US programmatic to expand abroad

Warc, 1 August 2014

NEW YORK: Nearly all (98%) large US publishers use programmatic marketing strategies to improve audience development in the US, but less than three-quarters (72%) have applied the same approach abroad, new research has shown.

A joint study, "Going Global: Programmatic Audience Development Around the World", was produced by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and Winterberry Group, the strategic consultancy.

They conducted an online survey with over 145 leading publishers, advertisers and service providers (IAB members) and interviewed more than 36 programmatic experts between May and June 2014.

The report found that, although publishers' activity in the programmatic field is currently less active abroad than in the US, they intend to expand their overseas programmatic marketing programs over the next two years.

This will go beyond the English-speaking markets of the UK, Canada and Australia, with Brazil and China identified as two key countries for programmatic expansion.

Over half (52%) of the respondents regarded the "availability of third-party data" to be their top consideration for success in new markets, but other factors emerged as potential inhibitors.

Just over a third (34%) cited "lack of understanding of audience development" as an obstacle, 28% were concerned about a "lack of appropriate technology", although regulatory barriers were an issue for only 23%.

The report went on to identify seven key considerations to determine whether an overseas market is suitable for new or expanded development.

In summary, these factors covered: understanding the audience, programmatic know-how, an open market culture with protections against fraud, third-party audience data, technology and the means to use it, standards in measurement and valuation, and lastly, an opportunity to build scale.

Commenting on the report, IAB executive vp and COO Patrick Dolan, said: "It is clear that programmatic advertising strategies have paid dividends for US publishers, brand marketers, ad technology vendors and others in the industry, and now is the time for this practice to benefit marketplaces around the world."

A comprehensive guide to enable marketers to get the most from programmatic advertising – The Programmatic Primer – is available for Warc subscribers.

Data sourced from IAB; additional content by Warc