• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, March 23, 2015

With programmatic ad buying expected to top $20 billion by next year according to eMarketer, The 4A's Media Data Committee has drafted a point of view paper on the topic, which will be discussed at a Transformation conference session in Austin on Tuesday.

Bottom line, per the 4A’s paper: “In the case of marketing transformation, programmatic will continue to be the engine of change that makes consumer data actionable. Advertisers and their agencies must align with technology providers ...to promote greater visibility into the new infrastructure being created. Accountability, trust, quality and value are four key pillars on which the foundation of a programmatic future must be laid.”

Kathleen Brookbanks, COO OMD USA, will present more on the paper, authored by GroupM’s John Montgomery and Xaxis’ Brian Gleason, in a 4As Addressability Task Force update session Tuesday afternoon. That presentation will be followed by a discussion about programmatic TV buying that will be moderated by Dave Morgan, CEO Simulmedia.

The paper spells out some background on the rise data management platforms and how those platforms and programmatic buying are changing industry models. For both agency and marketer DMP’s, there are still many unanswered questions, although the paper  states that to get such platforms right requires substantial investment.

“This transformation has been gradual, with significant acceleration in two critical directions” the paper states. “The first is in the construction of systems that generate new forms of business intelligence based on audience data, and the second is the way in which media buying is transacted between publisher and advertiser. These trends are converging on a new media economic model based around the programmatic value chain and its ability to provide linkages with actual product offerings, revenues and technical innovation.

“Key elements of that value-chain include: (a) audience data, (b) technology and trading, (c) content and publishing, (d) newly enabled media channels, and (e) sales data for closed-loop measurement and return on investment calculation.”

The paper notes that “Programmatic trading platforms allow business to reach audiences at scale and, therefore, create unique business value for the both the demand and the supply side of the equation. Content publishers are providing access to quality audiences, pushing programmatic content across devices, and programmatically enabling more interactive channels, including the emerging Internet of Things.”

Also, “analytic solution providers are creating unique value propositions by creating attribution solutions, measurement frameworks and in-depth understanding of the consumer journey.”

“It is important to understand that programmatic and data management platforms sit at the core of the current business transformation. Such a momentous shift, requiring a change in both technological implementation and business model, means that this transformation is and remains very much a work in progress. Programmatic’s clearly accelerating trend lines, however, are a clear indication of its place at the core of media buying systems of the future.

“In other words, agencies and advertisers are starting to understand clearly the potential impact such a shift can have on their businesses.”

More on the POV can be accessed here.