A global study of programmatic advertising technology reveals that more than 90 per cent of media agencies surveyed use the technology; significantly in advance of advertising agencies (67 per cent). Only a minority of brands say they use the approach, but at 47 per cent the topping point is close.
The clear implication according to the authors is that given the nature of the ecosystem most brands are far more involved in programmatic advertising already than they realise. The rise of the machines is also reflected in the relative value that market participants place on programmatic versus creativity.
Currently the two capabilities are about equally ranked in the minds of survey respondents however over the next few years programmatic is expected to grow in importance at a rate faster than creativity.
The potential sums involved are huge. Magna Global for instance estimates that the global programmatic market will increase from $US29.3 billion in 2015 to $US61.9 billion in 2018, representing a growth rate of almost 21 per cent. This current survey aggregates the views of decision makers who spend about $US100 billion worldwide annually, though how much of that is programmatically bought and sold is unclear in the study.
According to the authors: “With programmatic steadily growing in prominence, agencies can no longer afford to be unfamiliar with the technology. Nearly three quarters of the ecosystem (71 per cent) now recognises knowledge of programmatic as one of the most important capabilities that agencies will need to possess in five years’ time.
“To put that into better context, only 65 per cent of respondents believe that high levels of creativity will be important. Once something becomes more important than creativity itself, you know it’s become a pretty big deal.”
Furthermore the authors suggest that, knowledge of programmatic can no longer be placed on the back burner; rather it should be considered a core competency.
“Sixty-three per cent of survey respondents quoted strong knowledge of programmatic as being necessary for agencies to possess in 2015. The pressing need for programmatic literacy also needs to be reflected on the sell-side where certain publishers risk getting left behind. While the majority of publishers (61 per cent) do now offer programmatic inventory, that still leaves 39 per cent (more than one in three) publishers who are not yet on board.”
This article originally appeared at B&T’s sister digital business site www.which-50.com
