Adobe is doubling down on its commitment to bring more creativity into programmatic with the acquisition of a dynamic creative optimization (DCO) engine from digital ad network Collective.
DCO technology, which combines data and creativity in a very literal way, is at the core of the coming creative revolution in programmatic. Major advertisers like Kraft and Kellogg’s are in the test-and-learn phase with various DCO providers to see how it can boost both their brand and performance marketing.
DCO is essentially a large-scale A/B testing engine. It allows advertisers to test unlimited versions of campaign creative and eke out the optimal version for each target audience.
Not sure whether to use a male or female model in your banners? Think a product-focused message might work better for loyal customers, but want a brand ad for new prospects? Try all of them, and see how each audience responds. That’s more or less the idea behind DCO.
Adobe announced the deal with Collective at its European summit last week. The new DCO engine, which Collective refers to as Ensemble, will be available as a standalone product and as an extension to Adobe’s programmatic demand-side platform, Media Optimizer, within Marketing Cloud.
Its optimization capabilities will be tied into Adobe’s Core Services layer, where it stores data on audiences for targeting and personalization tools, so that campaign planners can optimize creative independently for different audiences that have been identified with the advertiser’s first- and third-party data.
According to the enterprise software company, Ensemble comes with flexible templates for creating dynamic display ads on both desktop and mobile using HTML5. Also announced at the summit is an upgrade to the enterprise edition of Creative Cloud, which will include a shared service layer for creative assets, designed to make it easier to pass them back and forth between Creative Cloud and Marketing Cloud. Among other things, that will streamline the process for using assets designed in Photoshop or Illustrator to create ad versions that can be run through DCO.
In a statement, Adobe senior director of ad solutions Justin Merickel said Ensemble’s solution has been tested and proven by the market, and will be a strong complement to Media Optimizer’s existing programmatic features. “Creative optimization takes place at the last millisecond of marketing and can make or break consumer engagement and conversions,” he said.
Collective’s clients will still have access to Ensemble through a reseller agreement signed with Adobe. The New York ad network and technology company built Ensemble out of a product called Tumri, which it acquired in 2011.
Collective CEO Joe Apprendi said the company plans to bundle the product into its own programmatic DSP, due out later this year.
“With Adobe’s planned investment in the DCO technology, it will spawn improved and expanded functions for Collective’s clients — while allowing Collective to continue its own investment in best-in-class programmatic multi-screen technology,” Apprendi said in a release.
