AOL and Havas, already partners trading video programmatically, have announced a new automated TV offering in the US – suggesting the convergence between digital and linear TV is fast approaching.
“The old rules of media do not apply in a world that is increasingly becoming data-driven; this is increasingly becoming the reality in TV, which commands close to $70 billion annually and is still relatively siloed within media plans,” said Dan Ackerman, head of programmatic TV at AOL Platforms.
“Havas’ forward-looking strategy of using technology to uncover new marketing opportunities across video channels, inclusive but not exclusive to TV, will deliver to their clients much greater value and impact on their investments.”
Havas’ trading desk, Affiperf, has adopted AOL’s Adap.tv buyer platform “to plan, buy, measure and optimise specific US television ad campaigns”, the companies announced this week.
The move is an expansion of their existing use of the platform for digital video, allowing the agency to “better unify” its digital and TV efforts.
The technology, which uses data from set-top boxes alongside consumer purchase data, means TV investment decisions can go “multiple layers deeper” than just age and gender metrics.
“We have a conviction: What can be automated, will be automated,” said Dominique Delport, global managing director, Havas Media Group. “It’s just a matter of time and also measurement.
“So, we have made the choice to be bold, move fast and develop convergent strategies on every screen. AOL and Adapt.tv have been pioneering this vision with their ONE offering and we are proud to be the first group to leverage this innovative proposition with some key US clients.
“We need to keep improving the industry, and balance real-time technologies with ‘right-time’ human decisions. Despite advancements we’ve made with programmatic over the past few years, private exchanges are still being used far too often as a means to automate remnant inventory within sites.
“As an industry, we can do much better,” he said.
AOL announced that it is to trade all of its reserved online inventory programmatically earlier this year, with AOL Platforms soon forming a strategic partnership with Havas’ global trading desk for programmatic buying.
Havas’ Affiperf will become a charter customer of ONE by AOL, which was announced earlier this year as the world’s first cross-screen programmatic platform for brands, agencies and publishers.
Once live in 2015, ONE is expected to enable Havas’ use of data and technology to create “new, breakthrough models for media transactions, operations and investments.”
