GroupM Canada CCO Stuart Garvie
Microsoft has introduced its cross-platform ad targeting solution to the Canadian market, and granted exclusive early access to GroupM buyers.
The deal is part of a major financial commitment GroupM has made to buy media from Microsoft.
Microsoft’s cross-platform targeting is built on its unique user ID, which connects a user’s identity across all of Microsoft’s properties, including Xbox, Skype, MSN and Outlook. It was rolled out in the U.S. last year, and enables advertisers to get a consolidated view of a user’s behaviour across device, as well as put a cross-device frequency cap in place. Although it’s currently only available for targeting across Microsoft’s properties, the ID is one of a handful of solutions competing to be the successor to the web cookie as the dominant form of ad tracking.
According to Stuart Garvie, chief commercial officer of GroupM Canada, one of the tactics GroupM is interested in using with Microsoft is sequential messaging (the ability to target a series of ads at an individual consumer, each one corresponding to a different stage of the customer journey). Sequential messaging enables brands to build a larger campaign narrative, rather than being forced to get their message across in a tiny mobile banner or a 15-second pre-roll video.
“It gives us a chance to target people across devices,” said Garvie. “I think everyone is trying to find ways of following people across devices, and this product hopefully helps.”
The early bird technology deal, one of the first signed in Canada, gives GroupM three months’ exclusive access to Microsoft’s new targeting tool before it is rolled it out to other agency partners. Microsoft’s Canadian vice-president of advertising, Brandon Grosvenor, said that the deal is part of a long-term agreement between GroupM and Microsoft with a significant dollar figure attached, though he could not disclose the duration or value of the deal.
“GroupM is our largest trading partner [in Canada] when you add up all the business that we do with their group of agencies. They were looking to step up their commitment with us this year,” Grosvenor said. “One of the things that they wanted to ensure, based on them signing such a lucrative agreement with Microsoft, is that they get first look at some of our new innovations.
“This is the biggest thing that we will be launching this year.”
Microsoft and GroupM plan to announce the brands that will be first to use the platform later in February.
As the world’s largest media buying holdco, GroupM has significant clout with publishers and tech companies. It has been particularly aggressive in securing exclusive access to new media products as they’re rolled out in smaller non-U.S. markets. In Australia, GroupM recently made a major deal with Google to become the sole buying partner for the regional launch of the Google Preferred platform, making it the only buyer in the country with first-look access to the top 5% of YouTube inventory for all of 2015. Here at home, GroupM made a similar move to buy AOL’s entire 2014 slate of original video content, when it was announced it would would be coming to Canada last spring.
Last year, global GroupM chief digital investment officer Ari Bluman announced that the holdco would be moving away from buying on open exchanges, and focus instead on private marketplace and direct deals. Part of that strategy has been to bring GroupM’s clout to bear to gain a significant edge in innovative media and technology — something that’s not possible on open exchanges, where publisher relationships are less relevant.
