Unlike other large brands that
have taken programmatic ad technologies in-house in a bid to have more control over their automated campaigns, Lenovo is asserting its authority in its own way.
The personal computer company
on Tuesday announced it has partnered with Integral Ad Science, an ad quality and media measurement firm. Lenovo will require each media agency it works with to use Integral’s tech.
Lenovo is no stranger to giving its media agency partners ultimatums when it comes to using third-party platforms and measurement providers. For example, two years ago Lenovo partnered with programmatic video ad tech firm TubeMogul and told its media
agencies to only use TubeMogul’s software when buying video ads on Lenovo’s behalf.
These types of “exclusive” deals are not groundbreaking, but it’s telling that
two of Lenovo’s recent ad tech partnerships came with a requirement clause for its agency partners. It’s not taking programmatic technologies in-house, but it’s the next best
thing.
It’s also not all that surprising to see Lenovo stand on a mountain and sing about its partnership with Integral -- a firm that’s all about ad quality and brand safety --
considering Lenovo is just months removed from shipping notebooks with
“horrifically dangerous” adware pre-installed.
Lenovo claims that during tests with Integral, it saw viewability rates on its ads rise threefold, and Gary Milner, director of
global digital marketing at Lenovo, stated that they are “already [seeing] an increased return on investment” as a result of the partnership.
And -- to be clear, this is conjecture
-- it’s possible we’ll see more brands do what Lenovo has done: Choose ad tech partners and tell their agencies to use them.
All of the ingredients required for this to happen are
there. Trust between brands and agencies remains withered, but despite this, programmatic ad spend is expected to continue to rapidly rise; the agency rebate debate is forging ahead, with an ANA-led
study into the practices of media-buying on the horizon; and taking ad tech in-house has proven easier said than done.