Private Marketplaces Get the Attention They Deserve
In Canada, we’re still in the early days of programmatic. We are living in a time where programmatic is largely equated with ‘cheap inventory’, but the tides are turning. The problem with cheap is it’s often accompanied by lack of transparency which means a marketer’s valuable brand may end up on a shady site or not seen at all. Yes, the sophistication of the fraudsters is unbelievable and when we close one door, they will find another, so much so that I’m convinced that machine auditing alone is not enough to ensure that the marketer’s brand is safe! The demand for increased transparency means the rise of private marketplaces, and premium publishers offer advertisers curated, safe environments that provide it. You will see increased direct access to premium content providers for approved and vetted buyers, but there will be a price tag attached. So whether you are looking to increase conversions or increase the impact of your advertising, don’t prioritize price over value as the most expensive buys can also be the ones that are most effective.
Native-Buzz Continues
If you think that native seems like it’s been around forever, you’re not wrong. Marketers have been buying sponsored embedded content for years — everything from advertorials to branded entertainment to content marketing. What’s old is new again and I believe native will continue to make its mark in 2015! With native advertising, publishers’ and marketers’ objectives are aligned – they both want to produce great content that readers find valuable. Native advertising will continue to blossom as marketers turn to premium publishers for their high-quality content to enhance the audience experience and increase engagement levels. Continued success will be contingent on native solutions offering value without distracting from the user experience. Marketers will become more sophisticated and will continue to invest in content that speaks to their audience, enabling them to build trust and engagement and ultimately greater brand affinity.
2015 Is Not the “Year of Mobile”
While we are all waiting for the “Year of Mobile”, I’m suggesting that it might never happen. That doesn’t mean that mobile isn’t growing – we continue to see healthy growth rates particularly on the backs of the big players. What we are seeing is that reaching the right audience is more important than device. There has been a scaling of cross-device solutions and I expect this to continue. We all know that each device has its purpose and primary uses – whether work vs. play or snippets vs. long form content. You can effectively increase your frequency to build brand affinity and awareness, if you reach the same individual across multiple devices. Not to mention, numerous studies have shown that when you add mobile to your campaign, you get brand lift. For these reasons, marketers will increasingly buy cross-device to ensure that they do not miss out on reaching their entire audience as they move from one device to the next.
Online Video Ad Spending Will Grow
According to the 2014 Canadian Media Usage Study (CMUST), online video viewing represents 16% of the total video time spent, but only 1% of the total advertising expenditures. Marketers will continue to explore new ways of reaching this audience. Most of the growth is likely to come from the players with scale, leaving the rest of the marketplace to strategically and creatively look for ways to align audiences. Shannan LaMorre is VP of Olive Elite+ at Olive Media
