Programmatic Advertising Decrypted

–Rima Nakhala – UM MENA

Chances are you’ve heard the buzz surrounding programmatic advertising and how it is projected to rise 50 percent this year to $21 billion globally (Source: Magna Global). Its rapid rise to global prominence and in the Arab world has attracted the attention of many big players in the industry. Despite being a buzz phrase, programmatic advertising seems to be translating into a huge competitive advantage for companies. So what is programmatic – also known variously as audience-based buying, data-based buying, exchange-based buying, trading, RTB and programmatic buying – and how does it actually work? Programmatic is not a channel. It is a new, smarter and more efficient way to buy media. But it's is much more than that; it’s a method to resolve the highly fragmented industry that advertising has become, to maximise the return on investment (ROI) in ad budgets. So the question is not really should brands invest, but rather, how. As organisations move along the programmatic journey, Data and Analytics (D&A) is rising up the agenda, being a main driver in this shift in marketing. Hence the future of media planning and investment seems

In today’s digital world, consumers are engaging with brands on a daily basis through several screens that are open to an overwhelming level of inventory; thereby making it challenging for advertisers using the traditional media buying methods to be present throughout consumers’ purchaseintent moments. Programmatic advertising offers the solution to this via customised strategies tailoured to unique audience profiles and goals. In addition to sophisticated audience and cross-channel intelligence, it’s all done in real time through one consolidated dashboard, making the decision of choosing the right time and inventory more cost effective, performance driven and automated.