Radio Ad Officials Looking to Programmatic Sales
ATLANTA -- Data and targeted advertising are the best way for radio to compete with digital media for ad dollars, said ad agency buyers and radio executives at the NAB Radio Show. “We're leaving a lot of dollars on the table by not having that information,” said Jennifer Hungerbuhler, Amplifi U.S. managing director-local video and audio investment. To allow radio to provide the same kind of information as digital advertising, industry officials are looking to programmatic ad technology, which will use computers to automate part of the ad selling and buying process and allow radio broadcasters to collect data and target spots, said ad industry officials, Nielsen executives and broadcasters during several panels Tuesday.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
The Radio Advertising Bureau will soon release a white paper on programmatic ad tech, said consultant Matt Prohaska. In three years, half of radio ad sales will use programmatic tech, said MEC Chief Digital Officer Carl Fremont.
Through automation, programmatic tech is expected to allow ad transactions to happen faster, Prohaska said. That could free radio sales staff to make more sales, said Horizon Media-West Coast Investments Managing Director Tiffany Kirk. Though programmatic ad sales involve handing off some ad sales tasks to software, it's not expected to lead to workforce cuts, Prohaska said. Using the tech may require larger ad sales teams, said Katz Radio Group President Mark Gray.
The data aspect of programmatic ad sales may be more important than the automation, Kirk said. Ad buyers are increasingly looking to buy commercials that are targeted to consumers with specific interests, while radio has largely been able to target audiences only by age and gender, said Kevin Gallagher, Starcom executive vice president-local marketplaces. Being able to target ads more specifically would allow radio to reclaim ad dollars that now go to targeted digital media, Gallagher said.
Though programmatic radio advertising will allow more targeting, it's unlikely to allow radio to precisely “mirror” the targeting and data collection of digital advertising, said Kirk. Radio stations that get involved with programmatic ads should use caution, said Marketron CEO Jeff Haley: “Simplicity of work flow is a high priority.” Radio broadcasters using programmatic tech should walk before they run, he said. Hale also expressed concern about the high cost of the data needed to target ads with the precision of digital media, and the difficulty of determining the impact of radio ads.
Though all the panelists were bullish about programmatic tech, they conceded it has a way to go. The “plumbing” to allow radio to use the technology effectively is still being constructed, said Mike Dougherty, CEO of ad tech company Jelli. Several panelists predicted programmatic ad selling will become so ubiquitous that it will soon just be called selling. The tech will lead a lot of companies that never previously bought to do so, said Wide Orbit Executive Vice President Brian Burdick.