New research from AOL, unveiled on Monday at MediaTel’s Automated Trading Debate, shows strong evidence that the rise of programmatic trading will serve to enhance creativity and storytelling across the advertising industry.
According to the research, programmatic is having a huge impact on both clients and agencies, with the rate of growth leading to greater collaboration with agencies forging deeper relationships with clients and publishers.
48% of survey respondents said that programmatic is having a positive effect, while almost a third agreed that the time freed up by automation is allowing them to focus more on higher-value formats and campaigns, such as native advertising.
In terms of obstacles, 35% felt that the skills-gap caused by programmatic is the biggest barrier to progress; however, AOL said that the “upskilling of an industry in full swing and the diversity of skills in new appointments is already apparent.”
57% of respondents disagreed that programmatic is replacing the role of human beings within advertising, and that programmatic is “nothing without human reasoning and creativity.”
Commenting on the research, AOL’s head of international, Graham Moysey, said: “There has been so much talk and trepidation in the ad industry around the rise of programmatic, but this report shows that we are on the cusp of defining a new age of automation.
“The rise of automation doesn’t just increase efficiency, it will herald a period of immense creativity and story-telling as the industry seeks to unlock the full potential that programmatic trading presents.
“By automating the mundane, sales teams can spend more time building relationships and working with agencies and publishers to create richer, more engaging and more creative ads that consumers want to see.”
Access the full report here.
Further analysis of the research will be available on Newsline on Thursday, as AOL UK’s managing director, Noel Penzer, offers us his take on what the findings mean for the industry.
