Want to Solve for Brand Safety? Start by Protecting Your Budgets!

Rob Beeler amp160Adam have you seen an increase in requests from buyers to provide brand safetyAdam Moser amp160There have been a number of headlines over the course of the last 12 months about brand safety failures across the digital advertising ecosystem amp160The result is that a majority of marketers say brand safety is the most important thing to them and if it39s not the most important it39s the second most important thing amp160It39s absolutely top of mind for marketers and they have a right to be concerned amp160They have a right to ask their publishers where they39re placing their ad dollars and if their reputations and budgets are protectedBeeler amp160Is it clear what buyers mean when they ask for brand safetyMoseramp160 It39s clear that brand safety has become a popular buzzword across the industry amp160It39s also clear to our operations team that agencies and brands aren39t talking about brand safety in the same way amp160Hulu isn39t the only publisher having these conversationsamp160many other publishers are as well amp160Brand safety means many different things to different players in the ecosystem amp160With thousands of players across the digital advertising ecosystem discussing brand safety in so many different ways we need to hone in on one definition and align our expectations as an industryBeeler amp160How does this lack of clarity impact the industryMoser amp160It39s difficult for publishers to provide solutions to a problem that isn39t clearly defined amp160As the issue of brand safety escalates and its definition continues to be conflated premiums for quotbrand safequot environments could easily emerge and create new currencies amp160As an industry we can39t allow this to happen amp160Brand safety is a commodity it39s not a paid privilege amp160Brands and publishers alike must raise the bar and agree that the requirements for brand safety are tableamp160stakes that should protect marketers39 investmentsBeeler amp160What is your definition of brand safetyMoser amp160Brand safety is most commonly defined as the practice of ensuring ads are adjacent to content that does no harm to a marketer39s reputation But there are many factors at play that can be risky for a brand39s reputation amp160Ads should be viewable by a human and transparently displayed on a proper domain not one that has been spoofed by a fraudster amp160To ensure no one is grading their own homework all of this should be verified by trusted third parties amp160There is a real opportunity for the publishing community to level set what brand safety is or what it should be amp160It allows us to incorporate not just the one or two things that people most commonly think about but a multitude of issues that can impact a brand39s reputation and in essence their budgetsBeeler amp160What was it like to talk to the rest of the organization and have them understand not only the brand safety issue but then the potential solutionMoser amp160Hulu is a brandsafe environment amp160Weamp160saw this as an opportunity to educate our sales team so they could understand the many challenges and complexities surrounding brand safety amp160They39ve since transformed how they39re speaking to clients on the topic and in turnamp160changing the brand safety conversation amp160By changing the conversation we39re able to further emphasize why Hulu39s a great place for brands amp160We ensure that we protect our clients39 reputations and budgetsamp160we have premium awardwinning content we lead the industry in video viewability and we39re certified against fraud by TAG amp160Marketers can trust that their buys across Hulu are safeBeeler amp160Theamp160unified thought is this concept of budget safetyMoser amp160Yes amp160Everybody understands what budget represents amp160Everybody can understand on all sides of the ecosystem that you want to protect it Brands want to have a return on their advertising spend and if that budget is at risk you39ve wasted your dollars regardless of whether it was in a brand safe environment or notThe idea of budget safety breaks down into six categories amp160It39s premium content adjacency amp160It39s having low or no fraud amp160It39s having ads that are highly viewableamp160 It39s thirdparty verificationamp160as well as authentication from initiatives like the IAB39s TAG amp160Lastly it39s domain transparency which took an important first step this past year with the release of Adstxt giving buyers the ability to check the validity of their inventory and avoid fraudulent resellers amp160Each one of these could really be its own definition of brand safety depending on the conversation but they are all necessary components of one thing budget safetyBeeler amp160You39re talking to other publishers about adopting a similar strategyMoser amp160I think it39s impossible to expect the marketplace to change without the sellside being aligned on how we39re approaching to solve for this otherwise we39re all just going to keep picking up the phone and answering it 10 different ways amp160The call to action to the publishing community is to redefine brand safety at their sales leadership levelsamp160and ultimately recognize how critical it is to protect their advertisers39 investments amp160If advertisers are concerned about their reputation being at risk they should absolutely be concerned about their budgets tooBeeler amp160What is the potential resultMoser amp160An environment is either budget safe or it39s not no contingency plan can change that amp160Frankly if you lack the confidence that the publisher you39re investing your dollars within can ensure a budget safe environment why spend there in the first place amp160As publishers align on the notion of budget safety they can offer their clients premium environments where ads are verified to be highly viewable and free from fraud amp160These expectations should become the norm for marketers and agencies as they seek to protect their brand39s reputation as well as their budgetsClick the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Want to Solve for Brand Safety? Start by Protecting Your Budgets!

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Rob Beeler

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

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Want to Solve for Brand Safety? Start by Protecting Your Budgets!

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Rob Beeler

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

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