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This summer was full-speed-ahead at
The Exchange Lab so we have burst into
fall excited for what is sure to be another
season charged with change in the
digital ecosystem.
Change is certainly top of mind for us right
now as we have officially announced our
new technology platform, Proteus, and our
new website: theexchangelab.com under
the umbrella of our One For All approach
to programmatic media buying.
While all this change definitely contributed
to the full-speed-ahead summer I mentioned
above, it also presented an opportunity
for our team to sit down and re-evaluate
what The Exchange Lab stands for. How
we can ensure that our growing list of
clients receives the same attention to detail,
access to insights, and the transparency
we’re respected for as the company continues
its global expansion. We decided that in
order for our priorities to remain at the heart
of what we do we would need to not only
change, but evolve. This meant evolving
our technology, our client reporting tools,
our website, our content and ourselves.
Our Fall Programmatic Playbook features
articles that will hopefully inspire you
to think outside the box and evolve your
online advertising strategy, a few fun elements
including a map that will lead you on a
global pub crawl with us, and case studies
that prove there is a method to our madness
(and also give us a little street cred).
A lot has changed since we started
The Exchange Lab in 2007; our technology
continues to improve, our tactics get more
effective, our reporting gets more accurate
and our clients become more aware of the
possibilities that exist for their brands in
programmatic. It’s a time when change is
exciting and evolution is necessary.
We hope this playbook informs, entertains,
and inspires you to evolve your online
strategy because, let’s face it, programmatic
is still the fastest growing digital media sector
so it’s a defining moment that will reveal the
brands leading the charge through their own
initiative to change and evolve.
I encourage you to reach out to our
incredible team and explore the ever-evolving
opportunities for your brand in the rapidly
growing world of programmatic media.
Cheers,
James Aitken Founder and CEO, The Exchange Lab
There is something about the fall that inspires improvement, calls for reflection and ignites an infectious energy that is felt all around us. THINK OUTSIDE
THE BOX AND EVOLVE YOUR ONLINE ADVERTISING STRATEGY
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4 DON’T LET YOUR BRAND BE A TURKEY THIS HOLIDAY SEASON By Nikki Hawke
6 HOW FINANCIAL BRANDS CAN BECOME THE TRAIL BLAZERS OF THE PROGRAMMATIC REVOLUTION By Tim Palmer
8 BACK-TO-SCHOOL WITH PROGRAMMATIC By Lissie Green
10 A CONVERSATION WITH OUR CEO JAMES AITKEN
12 PROGRAMMATIC’S BRAVE NEW WORLD By Chris Dobson
14 HELP YOUR CUSTOMERS ‘GETAWAY’ THIS WINTER By Clare Parker
16 PROTEUS IS ONE FOR ALL
18 HOW BRANDS CAN INCREASE THEIR ROI IN PROGRAMMATIC By Veerle De Lombaerde
20 PUB CRAWL AROUND THE WORLD WITH THE EXCHANGE LAB A MAP OF THE GO-TO PUBS NEAR OUR OFFICES
22 TRAVEL CASE STUDY, VIRGIN HOLIDAYS
24 AUTOMOTIVE CASE STUDY, VOLKSWAGEN
26 THE PROGRAMMATIC MERRY MYTH BUSTER By Jennie Rock
28 HOW BRANDS CAN REACH MILLENNIALS WITH PROGRAMMATIC
30 PROGRAMMATIC GLOSSARY OF TERMS, CUT-OUT FOR YOUR WORKSTATION
32 TECH TRACK 100, THE SUNDAY TIMES, THE EXCHANGE LAB NAMED ONE OF BRITAIN’S FASTEST GROWING TECH COMPANIES
All of the above authored articles are amended versions that were published over the last six months in publications including The Drum, The Guardian, AD-Vantage (Marketing Magazine), and Fundamental Media.
* Definitions were pulled (and sometimes adapted) from The Interactive Advertising Bureau’s Glossary of Interactive Advertising Terms v. 2.0 www.iab.net/media/file/Glossaryofinteractiveadvertisingterms.pdf
what’s insideour executive teamJames Aitken Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Thierry Bazay Vice President, Strategic Partnerships, North America
Veerle De Lombaerde Vice President, Enterprise
Chris Dobson Executive Chairman
Phil Guest Vice President, International
Frank Guzzardo Vice President, East Coast Sales
Nikki Hawke Vice President, Marketing
Richard Jones Vice President, Agency Sales, North America
Emma Loisel Chief Operating Officer
Fiona McKinnon Vice President, Global Operations and Partnerships
Tim Palmer Chief Technology Officer
Guy Scurfield Chief Financial Officer
Tim Webster Co-Founder & Chief Strategy Officer
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As marketers, we all know the importance of creating
a smart digital strategy in the run up to Christmas. And
it’s never been as important as right now with one in five
consumers in the UK and U.S. doing all of their holiday
shopping online. The British consumer is one of the most
digitally savvy in the world, reportedly spending an
average of 11 hours a day on media.
Here are The Exchange Lab’s five tips for planning your
holiday marketing campaign.
Plan Early Deloitte’s Annual Christmas Survey last year showed that
we are seeing new buying patterns amongst consumers.
Europeans no longer wait until early December to start
shopping; nearly half (40%) of all shoppers start their
searches early and purchases sky rocket from October.
So brands need to be visible early.
Multi-Device
Mobile continues to see massive growth and has fuelled
the phenomenon ‘showrooming’— price comparison
shopping on mobile devices while in-store, then purchasing
later on a desktop. And while TV advertising is still at the
top of the tree when it comes to festive ad spending, todays
‘always on’ consumer isn’t just glued to the box. Media
consumption today is across multiple devices.
In a recent study, Neilsen Social found that over 80% of
TV viewers are using a second screen at the same time.
Research conducted by Microsoft echoes that viewers only
had a 58% attention span when watching TV and concludes
that when a brand employs a multi-screen approach, your
brand engages with the connected consumer.
Test and Optimise
Don’t be scared to engage a test and learn strategy —
in fact we recommend it. The online marketplace is
becoming increasingly competitive, with online sales
growing everywhere in the world, year over year. That
means one thing; brands have to work harder to get
customers into their stores. Testing new products online
and fine tuning even the best performing campaigns
strengthens new and existing relationships. Always test
and optimise across platforms for the best results.
Choose Your Bedfellows Wisely
Ensure you extend your Christmas social ethic to your
online partners. Look for a media partner who can provide
you with audience through a single buying point that
provides access to the best in class ad-tech platforms
for display, mobile, video and social all under one roof.
Content for Consumers
Being creative with your content is always going to be the
most important part of any campaign, and ensuring that it
speaks to your consumer is key. Establish when, where and
how you can speak to your audience this holiday season
and use real-time methods to ensure you reach them when
they are switched on and ready to engage with your brand.
Above all else, be relevant. Ensure your message speaks
to your consumer first and execute against each medium.
ALMOST 75% OF CANADIANS ARE GOING ONLINE TO SHOP FOR THE HOLIDAYS
WHERE THEY CAN FIND THE BEST PRICE, DISCOUNT OR SALE. By Nikki Hawke VP Marketing, Global
DON’T LET YOUR BRAND BE A TURKEY THIS HOLIDAY SEASON
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The modern consumer is constantly online. The growth in usage of devices like smartphones
and tablets has reduced the time spent consuming traditional media. As a result, media owners
and publishers have evolved and expanded their digital offerings to deliver compelling content
to where the audience now most frequently resides. To move away from passive consumption
advertisers must find new ways of targeting and engaging their audiences quickly and at scale.
HOW FINANCIAL BRANDS CAN BECOME THE TRAIL BLAZERS OF THE PROGRAMMATIC REVOLUTION
By Tim PalmerCTO, The Exchange Lab
The solution is programmatic advertising. Essentially this is
the advertising equivalent of the stock exchange. Instead
of trading stocks and shares, programmatic is about buying
the right audience, in the right place, at the right time.
Imagine an advertiser is trying to reach C-suite executives
through digital advertising. Just like a financial trader looks
across all markets to achieve the best ROI, programmatic
considers a number of media outlets, for example, BBC.com,
Time.com and The New York Times. If it becomes clear that
buying ad space on Time.com will command the most efficient
ROI, the focus might change to target only their readers.
All of this happens in milliseconds. Think of each individual
DSP as a different market. Dealing with just the NYSE is
going to significantly reduce your chance to get the best
return so a good idea is to also invest in NASDAQ, giving
you more opportunity to engage across a wider range of
markets. This is the principle that drives The Exchange Lab.
We liken our analysis engine to the Bloomberg platform.
Our human traders sit at their terminals trading across
multiple DSPs to access the whole market, buying audiences
primed for purchase.
The financial sector, with its magnificent data set can
take full advantage of programmatic and become the
trail blazers, provided they use programmatic correctly.
Organizations that financial brands employ should adhere
to the ‘Good Principles’ launched by the Digital Trading
Standards Group and work with partners that use content
verifications solutions. This will provide a protective layer
for campaigns with strict criteria, which prevent ads from
appearing on certain sites.
After implementing the necessary due diligence to find
the right programmatic partner, those financial marketers
who act first will execute campaigns that reap a huge
competitive advantage.
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Back-to-school preparation usually has students dreaming
of colorful school supplies, trendy digs and go-to gadgets.
Meanwhile, parents are preparing for the happy chaos that
begins when the school bell rings. Marketers should seize
the opportunity to showcase their brand online and make
back-to-school buying a breeze.
Combined spending for back-to-school and college in
the U.S. alone is expected to reach $75 billion this fall
according to the National Retail Federation and research
suggests 74% of Canadian consumers will do most of their
back-to-school browsing online before making a purchase.
For brands who want to reach these consumers, a proactive
programmatic strategy can make all the difference. In this
instance there is a focus on two main demographics; the
parents with children heading back-to-school (BTS) and
the older students heading to university or college (BTC).
For many retailers these two groups are second in sales
only to winter holiday shoppers.
Millennials, many of whom fall in the BTC category, have
huge buying power, including the influence they have on
the buying decisions of their parents (think big electronic
items such as laptops, cell phones and iPads). Millennials
are incredibly active online, consume information quickly
and prefer content driven by their peers. One in five
purchases this year will be made on a mobile device so
by using a combination of social targeting, video, mobile
targeting, apps and geo fencing we can effectively access
this group to deliver a relevant brand message.
For parents with a household of one to three (1-3) children
or teens, research says it’s moms who are the CBOs (Chief
Buying Officers). By targeting the context of a page, either
via keyword or by channel (e.g. news, shopping) we can
get in front of parents at the right time and in the right place
including premium websites. We also have the ability to
show ads across multiple devices within the same home
via IP targeting. For busy parents who use multiple devices
inside and outside their home, brands need to make sure
they deliver informative and engaging creative with a clear
call to action that reaches parents throughout their decision
making process.
By Lissie Green Team Lead, Traders
GEARING UP FOR BACK-TO-SCHOOL WITH PROGRAMMATIC
Understanding your audience is only half the equation a trader needs to solve and it’s usually something marketers will inform based on the wealth of knowledge they have around their consumers. The focus for us is finding the right mix of targeting tactics, which comes from understanding the performance objectives for the brand. Are you trying to sell 6,000 laptops? Drive 400,000 people in store with a voucher? Once we have identified the goal and the demographic we can build a successful programmatic media strategy that ensures you reach your customers, strengthen your brand identity online and do your part to
help shoppers keep those back-to-school-butterflies at bay.
Back-to-school shopping isn’t just in the fall, it occurs
multiple times throughout the year with seasonal
changes and holidays ranging from one week to three
months (ah, to be a student). This means that the crucial
data and insights you collect during the first campaign can
and should be applied to the next phase of your digital
strategy in order to maintain the attention of these groups
throughout the year.
Marketers, it’s time to pack programmatic tools and
tactics in your knapsacks to ensure a bright back-to-school
season for your brand.
THIS MEANS THAT CRUCIAL DATA AND INSIGHTS
YOU COLLECT DURING THE FIRST CAMPAIGN CAN AND SHOULD BE APPLIED
TO THE NEXT PHASE OF YOUR DIGITAL STRATEGY IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN
THE ATTENTION OF THESE GROUPS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.
365DAYS
COLLECTING
DATAINSIGHTS
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When did you know you wanted to be an entrepreneur?From a young age I started to come up with business ideas all the time, like delivering pizza by boat on Lake Muskoka in Northern Ontario.
Are entrepreneurs born or made?I would say born because successful entrepreneurs tend to be self-motivated, determined, and thrive on the adrenaline. Many entrepreneurs have been fired from previous jobs often because they don’t fit the corporate mold and their instinct is to question the business model. What would you say are the top skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur?Drive, a determination to succeed and a solid work ethic.
How important have good employees been to your success?They are the most important part. If they aren’t successful, you’re not successful. I always invite employees to take equity in the business, so they share in the company. It’s their company as well.
What did you want to be when you were a kid?I wanted to be the lead singer in a rock’n’roll band.
What is your passion other than entrepreneurship?I’m really passionate about reforestation and the environment.
How do you define success?Success means my staff finding success in our company. Whether it is their equity share or feeling empowered to make different decisions.
A lot of people aspire to be entrepreneurs because they see the glamour and glory. What they don’t see is all the work that happens behind the scenes. As an entrepreneur, you never really turn off. You’re always on. Make sure you have the drive to make the company succeed but also make sure to keep balance in your life. It’s important to allocate time for the people you care about because even as you build a business life goes on.
This summer James Aitken, co-founder and CEO of The Exchange Lab was announced as a finalist for the Ernst & Young (EY) Entrepreneur of the Year Award. He sat down with their team to discuss what makes a successful entrepreneur and share some insights from his experience building companies.
In just seven years James has evolved The Exchange Lab from a daring start-up into the largest programmatic digital media marketplace in the world. The Exchange Lab delivers campaigns across digital display, video, social and mobile channels to more than 700 clients across 50 markets worldwide.
A CONVERSATION WITH OUR CEO JAMES AITKEN
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TWENTY FIVE years is a long time to get used to the
accepted way of doing things and the respective roles
of the ‘players’ in media. Against that backdrop, but
always keen to be at the forefront of growth and
innovation, I moved my focus to the brave new world
of programmatic trading at the beginning of this year.
So how have my perceptions changed now that I’m on
the ‘inside’?
Well, it’s safe to say that automation in digital media is
a mainstream inevitability rather than a niche play with
data at the core of ‘intelligent’ media planning and buying.
At The Exchange Lab, we observe over a billion multi-
platform interactions every day. When we look closely at
how consumers are behaving across multiple platforms,
the old intuitive ways of planning a campaign can no longer
be applied.
Using multiple demand side platform (DSP’s) means our
Traders can understand the strengths and weaknesses in
performance and provide real time data and analysis to
the benefit of our clients.
Having multiple views of inventory through these platform
is not only a distinct advantage but also promotes
competition and value. Having said that, creativity remains
at the heart of media.
Great content and the quality of a client’s landing page
are essential to drive engagement, especially as consumers
continue to be savvier about being sold to.
Media agencies have a more complex and essential role
in planning and value generation. There is growing disquiet
in clients about being ‘encouraged’ to use an internal trade
desk which often only uses one or two DSP’s and therefore
narrows the view of the market. This discussion will likely
be the focus of client procurement departments as
automated trading becomes more mainstream.
Programmatic will develop and become the major engine
in digital trading. To do so, the industry will consolidate,
become more transparent and the technology will continue
to evolve.
Companies such as The Exchange Lab will continue to
offer rich knowledge about behavior, engagement and
effectiveness, improving results and ROI for the marketer
and ensuring more relevant and useful advertising for
the consumer.
By Chris DobsonExecutive Chairman, The Exchange Lab
PROGRAMMATIC’S BRAVE NEW WORLD
A BILLION MULTI-PLATFORM INTERACTIONS EVERY DAY
WE OBSERVE
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If you’ve been through an airport in
the last week of December you will
recognise this scenario; children
running around, Christmas presents
poking out of bags and the airport
falling into complete disarray because
a few snowflakes hit the ground. The
festive season is hectic and brands
looking to engage consumers during
this peak season have their work cut
out for them. With 40% of customers
booking their trip online in the last 12
months, the web is the perfect place
for the travel and tourism market to
connect with the holiday consumer.
Every vacation begins with a little
daydreaming, and for nearly 70%
of consumers, it happens online.
At this stage, the goal is to find and
then inspire these consumers when
they search for a “sandy beach
vacation” or a “ski getaway”. Building
a compelling creative strategy
that delivers high levels of user
engagement is essential. Cross-
platform rich media executions, native
advertising placements or dynamic
creative optimization, can be very
effective tools for driving awareness
and engagement.
Programmatic creates infinite
opportunities for travel brands to
reach their existing customers, but
it can also find new ones. Two tactics
that work well for travel clients are
destination based targeting and
seasonal re-targeting.
Destination based targeting gathers
interests of consumers who brands
have previously connected with to
enable re-engagement based
around a specific area of interest.
A consumer who searches for ‘New
York’ is targeted at a low frequency
with ads for the Statue of Liberty and
other icons over a one week period.
Once the transport element of the trip
has been booked, accommodation
ads and other services or activities
related to that destination could be
served through video.
Seasonal re-targeting finds customers
who, over the last year, have engaged
with your brand. Brands can then
re-establish the relationship and
offer incentives during prime holiday
booking periods, which is a powerful
conversion driver.
We live in a competitive world where
being relevant can make or break
the buy. Working with a programmatic
partner that can plug into multiple
platforms gives brands the flexibility
to reach travellers and their social
influencers at multiple touch points
across the web.
Travellers are increasingly using
their mobile devices to research
travel destinations and make
reservations, eMarketer estimates
that mobile will make up 20% of travel
digital sales in 2014, with consumers
spending a staggering $26.14 billion
on the move. Mobile is redefining
the way consumers are booking
their trips and driving device-specific
purchase decisions.
By Clare Parker Senior Marketing Executive, The Exchange Lab
HELP YOUR CUSTOMERS ‘GETAWAY’ THIS WINTER
Consumers are using both tablets and
desktops for larger travel purchases,
while smartphones are typically used
for research driven impulse-buys. The
key to being successful is understanding
where mobile, tablet and desktop fit in
your customer’s purchase journey and
making sure that campaigns are optimized
towards devices at the right time of day
and week. Desktop, for example, sees high
conversions on a Monday at mid-day and
mobile and tablets see high performance
during the weekends when people are
more likely to be on the move.
The opportunity to win over the travel
consumer doesn’t end once they’ve
reached their destination. With more
affordable mobile data plans and
free Wi-Fi hotspots popping up across
the globe, leisure travellers are using
smartphones when abroad to make last
minute purchases. If you’ve ever been
stranded at an airport and are in need of
accommodation or alternative transport,
you can probably recall a moment when
a simple solution on your mobile device
could have saved the day. These are the
types of real-time advertising moments that
create opportunities for brands to shine
and discover new loyal customers.
Sources:
1. eMarketer, May 2014, US Mobile Travel Sales to Increase 60% in 2014 http://www.emarketer.com/Article/US-Mobile-Travel-Sales-Increase-60-2014/1010828
2. eMarketer, May 2013, Slow Steady Continued Gains in US Travel Sales http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Slow-Steady-Continued-Gains-US-Digital-Travel-Sales/1009909
3. eMarketer, Direct Reponse Spending Flying High in US Travel Industry http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Direct-Response-Spending-Flying-High-USTravel-Industry/1010859
4. Euromonitor, Feb 2014, The New Online Travel Consumer http://www.etoa.org/docs/default-source/presentations/2014-the-new-online-travelconsumer.pdf?sfvrsn=4
5. Google, Nov 2013, The 2013 Traveler http://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/research-studies/2013-traveler.html
6. Trip Adviser, 2013
7. Mintel & The Daily Mail, June 2012, The End of the Travel Agent http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2166772/The-end-travel-agent-Holiday-booking-services-extinct-people-web-buy-vacations.html
OF TRAVELLERS HEAD TO HOT SPOTS
HEAD TO COLD WEATHER CLIMATES
AMONG THE TOP 100
CHRISTMAS DESTINATIONS
TOP 10GLOBAL DESTINATIONS
1. MANHATTAN 2. KEY WEST 3. ORLANDO 4. KISSIMMEE 5. KIHEI 6. KAILUA-KONA 7. HONOLULU 8. RIO DE JANEIRO 9. BRECKENRIDGE10. PARIS
72% 28%
52%SAY THEY CAN TAILOR TRIP BETTER & GET MORE VALUE FOR MONEY THROUGH PURCHASING ONLINE
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The Exchange Lab is powered by Proteus, a creative and innovative trading platform that transforms how you do business.
Proteus offers brands a complete and holistic view of the market by plugging into the biggest and most respected demand side platforms.
This unique approach to trading ensures that you get the best options from each exchange resulting in better performance and return.
Proteus is One for All.
1918
AS A MARKETER, whether or not you are actively using programmatic to reach
your audience online, the fact is the technology is already having a profound
impact on how consumers interact with brands. A constant connection to devices
presents new challenges for brands, including how to reach potential customers
and make the dollars they dedicate to digital count.
PROGRAMMATIC BUYING (using technology to automate the purchase of
media) has demonstrated unprecedented efficiency and is quickly becoming
a mainstream marketing tool. According to eMarketer, programmatic buying,
(real-time bidding) for digital display ad spending will reach 8.5 billion by 2017.
As the rapid rise of programmatic continues, marketers need to understand its
powerful potential and possible pitfalls.
THE MORE YOU KNOW, the more there is to know and a strong programmatic
partner should be a constant and reliable resource for you. Once you’ve found a
solid programmatic partner for your brand, it’s time to take the leap and reap the
benefits that come with a proactive programmatic approach.
HOW BRANDS CAN INCREASE THEIR ROI IN PROGRAMMATICBy Veerle de Lombaerde
VP Enterprise, The Exchange Lab
MULTI-PLATFORM APPROACH IS KEY Trading across multiple demand side platforms (DSPs) ensures brands reach as many of their customers and prospects as possible. The strengths of each DSP can be capitalized on to improve campaign performance. A multi-platform approach encourages competition among DSPs, leading to the best value for the client; this is a distinct advantage for marketers.
CREATIVE MATTERSGreat creative drives engagement with consumers. Clear calls to action are important, along with varied creative that speaks to different times of day, platform, location and so on. It’s important to have a programmatic partner that will work with you to create the best possible strategy and make tailored recommendations instead of simply offering you a plug-and-play approach.
ESTABLISH BENCHMARKSSpeak the same language when it comes to measurement. Clear communication with the team advising and executing your campaigns is vital. When it comes to data and key performance indicators, such as customer lifetime value, purchase size and cost-per-acquisition, the more you share the better equipped your programmatic partner will be.
THREE THINGS MARKETERS SHOULD KNOW BEFORE CHOOSING A PROGRAMMATIC PARTNER:
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3
2120
SANFRANCISCO
BULLIT
PUB CRAWL AROUND THE WORLD WITH THE EXCHANGE LAB
LONDONTHE KING’S
HEAD
SAN FRANCISCO Bullit, 2209 Polk Street
NEW YORK Max Fish, 120 Orchard Street
TORONTO Dog & Bear, 1100 Queen St. W.
From morning to night Bullit is hopping, as a restaurant during the day and a lively party spot at night. The cucumber jalapeno margarita always hits the spot at happy hour and the food is creative and tasty, I like the classic “totchos,” which are tater tots covered in nacho toppings. The vibe is low key and has a cool industrial design that incorporates plenty of natural materials. This is a friendly local watering hole that promises a great time with good people.
Max Fish is a unique bar that was a packed party for over 20 years on Ludlow Street, but had to close because of high rent and re-opened on Orchard Street this past summer. It’s an electric crowd with interesting, original artwork on the walls, a jukebox, old pool table in the back and cheap, strong drinks. It’s open seven days a week from 4pm-4am.
The Dog & Bear is an Empire-styled pub that has become quite popular in a neighbourhood that’s witnessed a massive influx of condo-dwellers over the last few years. While there’s no shortage of restaurant and bar options in the area, the Dog & Bear still fills a hole with its sports-friendly atmosphere and traditional pub offerings. Although the emphasis is on beers and ales, cocktail sippers and wine drinkers have a few options to choose from.
Reina, a bar, restaurant and club popular with trendies and celebs alike, looks across the Bosphorus river onto the gorgeous Istanbul cityscape. Its open plan and outdoor space make it a perfect place to soak up the Turkish sun and then enjoy the glitz and glamour of the Istanbul nightlife. A great place to go for dinner and drinks, it’s extremely popular so make sure you book early.
At first glance, The King’s Head looks like an old shut down Irish pub, which is falling to pieces. When you step through the door however, you’re met with candelabras, rich pink velvet booths and a huge stuffed tiger, flashing its teeth above the central bar. Each room in this converted four storey building has its own theme, unique decorations, plenty of antique stuffed animals and great music.
Don’t judge a book by its cover; this hidden speakeasy lies behind a bookshelf in its library front. You’ll need to tell the bookkeeper a password to enter, and when inside, you’ll find an intimate and beautifully lit cocktail bar. Popular with hipsters (but not over the top), this secret hangout in Chinatown has a great vibe and serves up some deliciously old fashioned cocktails.
ISTANBUL Reina, Muallim Naci Cad.
LONDON The King’s Head, 257 Kingsland Road
SINGAPORE The Library, 49 Keong Saik Street
ISTANBULREINA
SINGAPORETHE LIBRARY
NEW YORKMAX FISH
TORONTODOG & BEAR
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travel case study
TAKING PROSPECTING AND RETARGETING TO NEW HEIGHTS
VIRGIN HOLIDAYS
Client challenge Virgin Holidays is the market
leader for holiday packages
to the United States, Caribbean
and a number of other holiday
destinations. The marketing
objective was to attract new
customers and drive online
package holiday bookings from
the UK to destinations around
the world. The client engaged
The Exchange Lab to deliver
a combination of prospecting
and re-targeting tactics.
Results • Based on last touch attribution, The Exchange Lab achieved a prospecting
CPA 29.3% below target and a retargeting CPA 30% below target
• The Exchange Lab exceeded expectations and out-performed previous
display activity from other programmatic partners.
Strategy • The strategy focused on driving performance across a blend of prospecting
and re-targeting tactics, utilizing 20 different tactic and platform
combinations over four DSPs to discover what media mix would drive
the best campaign performance
• The benefit of using four DSPs meant The Exchange Lab could efficiently
scale delivery on the best performing sites and channels by targeting
35 different exchanges
• Scaled re-bookings while maintaining performance
Insights
A BROAD AUDIENCE GROUP BOUGHT PACKAGES FROM VIRGIN HOLIDAYS, YET THE EXCHANGE LAB WAS ABLE TO DEFINE MORE SPECIFIC DETAILS OF THOSE WHO PURCHASED.
35-44
YEAR OLDS
EARNING
£50K+ ARE INTERESTED IN TRAVELING TO
NORTH AMERICA ON A PACKAGE HOLIDAY FOR
10 + NIGHTS
MALES AND FEMALES CONVERTED EQUALLY
THE HIGHEST PERFORMING CHANNEL CATEGORIES WERE: MAGAZINES BUSINESS
NEWSNORTHAMERICA
50/50MEN & WOMAN
THE HIGHEST CONVERTING AUDIENCE FOR THE PRODUCT WAS;
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automotive case study
CONVERSIONS WERE BROKEN DOWN AS FOLLOWS:
A LARGE PROPORTION OF THE AUDIENCE THAT NAVIGATED TO THE BUILD & PRICE PAGE HAD THE FOLLOWING DEFINING FEATURES:
EMPLOYED AT A LARGE CORPORATION
INTERESTED IN:
1000+EMPLOYEE
MEN 45-54
Build & Price 83% Comparator 6% LAD* 11% BATD** 1%
This suggests that the campaign generated a healthy mix of brand interest and purchase intent.
CANADA
INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL, FINANCE, MOVIES, COMPUTERS AND TECHNOLOGY
Client challenge Volkswagen Canada needed
to drive traffic to their website
with the objective of increasing
both brand awareness and
dealership visits. The target
audience was initially broad
across five Canadian provinces.
Results • Exceeded expectations by 1383%, driving 56,134 conversions.*
• Achieved a 93% lower CPA, hitting targets in every province the
campaign delivered. The individual CPA’s for the Build & Price, Comparator,
and Locate a Dealer conversion points were all lower than the client’s
combined CPA goal.
*The conversions are defined as a user navigating to any one of the following pages on the client’s website: Build & Price, Comparator, Locate a Dealer, and Book a Test Drive.
StrategyInvesting in channel targeting was essential. Targeting the right channels
enabled us to reach the desired mid to high income households that are willing
to purchase a vehicle. This in turn allowed us to build up a cookie pool and
drive substantial conversions.
• The campaign was optimized using three different tactics on three platforms.
• Leveraged past experience in auto campaigns to target the most relevant
and effective channels.
• Used geographic targeting to ensure sufficient audience reach in all of the
provinces specified.
• Retargeted interested audience with pre-roll videos to boost engagement.
• The retargeting tactic operated on all three platforms from the beginning
of the campaign to maximize conversions, followed by re-allocating spend
to the two platforms that delivered the best results.
VOLKSWAGEN Insights
* Locate a Dealer ** Book a Test Drive.
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THE PROGRAMMATIC MERRY MYTH BUSTERTAKING A LOOK AT FESTIVE FABRICATIONS IN SEASONAL MARKETING.
Wrong! This myth is a rumor still carried around by those in the industry not keen
on market advancements that are replacing traditional, out-of-date methods.
Programmatic is not just a place to mop up remnant publisher inventory, but is
used to identify and target your consumer when they are open to engaging with
your brand. This can all be done through accessing and buying high impact, brand
friendly impressions.
This is partly the ad-tech industry’s fault. Buzzwords and acronyms have created
an almost impenetrable bubble of confusion. Simply put, programmatic media is
an automated media buying process that eliminates the need for paper-based
manual buying.
With all the industry advancements, programmatic is fast becoming a one-stop-
shop for the digital marketer. Programmatic covers brand engagement, consumer
development, audience insights, customer retargeting, nurturing, and finding new
customers through lookalike modeling. Many brands are realizing the possibilities
that exist for their brand by implementing programmatic as part of their marketing
strategy. With outdoor, cinema and now connected TV, digital trading will continue
to grow and cover the whole spectrum.
Programmatic media can be used to gain insights into consumer behavior even
before you start spending through pre-targeting on your website. In addition to
the consumer insights garnered from live advertising campaigns, there is a world
of rich data out there that can tell you a story about your audience. Do a deep
dive into your consumers and mould your marketing campaigns around them.
At The Exchange Lab, we’ll share the valuable insights we gain throughout your
campaign so you can apply the learning to your marketing strategy both on and
offline moving forward.
MYTH 1 Programmatic doesn’t do premium inventory
MYTH 2 Programmatic is just one line in your marketing plan
MYTH 3
Programmatic is difficult to understand
MYTH 4 Programmatic can’t be used for customer research
PROGRAMMATIC MEDIA IS ONE OF THE MOST EFFECTIVE TOOLS A MARKETER CAN USE
THIS HOLIDAY SEASON TO TARGET CONSUMERS ONLINE, BUT THERE ARE STILL A FEW MYTHS
AND MISCONCEPTIONS FLYING AROUND THAT MAY BE HOLDING SOME MARKETERS BACK.
LET’S TRY TO DEMYSTIFY THEM FOR YOU:
By Jennie Rock Marketing Manager, The Exchange Lab
27
28
MILLENNIALSHOW PROGRAMMATIC CAN HELP BRANDS REACH
The Millennial audience, born between 1982 and 2001, consists of 105 million people in the U.S. alone. This audience has very different online consumption habits and spends significantly more time online compared to any other consumer group. Millennials have a strong presence on mobile and embrace new technology quickly. One strategy is targeting popular apps with a high number of millennial users. Trending categories for this audience include music, money saving, and social interactive apps such as InstaFollow.
There are various tactics that have proven successful at reaching this active group of consumers. One is third-party data targeting, which is deployed based on the age group or milestones indicated by online behavior. We work with some of the largest third-party data providers including Exelate, Webbula, BlueKai and Lotame in order to have a more developed understanding of this demographic, informing the overall strategy both on and offline.
Geo-targeting areas with a high concentration of millennials is another successful tactic. For example, The Exchange Lab can IP target or geo-fence all colleges and universities on desktop, mobile and tablet.
Millennials form intense brand loyalty with 70 percent claiming they return to brands they prefer. Get to know this social, savvy demographic with us and
make sure your brand is working to engage with them online.
BORN BETWEEN1982 AND 2001
105 MILLION PEOPLE IN THE U.S. ALONE
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GLOSSARYCLICK FRAUD: Click fraud is a type of internet crime that occurs in pay per click online advertising when a person, automated script, or computer program imitates a legitimate user of a web browser clicking on an ad, for the purpose of generating a charge per click without having actual interest in the target of the ad’s link.
COOKIE: a small piece of information (i.e., program code) that is stored on a browser for the purpose of identifying that browser during audience activity and between visits or sessions.
COOKIE BUSTER: software that blocks the placement of cookies on a user‘s browser.
CPA (COST-PER-ACTION): cost of advertising based on a visitor taking some specifically defined action in response to an ad. “Actions” include such things as a sales transaction, a customer acquisition, or a click.
CPL (Cost-Per-Lead): cost of advertising based on the number of database files (leads) received. CPM (COST-PER-THOUSAND): media term describing the cost of 1,000 impressions. For example, a Web site that charges $1,500 per ad and reports 100,000 visits has a CPM of $15 ($1,500 ÷ 100).
DCO: A dynamic creative ad is a personalized or unique ad built in real time when an ad request is delivered to an ad server. The dynamic ad is created on the fly by using a unique ad template and different elements pulled from a merchant product feed.
DSP: demand-side platform allows advertisers and ad agencies to more easily access and efficiently buy ad inventory across multiple ad exchanges through one interface because the DSP aggregates inventory from multiple ad exchanges, simplifying the process.
DYNAMIC IP ADDRESS: an IP address (assigned by an ISP to a client PC) that changes periodically.
EXPANDABLE BANNERS: a banner ad which can expand to as large as 468 x 240 after a user clicks on it or after a user moves his/her cursor over the banner. See iab.net for the IAB IMU guidelines.
FLOATING ADS: an ad or ads that appear within the main browser window on top of the Web page’s normal content, thereby appearing to “float” over the top of the page.
FREQUENCY: the number of times an ad is delivered to the same browser in a single session or time period. A site can use cookies in order to manage ad frequency.
GEO-TARGETING: displaying (or preventing the display of) content based on automated or assumed knowledge of an end user‘s position in the real world. Relevant to both PC and mobile data services. IMPRESSION: a measurement of responses from a Web server to a page request from the user browser, which is filtered from robotic activity and error codes, and is recorded at a point as close as possible to opportunity to see the page by the user. INVENTORY: the number of ads available for sale on a Web site.
OPT-IN: refers to an individual giving a company permission to use data collected from or about the individual for a particular reason, such as to market the company’s products and services. See permission marketing. PAY-PER-CLICK: an advertising pricing model in which advertisers pay agencies and/or media companies based on how many users clicked on an online ad or e-mail message. See CPC.
PIXEL: small code placed on a website, unnoticeable to visitors and doesn’t affect performance. When new visitors arrive the pixel drops an anonymous browser cookie. Later, when cookied visitors browse the internet, the cookies inform your retargeting provider when to serve ads, ensuring your ads are served to a relevant audience.
POP-UNDER AD: ad that appears in a separate window beneath an open window. Pop-under ads are concealed until the top window is closed, moved, resized or minimized.
POP-UP AD: ad that appears in a separate window on top of content already on-screen. Similar to a daughter window, but without an associated banner.
AD BANNER: a graphic image or other media object used as an advertisement. See iab.net for voluntary guidelines for banner ads.
AD BLOCKER: software on a user‘s browser which prevents advertisements from being displayed.
AD IMPRESSION: 1) an ad which is served to a user‘s browser. Ads can be requested by the user‘s browser (referred to as pulled ads) or they can be pushed, such as e-mailed ads; 2) a measurement of responses from an ad delivery system to an ad request from the user’s browser, which is filtered from robotic activity and is recorded at a point as late as possible in the process of delivery of the creative material to the user’s browser—therefore closest to the actual opportunity to see by the user.
AD INSERTION: when an ad is inserted in a document and recorded by the ad server.
AD NETWORK: an aggregator or broker of advertising inventory for many sites. Ad networks are the sales representatives for the Web sites within the network.
AD SERVING: the delivery of ads by a server to an end user’s computer on which the ads are then displayed by a browser and/or cached. Ad serving is normally performed either by a Web publisher or by a third-party ad server. Ads can be embedded in the page or served separately.
AD TRANSFERS: the successful display of an advertiser’s Web site after the user clicked on an ad. When a user clicks on an advertisement, a click-through is recorded and re-directs or “transfers” the user’s browser to an advertiser’s Web site. If the user successfully displays the advertiser’s Web site, an ad transfer is recorded.
AD VIEW: when the ad is actually seen by the user. Note this is not measurable today. The best approximation today is provided by ad displays.
BANNER: a graphic advertising image displayed on a Web page. See iab.net for voluntary guidelines defining specifications of banner ads.
BEHAVIORAL TARGETING: A technique used by online publishers and advertisers to increase the effectiveness of their campaigns. Behavioral targeting uses information collected on an individual‘s web browsing behavior such as the pages they have visited or the searches they have made to select which advertisements to be displayed to that individual.
BONUS IMPRESSIONS: additional ad impressions above the commitments outlined in the approved insertion order.
BOT: software that runs automatically without human intervention. Typically, a bot is endowed with the capability to react to different situations it may encounter. Two common types of bots are agents and spiders. Bots are used by companies like search engines to discover Web sites for indexing. Short for “robot”.
CACHE: memory used to temporarily store the most frequently requested content/files/pages in order to speed its delivery to the user. Caches can be local (i.e. on a browser) or on a network. In the case of local cache, most computers have both memory (RAM), and disk (hard drive) cache.
CACHED AD IMPRESSIONS: the delivery of an advertisement to a browser from local cache or a proxy server‘s cache. When a user requests a page that contains a cached ad, the ad is obtained from the cache and displayed.
CHANNEL: 1) a band of similar content; 2) a type of sales outlet (also known as channel of distribution), for example retail, catalogue, or e-commerce.
CLICK RATE: ratio of ad clicks to ad impressions.
CLICKS: 1) metric which measures the reaction of a user to an Internet ad. There are three types of clicks: click-throughs; in-unit clicks; and mouseovers; 2) the opportunity for a user to download another file by clicking on an advertisement, as recorded by the server; 3) the result of a measurable interaction with an advertisement or key word that links to the advertiser‘s intended Web site or another page or frame within the Web site; 4) metric which measures the reaction of a user to linked editorial content.
The Exchange Lab was recently ranked at number 21 on the annual Sunday
Times Hiscox Tech Track 100, which ranks Britain’s top 100 privately held
technology companies with the fastest-growing sales over the last three years.
The Exchange Lab joins an extensive list of industry leaders who have previously
made the list including; Zoopla, Shazam, and Unruly.
As an independent digital media company, specializing in multi-platform
programmatic media buying, The Exchange Lab has a unique position in
the digital landscape because it is the only company that offers a complete
and holistic view of the market. The company’s proprietary trading platform,
Proteus, is plugged into all the leading demand side platforms (DSPs), creating
a single touch-point that drives the highest level of efficiency for advertisers.
International Media Survey (I-MIS)The Exchange Lab also ranked first in two categories in this year’s International
Media Survey (I-MIS). An annual study into the best reputations and perceptions
of the key players in the international media industry compiled by BSB Media
and The Vision Network in conjunction with Warc, M&M Global and the
International Advertising Association (IAA) and Audience Science. The Exchange
Lab was placed first in two categories ‘best consumer insights’ and ‘most transparent and accountable’ company.
THE EXCHANGE LAB NAMED AMONG THE FASTEST-GROWING COMPANIES IN THE ANNUAL SUNDAY TIMES HISCOX TECH TRACK 100
32
We’re all about communication
Tweet us an idea for our next article
@exchangelab using the hashtag
#IdeaLab and you could win an iPad.
We will announce the winner on social
media by November 7th and feature
the article inspired by their idea in our
next Programmatic Playbook.
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theexchangelab.com @exchangelab
