Top 10 Takeaways from Adweek 2018

Adweek 2018 is officially in the books and it was a great one. Not just because all the events were in one location this year (which my feet surely appreciated), but because there was a buzz in the air. We came for talks about OOH and programmatic and we left with a whole lot more. In particular, mobile location data and in-app mobile ads stole the show.

Having met and heard from advertising thought leaders spanning companies such as Adspace, Clear Channel Outdoor, DPAA, Ground Truth, GSTV, Inmobi, Intersection, Mediamath, Microsoft, Outfront, The Trade Desk, Uber and more, here were the more interesting programmatic ad buying concepts and quotes that I found worth sharing.

1. The Difference Between Adtech and Martech

I never knew the distinction.

Adtech is about customer acquisition

and

Martech is about customer retention.

Is Admartech a thing?

2. DOOH's Place in the Advertising Ecosystem

I couldn't agree more with this statement that was made at the Programmatic for the People panel:

"DOOH ad spend belongs in the white space at the top of the funnel”

3. Things online ads can, can't and shouldn't do

Intersection's CEO Ari Buchalter shared these insights:

And the benefits DOOH offers both sides:

4. With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility

Alisa from Intersection touched upon the notion that even if DOOH screens could use facial detection to know exactly who is in front of them, it would be creepy to fully personalize the ad. Kind of like the eerie feeling many google users had when dynamic, personalized re-marketing first launched and products you had recently looked at followed you inside display ads across the web.

Instead of one-to-one marketing, in DOOH, targeting audiences is the way to go, with smart marketers saying:

“I don’t care who you are, I care what you are.”

It was also interesting to see these audience-submitted questions at the end of the Innovation in (Digital) Out of Home panel:

The audience may be on to something...

5. The Measurement Paradigm Shift That Mobile Devices Offer Marketers

The new operating formula for success:

Rich mobile audience data sets + precision DOOH ad targeting + in-mobile app ads = successful campaigns.

This from Anne Frisbie, SVP of Global Programmatic at Inmobi:

With game apps being a popular place for marketers to serve in-mobile ads, Candy Crush offers a tasty proposition.

6. A new world of KPIs

1. Ever hear of CPV? I hadn't. CPV = cost per visit (to a store or place of interest); the idea that you can use a performance based marketing model to drive users to specific locations. Because CPA is so very 2010.
2. Viewability - unlike display ads on web, marketers can pay only when mobile app ads are actually viewed. It's kind of crazy to me that this KPI could ever be less than 100% and advertisers had to pay for the ad.
3. Video completion rates - a key measure of user engagement. Dynamic video end cards like the one below are pretty interesting as they direct the user to a location; in this case the closest Chili's location. These kinds of tactics provide incredible lift in engagement/conversions, according to one of the mobile in-app ad experts at Inmobi.

7. Newfound knowledge that challenged the way I thought about mobile app ad attribution

With in-app mobile ads, using landing pages as the sole attribution tactic does not cut it. Multi-touch attribution (MTA) is vital and two popular MTA tools to use are Google 360 and Nielsen MTA.

8. A Trend, Not a Fad

Source: Anne Frisbie, SVP of Global Programmatic at Inmobi

9. A Glimpse Into the

Future

When Microsoft's Global Director of Cross Industry Marketing was asked to predict the future, she said that Microsoft sees a future where our own personal data is sold by each of us individually, not just anonymously collected. You will be able to choose who gets to know your specific preferences in an opt-in way to be marketed-to.

10. And Finally, A Piece of Wisdom Shared By Uber's Programmatic Media Buyer

When Uber was asked the most important aspect for their programmatic ad buying, they said

“To us, it's all about Transparency. You have to be able to trust your partners and they must constantly be looking at new technologies and new approaches to try. Marketing platforms and agencies should never be a black box.” 

I'd like to thank Adweek for putting on a great event! And to panel moderators like the DPAA's Barry Frey who made several of the talks both informative and entertaining.

Looking forward to next year.

-Jonathan Gudai