Advanced Advertising - Now is Here

Advanced advertising has been described as a potential game changer in the advertising marketplace, but it is not without challenges. Last year CIMM released a whitepaper, The Roadmap for  STB Data, which concluded that advanced advertising needed to become more standardized and scalable before it’s potential could be maximized.

Ah, but what a difference a year makes. While advanced advertising is not completely national, there have been significant capability improvements that streamline ease and use for more advertisers. These advancements were highlighted in the recent B&C / MultiChannel News  event, “Advanced Advertising – Scaling to Critical Mass” which brought us up to date on the state of the art with panelists from across the advanced advertising spectrum.

According to GroupM’s Director of Emerging Communications Michael Bologna, “Addressable advertising is starting to scale and is becoming more turn-key” and offers better targeting that can lower net effective CPMs. These improvements not only pave the way for an expansion of the use of advanced advertising for more campaigns, it has the potential of turning the media measurement model on its ear.  Do we really need standard demographic breaks such as Adults 18-49? In the advanced advertising world, the answer is a resounding “No”.

The advantage of advanced advertising is its ability to hyper target consumers beyond the current currency of age and gender. One could reach critical mass easily for even the most specific consumer targets, for example, 27 year old men with a credit score of over 700. This precision targeting capability, coupled with consumer privacy safeguards, makes for a very efficient ad model. Still to be discussed however is the use of remnant inventory and the risk of missing potential new customers while focusing solely on existing hyper-targets.   

In a subject that is close to my heart, in the advanced advertising world data is primary and research is exalted. Advanced advertising universes are expanding into the tens of millions and are delivering what we now call Big Data - lots and lots of data. How can that be managed and made meaningful?  Jen Soch, SVP Activation Director for Advanced TV at SMGx expressed the need for more research involvement in the process to perfect precision targeting capabilities.

Yet, with all the optimism and advancements, this is a process that continues to be in transition. There are still many vexing issues. Full national scalability is still on the horizon. And just as we found in the CIMM Roadmap and noted by Bruce Gorelich, CRO Rentrak, there are those in the industry who seek perfect solutions while dismissing good solutions.  But the conclusion from this recent event is clear: Advanced Advertising is, for lack of a better word, advancing. Many of the challenges of last year have been met and conquered. Who knows what 2012 will bring? Maybe an upset of the old order and a ringing in of a more efficient, more targetable ad model marketplace.

Charlene Weisler of Weisler Media LLC is the author of the CIMM Roadmap for STB Data and the CIMM Lexicon of STB Data Terms and Definitions. She can be reached through her research blog www.WeislerMedia.blogspot.com or at WeislerMedia@yahoo.com.