The Secret to Increasing Unduplicated Reach. Interview with Dataxu’s Mike Baker

Nine years ago, a group of data scientists from MIT Labs formed a partnership to more fully explore the use of data science in advertising and marketing. 

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