label companies are drawn to RTB in the first place, and why a smaller trading desk sometimes makes sense, even for big brands. Cantu described a "boutique" trading desk by first commenting on what they are not. "We're not part of one of the big conglomerates," he said. With such a small number of employees, 5-10, according to Cantu, he believes the company is able to take on the kinds ...Read the whole story
Demand for network TV advertising, which had been lagging so far this year, surged in April thanks largely to March Madness. While much of the coveted NCAA basketball tournament coverage occurred in March, the big money and high rates of the Final Four and championship games occurred in April and were enough to boost ad spending dramatically for the broadcast and cable TV networks that covered it. ...Read the whole story
RTB has one thing to thank for its explosive growth: site retargeting. Exchanges have allowed site retargeting access to a large percentage of the Internet, meaning that if someone visits your site you can target them again, because you will see them again on an exchange due to the massive amount of liquidity. Although site retargeting will continue to grow, will RTB continue to grow? And how will advertisers and publishers be affected? ...More
All of us in the programmatic market have seen unbelievable growth over the past couple of years. That said, as this market begins to mature, savvy buyers are asking for more than DSP 1.0 (e.g. cheap media and cookie targeting). The good news is that DSP 1.0 has scaled and supply-side platforms (SSPs) and exchanges alike have had remarkable growth. The bad news is that the supply-side has become complacent, and the same formula that drove that growth over the past few years will not drive growth in the future. ...More