From this, dataxu was born. “I think what is interesting about our starting premise was the idea that the world of media, marketing and advertising would benefit from stronger data analytics,” explained Mike Baker, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of dataxu.
In those early days, it was difficult to get upper
management at media companies to think beyond the standard datasets because the
business model greatly relied on syndicated data research to track the business.
But today the use of data science, algorithms and multi-sourced datasets to track
the media business has become, as he noted, “orthodox wisdom.”
Dataxu focuses on the value of advanced television,
specifically connected TV, to enable advertisers to more fully and tactically
reach their audiences across all platforms. His work with agencies has not only
accelerated the formation of true cross platform buying and planning but also
helps to herald a new way of thinking among digital-only buyers – that TV still
has immense value and is vital to any media plan.
Baker shared some of his candid thoughts on the subject.
Charlene Weisler: What
type of company is leading the charge in advanced TV curiosity and adoption?
Mike Baker: The leaders in using technology are mid-market agencies, many of
whom are seizing on connected TV in particular as an opportunity to grow a TV
practice that they haven’t had previously. Notably, they are doing so through
their own self-serve tool which is a do it yourself processing interface for
data analysis. It’s powerful for a smaller agency that doesn’t have a large
traditional planning and buying department for TV. Mid-market agencies have
gotten on board early with self-serve tools that offer sophisticated data
analysis and are currently investing aggressively.
The other leading group is direct-to-consumer companies,
many of whom have maxed out on Facebook and Google Search. They are looking for
new channels and new opportunities to bring their data-driven planning and
buying to the richer palette of video and TV. What they find appealing are the
digital characteristics of connected TVs, the ability to immediately understand
who is exposed to an ad and connect that to sales and to quickly understand
Return on Ad Spend.
Weisler: What is the TV
opportunity at large and what should every agency know, whether they are just
getting started or currently immersed in Next Gen TV?
Baker: There is a very dramatic transition happening among
viewers of TV as to how they’re choosing to watch TV which is increasingly
on-demand, done typically through streaming. We talk about connected TVs which
are the large TVs typically in the living room connected to a streaming device.
So the first thing to note is that traditional linear TV audiences are declining. Which means
that simply doing what you did last year will lead to a worse result for your
client.
We now see video as the fastest growing part of the media
and digital marketplace. That growth is occurring through mobile devices for
short form video and TVs for long form, high quality content. If you are an
agency, more and more turns on your capabilities with data analytics for your
point of differentiation and your ability to win new clients and retain
valuable business. It’s a great opportunity for agencies to build a practice,
get new customers and grow their businesses in an area that is up for grabs
because data sits between connected TVs, traditional linear TV and digital
teams. I find that larger agencies are having a political stand-off between
these groups which gives the innovative agencies a leg up – the opportunity to
integrate digital and linear to create more competitive solutions to their
clients.
Weisler: For agencies
just getting started, what's essential for them to know?
Baker: Most agencies aren’t aware that you can target
specific audiences on TV. You can take cookie data or DMP data and translate
that into streaming devices to import a digital audience over into dynamic ad
insertion in long form TV content. But you need a tool to help you with
identity management that is privacy compliant. Dataxu offers one, which has
become one of the fastest growing parts of our business. It is now possible to
translate traditional digital audiences that have been curated by DMPs into the
new world of connected TV.
Agencies just getting started also need to know that there
are many premium programming brands available. The premium inventory on
connected TVs - those familiar top tier programming names like NBC,
Turner
and Fox
– is available for purchase programmatically. We at dataxu have created a
special private marketplace directly with publishers to insure that the volume
is there for advertisers who want to buy on a spot basis. This is incredibly
easy to do compared to negotiating with a national network or even local
scatter buys.
Weisler: For the most
sophisticated agencies,
what wins and challenges are they sharing?
Baker: What
sophisticated agencies are doing is tackling the next key problem as
viewership fragments between the set top box, streaming device and mobile
phone. We look across the total viewership of TV audiences and understand, with
great precision, how to maximize unduplicated reach of an ad message. TV has
traditionally been the greatest vehicle for broad reach that makes consumers
aware of new products and services. It’s still very powerful, but its power is
winnowing as fewer people
choose to watch traditional linear TV. So advanced agencies are using
analytics to understand the unduplicated reach that can be brought to an
overall TV plan by using connected TV. To do that you need to join linear and
digital viewership data - something we do through Dataxu’s One View. The
results are powerful. We are working with an agency that has a large automotive
client. They were able to predict the growth in unduplicated reach of a new
model launch ad by about +20% through a connected TV investment. That
investment was shown only to households that hadn’t viewed the ad through a
traditional TV connection.
Weisler: Do you see
key differences between agencies in TV implementation?
Baker: Definitely. Agencies that have integrated and trained
their digital and traditional TV buying teams seem to be ahead of those who are
struggling with siloed teams. In 2019 you’ll increasingly see the TV teams
re-formed to bring the digital know-how and the traditional linear expertise
together.
Weisler: There's been
A LOT of Buzz around LiveRamp's Identity Link launch. Can you explain it and how
it empowers digital and TV buyers across brands and agencies?
Baker: Identity Link enables brands and agencies to target
specific consumers in a privacy compliant manner with a high degree of
confidence. Dataxu’s partnership with LiveRamp makes us the only demand side
platform that can translate those identities and execute them in digital and TV without losing any of the
audience size. We are seeing a lot of advertiser interest, especially among
Retailers and Financial Services companies who have evolved extensive first
party databases. Oftentimes these kind of data-driven firms want to use their CRM
files to build media audiences whether that’s a one-to-one basis or as a seed
for creating lookalike audiences. For these kind of advertisers, the ability to
move from data into action with the LiveRamp/dataxu partnership is unique and
powerful. We look forward to seeing this initiative continue to scale.
This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com
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