Erica Schmidt of IPG’s Cadreon on Advertising Automation and Programmatic

Editor39s Note For more about advertising automation and programmatic read Jay39s interviews with Marco Bertozzi of Publicis39 Performics Paul Dalton of DigitasLBi Mac Delaney of Merkle and Art Muldoon of Accordant MediaJAY SEARS What do you read to keep up with politics art and culture ERICA SCHMIDT I voraciously read The New York Times The Wall Street Journal Recode and for fun I still love the Daily Mail Showbiz section for brain candy a vestige from my days of living in the UKSEARS What do you read to keep up with friendsSCHMIDT Social media platforms Snapchat Facebook and InstagramSEARS What do you read to keep up with the advertising technology industrySCHMIDT AdExchanger Digiday MediaPost AdAge and RecodeSEARS Whatamp8217s your favorite commercial of all timeSCHMIDT The CocaCola hilltop ad I still hum it and love how it was profiled in the final episode of Mad Men It was a kismet moment for me as the final episode aired just as we were pitching Coke in partnership with our sister agency Universal McCannSEARS With regards to advertising automation what are the three biggest trends you expect to impact companies in 2016 and 2017 SCHMIDTFurther disruption of commercial models When amp8220RTBamp8221 as it used to be called and trading desks were first emerging we anticipated a rapid and dramatic change in media agency staffing and models It didnamp8217t come as quickly as hoped for but now that programmatic is mainstream clients are now asking about their wider commercial agreements and the impact of programmatic staffing on traditional media agency FTEsAdvanced or Programmatic TVamp160 Having just come through the NewFronts and Upfronts the biggest trend was around audiences and data My favorite moment was in the NBCUniversal Upfront when Liz Hurley made programmatic analogous to fly fishingCross Screen not to be confused as oft is the case with cross device In a world where audiences are ahead of the advertising expenditure in terms of time spent and dynamism an evolution of planning and buying media is already gaining momentum and will continue to do soSEARS With regards to advertising automation what is the most overblown topic that you wish would just go awaySCHMIDTamp160Header Bidding Our industry is overly focused on talking to itself and unnecessarily complicating the dialogue for everyone involvedSEARS Describe your company or division and then tell us the three most common issues with which you help clients with respect to advertising automation and programmatic tradingSCHMIDT Cadreon is IPG Mediabrandsamp8217 ad tech unit responsible for developing bestinclass programmatic technology solutions In a widely disparate technology landscape we leverage bestinclass technology to deliver the most comprehensive highestperforming programmatic solutions on the market We provide extensive expertise for some of the best and brightest brands across our IPG Mediabrands agency partner landscape Headquartered in San Francisco Cadreon operates in 68 markets worldwideOur three most common issues which we solve on behalf of our clients areSuperior delivery of programmatic strategy campaign management and audience insightsDMP consultancyMedia and data partnershipsSEARS Tell us about your company or divisionSCHMIDTSEARS The majority of ad technology companies have struggled relatively small unprofitable or both Of the poor performers what are the commonalities between them that have contributed to this weakness SCHMIDT Letamp8217s face it we work in a disruptive industry The pace of change is rapid agility nimbleness and innovation are necessary for all of us to survive and thrive The poor performers quite frankly have some commonalities that many struggling businesses often doHubris What often amazes me is that many of the platforms that were the dominant players in the ecosystem are not even on the radar today and itamp8217s not because they were acquired or merged They were massively successful enjoyed the good ride and thought the wave would continueLack of customer centricity amp160Many of these platforms prevaricate when dealing with clients and audiences It started with the amp8220trading desksamp8221 then the agencies and ultimately client direct creating noise and confusion and not making any friends along the wayIdentity crises This is tied to the previous two bullet points but the strugglers couldnamp8217t decide who they wanted to be amp8230 and just tried to play in all aspects of the three letter acronym ecosystem instead of winning in oneSEARS A smaller handful of ad technology companies has achieved scale and performed better than the rest What are the commonalities between them that have contributed to this relative strengthSCHMIDT It would be easiest if I said it was the opposite of the strugglers But hereamp8217s what I truly thinkInnovation Companies with innovation at the core and the ability to roll out to customers have won in this spaceHumility The strong performers have left their egos at the door They treat everyone as a partner and are willing to come to the table and focus on being better togetherCustomer at the core Embracing feedback delivering a superior or at least competitive product and generating resultsSEARS Do we live in a amp8220tale of two citiesamp8221 where Google and Facebook win almost everything advertisers are dictated to and other media companies fight for the scrapsSCHMIDT Absolutely not but those of us on this panel hold the keys to ensuring there is a marketplace that has diversity and balance and is representative of where audiences are consuming content Does that include Google and Facebook Absolutely but they arenamp8217t the only playersSEARS How can advertising automation help the strategy and planning functions directly or indirectly at an advertising agencySCHMIDT Advertising automation in our IPG MediabrandsIPG ecosystem is already helping the strategy and planning functions at the agencies The core aspect of that benefit comes from data and insights Data reporting audience insights and analysis are important components of our programmatic offering as they provide valuable information about target audiences and are powerful enough to impact planning strategy and overall business decisionsSEARS Transparency on media costs on data on inventory continues to be a lightning rod issue Should transparency be a negotiated benefit for the advertiser client yes or noSCHMIDT Yes Transparency is now a hygiene factor But the subject is not overamp160 Commercial models and what the clients are really seeking continues to evolveSEARS Please answer the following statements yes or noSCHMIDTSEARS If you owned a yacht what would you name it SCHMIDT ElectraSEARS A young family member has come to you seeking career advice They must choose one of the following careers ad agency executive ad tech executive company marketing executive or ice cream shop owner on the French Riviera Which career path do you recommend and why SCHMIDT Iamp8217m lucky as I have many young nieces and nephews and I will tell you what I tell themamp160 Go where you are passionate and do what reflects your strengths and will make you happy The success will follow I majored in classical archaeology and ancient history and fully expected to be leading archeological digs in Greece and here I am an ad tech executive and I love itSEARS What is your favorite restaurant in the world SCHMIDT River Cafamp233 London Why Italian food and a restaurant founded by two female chefs who have trained some of the top chefs in the UK including Jamie Oliver and Theo Randall I have some of my most cherished memories from time thereSEARSamp160 Thanks EricaThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet management or associated bloggers

SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE MEDIAVILLAGE CONTENT | BECOME A THOUGHT LEADERSHIP CONTRIBUTOR

Erica Schmidt of IPG’s Cadreon on Advertising Automation and Programmatic

Author

Publish date

Channel

Jay Sears

FEMA and the Ad Council Encourage AANHPI Communities to Enhance Disaster Preparedness in New PSAs - Ad Council InSites

More Videos:

SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE MEDIAVILLAGE CONTENT | BECOME A THOUGHT LEADERSHIP CONTRIBUTOR

Erica Schmidt of IPG’s Cadreon on Advertising Automation and Programmatic

Enjoying This Commentary? There's More to Love

Jay Sears

FEMA and the Ad Council Encourage AANHPI Communities to Enhance Disaster Preparedness in New PSAs - Ad Council InSites

Cookies