Mondelez anticipates programmatic TV buying

Warc, 25 June 2014

GLASGOW: Mondelez International, the snack foods giant, could be buying some TV advertising programmatically in the not too distant future, a leading executive has indicated.

The company recently announced a tie-up with TubeMogul, and will use its programmatic technology to improve its online video advertising strategy in North America.

Bonin Bough, Mondelez's vp/global media and consumer engagement, said at the time that while video consumption was rising, engagement rates were down on TV commercials.

As part of its stated intention to shift its focus to digital, Mondelez has also set up a dedicated programmatic media buying team at its US agency, MediaVest.

Ivelisse Roche, associate director for global media and consumer engagement at Mondelez International, told The Drum that while this team was currently being used for digital optimisation, "it makes sense down the line to expand into TV".

Jason Lopatecki, TubeMogul's chief strategy officer, also observed that there was "a lot of buzz" about programmatic TV. "I really do believe that this year you're going to see activation in it," he said.

"There's a growth in the availability of different inventory services available for the TV world and there's going to be different people who bring it even further, but it is definitely happening in a big and fast way that I wouldn't have said last year."

Lopatecki expects it will be some time yet before the main TV buying spots go programmatic. And Roche further suggested that media owners would start by selling leftover inventory in real time.

For now, however, she explained that Mondelez was focused on moving more of its spending to digital and "expanding our footprint with online video" while putting an emphasis on content and not on any particular screen.

"The real opportunity for us is to engage with our consumers, be closer to the point of buying," she said. "We know that there is a gap in terms of what media is consumed and how we spend against that particular medium, and we're trying to narrow that gap overall."

Data sourced from The Drum; additional content by Warc staff