The importance of premium

AD2ONE’s group managing director Julian Miall takes a look at digital advertising and explains why there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach when it comes to this industry…

With digital ad revenue increasing 112% year-on-year in the UK, 2013 has been a stellar year for digital advertising. Within this success we have started to see a slowing pace for real time bidding (RTB) and a restored equilibrium between programmatic and premium.

This backs up our theory that targeted advertising will always have a place in the market and there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to digital advertising.

Just like any medium, the primary importance is to ensure that advertising addresses customers’ needs. There are different ways in which advertising inventory can be bought and sold, and a wealth of different technologies that can facilitate these transactions and so there should never be one fixed approach.

This is how we work with all our clients; listening and consulting on which form of ad solution is better for them.

As we work with media owners, we see their content constantly evolving, meaning their advertising solutions need to change with them. It is important to keep across this evolution in order to tailor the balance between bespoke, contextualised advertising and automated trading. At the end of the day, you have to look at what is best for the media owner.

BT is another great example of a hugely successful media owner that recognises the need for both forms of advertising, and I believe that in order to maximise revenue, other media owners should follow suit.

By partnering with Google, AD2ONE are able to deliver contextually relevant advertising to BT and BT Sport’s digital platforms, while Google manages their RTB. BT has a wide range of users attracted by its bespoke editorial, making delivering the company’s ad solutions a lot of fun. A constant change in content means a constant change in advertising and a fixed strategy will never do the site justice.

BT is also recognising that consumers are accessing content on different devices and therefore have built their digital platforms to be fully responsive to this behaviour. In order to make the user experience as seamless as possible and maximise revenue, we have tailored BT’s ad solutions accordingly.

It is important for publishers too, to have an in-depth understanding of how both bespoke sales teams and automated trading can enhance digital offerings. In order to use these complementary options efficiently, every publisher needs to determine what their unique proposition is and what they want to be known for.

Similarly, digital advertising sales teams need to truly understand the work of publishers and media owners – this is vital to a successful advertising strategy. It is only when you truly integrate yourself into a publisher’s work that you can better understand the effect your work is having on their business and how best to tailor their advertising solutions to succeed in the future.

This is an important lesson for the industry as a whole to learn. Different technologies are constantly reinventing the digital advertising arena and maximum revenue can only be generated from a real understanding of content and a balance of both premium and programmatic buying.

What works with some publishers may not be the best advice for others. Having an agency to work as a partner is essential for any business, guiding them to the best solutions for their content. This is vital to ensure they learn the most about their consumers and provide them with the best possible advertising. This in turn will enable them to drive maximum revenue for their business.