Brands grab control of digital data

Most of the world’s biggest brands are starting to wrest control of their digital customer insights from media agencies as fears grow that the “smoke and mirrors” which engulfs programmatic advertising is hitting their marketing spend.
The move has been revealed by the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), which has just published new guidance detailing how brands can get the most from the new programmatic landscape.
The guidance highlights key steps that brands can take to improve ROI from digital advertising via programmatic platforms. These range from basic steps such as asking the right questions through to the more complex process of negotiating individual contract terms right through the technology stack they chose to use.
The WFA argues that even small changes to an existing system can deliver significant improvements in terms of data ownership and marketing performance. One of the key recommendations is that brands gain ownership of media investment data and its by-products, such as consumer data and key insights.
The guidance has been accompanied by a survey of some of the world’s largest advertisers, highlighting the steps they have taken to maximise value from the new trading technology this year.
Based on responses from 43 of the world’s biggest spending marketers, responsible for annual spend of $35bn (£21bn), the survey found half of the respondents were unhappy with the way data is captured, stored and used.
This has led to a major increase in those grabbing ownership of data generated programmatically, up from 33% in 2013 to nearly 60% this time round.
And with 10% of total digital media investment now going through programmatic channels – 44% of that targeted at online display – and double the amount in 2013, it is easy to see why they are taking action.
WFA members also expect programmatic’s share of their digital budget to continue to grow significantly in the next 12 months with 83% expecting video to grow and 77% predicting rises in mobile activity.
However, there has also been a marked switch away from using Agency Trading Desks, down by 15% year on year, in favour of Independent Trading Desks (ITDs), up from 8% to 30%.
WFA managing director Stephan Loerke said: “Advertisers are taking concrete actions to manage the switch to programmatic and understand this new form of trading. This guidance is designed to continue that process and ensure that WFA members learn from best practice and are able to develop the transparent solutions that digital media buying requires.”

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