Christopher Hansen

Articles by Christopher All articles by Christopher

• The Crippling Hidden Expenses Of Bringing Technology In-House in Digital News Daily on 08/22/2017
  

  Brands in need of ad and marketing technology have two options: implement tech and run it themselves, or go with a managed service option. The choices seem straightforward, but the comparison is anything but apples-to-apples. The truth? While direct-licensing may look less expensive on the surface, it carries hidden costs that can cripple marketers.

• A World Without Cookies: Post-Apocalypse Or Better Marketing?  in Programmatic Insider on 01/13/2015
  

  In the 1980s, the TV movie "The Day After" provided a glimpse of the world in the wake of a potential nuclear war between the Soviet Union and the U.S. The movie's view of a post-apocalyptic world scared me as a child, since at the time the potential for the scenario to occur was all too real. Lately, you can hear tinges of a similar, over-exaggerated fear coming from online marketers as they describe a future without cookies. Mobile Internet consumption and tighter regulations are making the cookie less important, but marketers shouldn't fear. The post-cookie world isn't post-apocalyptic. Instead, it's downright positive.

• Why Offline Data Is Key To Online Data Segmentation in Metrics Insider on 07/15/2014
  

  Now that advertising is driven by "big data," marketers are well aware that certain targeting segments can make a positive impact on their campaigns. In ad tech, anyone with an algorithm and a data scientist on their staff can make a few bucks by pulling together some appealing segments and selling them to marketers. However, not all data segments are created equal. If online marketers and data companies keep trying to plug in the same segments, campaign after campaign, they will see diminishing returns. Targeting the same mom or auto intender segments doesn't do much good. Marketers need some outside-the-box thinking to uncover new data segments, and the secret may lie in offline marketing tactics.

• RTB - The Missing Link in Brand Display in Real-Time Daily on 05/08/2013
  

  Media is going through remarkable transformations - it has never been more portable and flexible for consumers than now. We have the ability to stream content to multiple devices, engage with it when we want to and access it at any time. Appointment viewing and single media outlet consumption habits are a thing of the past. However, as the democratization of media gives consumers more choice and freedom, the result is more fragmentation as consumers take nearly absolute control of what, when and how they consume media. Brands must acknowledge this reality.

• Is A DMP Right For You? Don't Be Fooled in Real-Time Daily on 04/04/2013
  

  Before licensing a DMP, marketers need to ask themselves whether they will actually get value out of the technology and what actionable results they expect from the integration. The DMP pitch typically offers marketers the benefits of security, portability, aggregation and analytics. The big question is how each of these services will be utilized once the DMP is in place.

• What Happens When Browsers Dictate Privacy Conversations? in Real-Time Daily on 03/18/2013
  

  The online ad industry has made huge strides in self-regulating targeted advertising in the past few years. The AdChoices initiative has gone to great lengths to teach consumers how their data is gathered and used in online advertising, and the industry has implemented clear opt-out rules for consumers who don't want to receive targeted ads. But no plan is perfect for everyone involved, and some browsers have decided to dictate the conversation on targeting, data gathering and cookies. At the end of February, Mozilla, makers of the Firefox browser, engaged a really smart grad student from Stanford to create a patch that automatically disables third party cookies, effectively making the decision for consumers. These moves from the browser makers are becoming more common and exploitative of the fact that consumers don't fully grasp how the online economy works. If the browsers continue down this path, the online experience is going to change very dramatically in a very short period of time, resulting in greater risks to privacy than what we have right now. Consumers have come to expect free content online; that news and information is free because it is subsidized by digital advertising campaigns, specifically through ad targeting. Advertisers pay more for ads informed by consumer data because of the increased chances of reaching actual in-market customers, resulting in greater spending efficiency than spraying ads across the web and praying they are seen.

• The Future of TV Advertising Lies In RTB  in Programmatic Insider on 01/31/2013
  

  Real-time bidding has become so entrenched in online media buying that it's hard to believe this market was nonexistent two years ago. Marketers have utilized the technologies to target consumers who are most likely to convert, serving creative that drives a consumer back to a website to make a purchase. But RTB can do so much more than serve as a line item on a media plan. In a world where the biggest of traditional channels - TV - is becoming increasingly fragmented, RTB has a lot of potential.

• Viewability May Save Display From Itself in Programmatic Insider on 10/04/2012
  

  Display advertising is a mainstay for digital marketers, but the necessity of scale and the glut of available inventory have made it practically impossible for buyers to not only see where their ads run, but determine whether or not consumers saw those ads as well. While the ecosystem is aware of these flaws, it's proven truly unwilling to change its ways. It's almost in need of an intervention. Luckily, a growing focus on viewability may bring about the change this industry needs, with publishers themselves making a concerted effort to improve their ads.

• The Rise and Consolidation of Pre-Bid Data in Future of Media on 09/24/2012
  

• Balancing Dueling Goals: Quality And Scale in Online Media Daily on 07/23/2012
  

  When brands and agencies meet with media and technology companies, their biggest upfront demand is the assurance that they're getting both quality and scale for their display buys.

Comments by Christopher All comments by Christopher

• What Happens When Browsers Dictate Privacy Conversations? by Christopher Hansen (Real-Time Daily on 03/18/2013)
  

  Keith – The focus here is that consumers should be aware that the targeting of ads using third party cookies is driving the existing Internet economy – it’s what allows them to consume content online, and in many cases, for free. It should not be up to the browsers, who only represent their own interests in the online space, to dictate to the industry as a whole whether if this economy can be supported – and make decisions on behalf of consumers. We believe that the consumer choice should be respected, that their control should not be taken away at default by a browser and that consumers should be educated on the fact that the Internet structure will undergo a dramatic change if targeted ads fall by the wayside.

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