Programmatic: Garbage in, garbage out.

If you are under 50 you may not have heard that saying before.  But it was a common phrase in the early 80's when computers were first used to select print media.  After we would do a computer run, we would adjust the results by hand to incorporate data that the computer didn't.  At that time it meant adding Southern Living and Sunset to our media plans to compensate for the fact that shelter books under delivered in the south and west.  Had we not made those changes, our plans would have been garbage.

Fast forward 35 years and we seem to have forgotten that lesson. 

In 2016, 51% of digital display advertising was bought by computers.  Growth of 31% is estimated for 2017.  And programmatic buying is spreading to tv, radio, and digital out-of-home. (Elkin, 2016)

But what happens without the human touch?  You end up on the Sleeping Giants boycott list because you are advertising on Breitbart.  Surprise!  Consumers may have not noticed your display ad before, but they are now, and not in a good way.

Similarly, I remember when advertisers were reluctant to go on YouTube because of the exploding Mentos videos.  And yet they are now advertising on racist content and terrorist sites. 

At what point did cheap tonnage come back into fashion?  Given the 80/20 rule, i.e., 20% of buyers account for 80% of sales, it doesn't make sense. 

So I was not surprised when JPMorgan Chase & Company admitted after pulling their ads from YouTube last month and reducing their presence from 400,000 websites to 5,000 that their impressions didn't change.  More importantly I would bet that more targeted reach will increase their effectiveness.  Is it any wonder that they are now planning to reduce the number to 1,000 "human-checked" channels?  (Noto, 2017)

Maybe it's time for you to get human again too.

Elkin, T. (2016, November 28)  Programmatic To Grow 31% In 2017, Ahead Of All Other Channels.  mediapost.com.  retrieved April 21, 2017, from, https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/289841/programmatic-to-grow-31-in-2017-ahead-of-all-oth.html

Noto, A. (2017, March 30)  Chase pulls YouTube ads, sees little change in impressions.  bizjournals.com  Retrieved April 21. 2017, from http://www.bizjournals.com/newyork/news/2017/03/30/chase-pulls-youtube-ads-results-remain-same.html

The Emperor has no clothes on!

When it comes to new media success stories, YouTube can point to Dove’s Evolution spot, which increased visits to its website by 8000% (Fawcett, 2007) and Twitter can point to Sephora’s Sephora Claus campaign which generated $1 million in sales. (Economist Intelligence Unit Limited, 2011)  But what about Facebook?

Last week a Financial Times report touted the results of a December Facebook campaign for Nutella in Germany.  According to the company, the Facebook placement reached 30% of the country’s online users, and was responsible for 15% of sales.  But then the report goes on to say that TV, which was also part of the campaign, accounted for more revenue.  Hmm.  Talk about faint praise. (Goetzl, 2012)

Therefore, I was less than surprised when this Wednesday’s Wall Street Journal featured a front page story about GM’s decision to pull all its advertising ($10 million) from Facebook because the ads “had little impact on consumers.”  The company will still maintain its free brand page, but how much longer will that last, when the content costs $30 million to produce? (Walsh, 2012)

And as more traffic continues to move to mobile devices, it’s important to remember that Facebook does not offer any mobile ad-targeting options. (Sullivan, 2012)

Advertisers need results and models of successful efforts to build on if they are going to invest in media properties.  Right now, I’d rather put my money on YouTube, which is beefing up content to attract new viewers than Facebook, which has yet to deliver.  What about you?

Fawcett, A. (2007). Consumer packaged goods marketer of the year: Unilever’s Dove.  mediapost.com Retrived January 3, 2007, from http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.san&s=53208&Nid=2616

Economist Intelligence Unit Limited. (2011). The Social Shopper.  The Economist.  Retrieved May 16, 2012, from

http://socialcommercetoday.com/documents/socialshoppereiu_2011.pdf

Goetzl, D. (2012, May 7).  Nutella Says Facebook Ads Brought Sweeter ROI Than TV.  mediapost.com. Retrieved May 16, 2012, from

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/174113/nutella-says-facebook-ads-brought-sweeter-roi-than.html

Walsh, M. (2012, May 15).  GM Slams Brakes On Facebook Advertising.  mediapost.com.  Retrieved May 16, 2012, from

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/174794/gm-slams-brakes-on-facebook-advertising.html?edition=46897

Sullivan, L. (2012, May 15).  Facebook Needs Open Ad-Targeting Formats To Succeed.  mediapost.com.  Retrieved May 16, 2012, from

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/174657/facebook-needs-open-ad-targeting-formats-to-succee.html?edition=46897

Is this the beginning of the end for free online content?

7/9/09

The topic du jour at this week’s Sun Valley Allen and Company conference, is predicted to be a debate over paid online content. After giving away their content for free for the past decade, newspapers are now folding in droves as their offline revenue declines. The remaining media companies don’t want to make the same mistake. (Li, 2009).

So, what do they do? The first thing is to clamp down on unauthorized use of copyrighted material. While past legal rulings, in the form of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s safe harbor provision have held that web sites are not liable for copyright infringement committed by users provided the sites remove the clips upon request, and they haven’t financially profited by the content; one could argue that YouTube’s entire business model is built on pirated material. (Davis, 2009)

An intriguing solution currently being offered by the Financial Times is tiered pricing for access. When I attempted to access the article above, I was given 4 registration options offering various levels of access to current and archived materials. Lighter use was free, but unlimited access was $3.49 per week, and full access, including the offline newspaper was priced at $5.75 per week. (“FT.com”, 2009). That seems reasonable to me. How about you?


Li, K. (2009, July 7). Sun Valley set to consider paid content. ft.com. Retrived, July 7, 2009 from
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/38da0ffc-6a8c-11de-ad04-00144feabdc0.html

Davis, W. (2009, July 8). YouTube Wins Partial Victory Against Copyright Owners. mediapost.com. Retrived, July 9, 2009 from
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=109359

(2009, July 7). FT.com registration page. ft.com. Retrived July 9, 2009 from
http://www.ft.com/cms/275bc334-3063-11dc-9a81-0000779fd2ac.html?segid=70000&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0%2F38da0ffc-6a8c-11de-ad04-00144feabdc0.html