The only advertiser to publicly demonstrate how the in-house model can work is MoneySuperMarket, and one of its architects, Sammy Austin, has commented on what this model entails.
“The MoneySuperMarket in-house model was not a ‘one size fits all’ approach. I think that there are elements of your technology stack and relationships that should always remain in-house and that advertisers should own, data management platforms and attribution management platforms. An advertiser needs to maintain control over their own data and work with partners that are agnostic, partners that will plug into whatever platform they are using to buy media, whether this is programmatic, PPC or another marketing channel. These partners also need to be independent, you need to future proof your strategy and be able to decouple measurement and data from media buying. The MoneySuperMarket model worked because the paid search team became specialists in PPC, programmatic and social. MoneySuperMarket was also a purely online business, it had someone internally whose focus was purely on its programmatic strategy. I think education has played a role in other advertisers not following the same approach. A lot of advertisers don’t know where to start, what technology partners they should use, what the different components of their programmatic strategy should be and how they should fit together.”
Download the ISBA & Infectious Media Guide to Programmatic.
How To Take Action
Advertisers inspired by programmatic advertising may want to run complex campaigns as soon as possible. They may even try to pull together solutions for an all encompassing programmatic strategy across their entire business. However, attempting to do this inevitably leads to delays with too many decisions based on too little information.
Advertisers might find it helpful to put in place a test-and-learn programme to provide structure in what can be an overwhelming situation. Rather than jumping in and trying to do everything at once, begin by testing a small number of approaches in a controlled environment and continue gradually building the overall strategy. This will help to understand what is working and what is not, providing the blueprint for long term programmatic success.
Download the ISBA & Infectious Media Guide to Programmatic.