Future of

Programmatic
Digital Ads with Scalable Precision

2021 Edition
“Over the next 24 months, an
incremental $22 billion will enter
the programmatic digital display
advertising market as advertisers
continue to rely on automation
to power their banner, video,
social, native, and even
connected TV ad buys. By 2021,
86.5% of all U.S. digital display
ad dollars, or nearly $80 billion,
will transact programmatically.”

eMarketer
Table of Contents

5 GETTING STARTED WITH PROGRAMMATIC

8 THE FUTURE OF PROGRAMMATIC

10 CASE STUDY: AVEENO’s Data-Driven Master Brand

14 EXPERT PERSPECTIVE: Fully Harnessing Programmatic as it Evolves

19 ESSENTIAL PROGRAMMATIC INSIGHTS

25 NEW APPLICATIONS FOR PROGRAMMATIC MEDIA

For more innovation insights, visit

ana.net/marketingfutures
Innovate.
Accelerate.
Grow.

ANA Marketing Futures focuses on the innovations and trends

that will shape the future of marketing to prepare brands for the
challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

As programmatic marketing continues to shift and evolve,

it’s crucial that businesses understand its vital impact on
opportunities in advertising spaces on different mediums and
platforms.

We compiled research, opinions of industry experts, and

examples from top brands to provide a well-rounded resource
for the state of programmatic advertising today and what it may
evolve into in the future.

FUTURE OF PROGRAMMATIC 4
Getting Started
with Programmatic

What is Programmatic?

Programmatic is an algorithmic, real-time ad buying and selling process

where software automates the purchasing, optimization, and placement
of media inventory by using a bidding-based system. Modern evolutions
in this technology include the use of omnichannel platforms with AI
technology and data integration, which offers greater tracking clarity with
deeper predictability and stronger consumer insights.

FUTURE OF PROGRAMMATIC 5
Getting Started with Programmatic

Why Should Marketers Care?

By leveraging the future of programmatic technology, marketers can

build more targeted ads for narrow segments of consumers that are a
stronger match to the content being delivered. Programmatic systems,
such as blockchain verification of legitimate traffic and advanced AI data
technology, allow for advertisement opportunities to become advanced in
their ability to deliver the right messages and offers to the right audiences
at the best time for each consumer, all while offering unprecedented
media buying transparency.

How Can It Help Your Business?

Staying current on the future of programmatic positions businesses

to leverage the new transparency and efficiency of advanced data
integration and AI technology to target and reach consumers. Advances
in the programmatic space give marketers greater control over and more
information about their ad spending.

They can also focus more on the creative

aspects of advertising, as AI technology takes
care of the data and systems integration.
As programmatic’s reach extends beyond
the digital ecosystem into more traditional
channels, such as TV and Out-of-Home
(OOH), marketers can go even further with
data-driven, personalized advertising.

FUTURE OF PROGRAMMATIC 6
 Matt Sweeney
CEO at Xaxis

“It’s a challenging marketplace, and there’s

so much data coming at [marketers] that
they don’t know what to do sometimes, so
you do what you’ve always done—rely on
traditional KPIs like click-through rates or
cost per thousand impressions. What I think
is exciting is that there are marketers who
are saying, ‘We have to do better than that.’
The promise of digital marketing has always
been for a more engaging, personalized
communication with a customer or
prospect, and we’ve got to deliver on that.”

FUTURE OF PROGRAMMATIC 7
The Future of Programmatic

The future of programmatic includes connected TV, programmatic media

buying, and ad-supported media through omnichannels using different
platforms. Targeted traffic connected by accurate consumer data will reach
a better, more receptive audience.

The audience will find the ads they view addressing their specific consumer
interests, creating higher overall consumer satisfaction with the ad
experience. For example, Econsultancy’s Ben Davis shares:

Ben Davis
Editor at Econsultancy

“This approach enables serving ads on Spotify

during the consumer’s morning commute,
engaging them with an in-feed ad on LinkedIn
during their lunch break, and again while they
are surfing on mobile on their way home.”

FUTURE OF PROGRAMMATIC 8
The Future of Programmatic

This comprehensive approach, which efficiently creates targeted advertising

matches, will also drive advertising costs up. As consumers become
more demanding, their expectations for customized communication and
entertainment in the omnichannel ad space will also grow, requiring higher
quality, more creative advertisements to grab their attention.

As ads better match a consumer’s day-to-day experience, their value will

increase. Consumers will find them less disruptive and more entertaining
or useful. Ads tailored and targeted to each individual consumer should
increase engagement, making investments in higher quality content more
manageable and desirable. This level of customization will result in fewer
advertisements because ad-funding expenses will increase with each ad
that is created.

FUTURE OF PROGRAMMATIC 9
CaseStudy

AVEENO’s Data-Driven Master Brand

AVEENO activated programmatic media across
mobile and desktop screens to develop a
precision approach that combined pinpoint
targeting with personalized messaging at scale.
The program was such a success that the brand
received an Effie Award.

Despite being active in multiple product categories, AVEENO products have

historically experienced very limited cross-category purchasing. The brand
leveraged programmatic media to help raise awareness for its breadth of
products, increase purchase intent and favorability across product categories,
and drive the product portfolio’s incremental sales.

FUTURE OF PROGRAMMATIC 10
Case Study: AVEENO’s Data-Driven Master Brand

One of the first steps in this multifaceted activation involved leveraging

shopper loyalty card data and consumer purchase behaviors to home in
on the target: the primary household purchaser.

Targets were clustered into high-value

audiences based on the AVEENO categories they
were and were not purchasing, allowing the
brand to serve up over 18,000 pieces of unique
and engaging addressable content featuring
products the consumer had not yet purchased.

The combination of purchase-based targeting, shopper data, contextual

environmental triggers, and personalized media drove cross-product
line promotions to consumers in a relevant way and enabled AVEENO to
reach users when they were ready to buy.

To measure success, AVEENO evaluated brand lift and in-store

purchases across various retail partners.
Case Study: AVEENO’s Data-Driven Master Brand

The result was a 12 percent lift in ad awareness

and a 6 percent lift in purchase intent across
all product segments except for Skin Relief,
surpassing benchmarks by 233 percent.

The campaign also generated strong lifts in

brand favorability, proving that AVEENO is a
loved brand, with lifts ranging from 8 to 22
percent across categories.

Finally, the campaign resulted in an average return on ad spend (ROAS)

of $12.61, exceeding the benchmark by 347 percent. Also, two product
segments, Body Wash and Aging Skincare, resulted in ROAS of $29.49
and $28.98, respectively, adding up to a 7 percent sales lift.

The campaign results exceeded all benchmarks—but AVEENO did not stop
there. Its findings allowed the brand to develop an even more robust strategy
for the future, which continues to drive success for the AVEENO portfolio.

FUTURE OF PROGRAMMATIC 12
 Ed Montes
Chief Revenue Officer at Dataxu

“You can’t interrupt people anymore.

You have to come alongside them on
their journey and find a moment where
you can be useful to them, or when
they’re open to information. It’s very
different from the days when we’d blanket
bomb them with 30-second TV ads.”

FUTURE OF PROGRAMMATIC 13
Expert Perspective:
Fully Harnessing
Programmatic as it Evolves

Charles Cantu
CEO at Reset Digital

ANA Marketing Futures spoke with Charles Cantu, CEO of Reset Digital and
the host of the Marketing Futures Podcast, about what’s standing between
marketers and hyper-personal, truly omnichannel, data-driven advertising.

Few areas in advertising are as contentious as the

media supply chain and, specifically, programmatic.
In your opinion, what is programmatic’s greatest
strength and greatest weakness as of today?

The inherent advantage of programmatic media management is

its ability to move into places that do not require programmatic
transactions (television for example) and optimize ad delivery in
more robust ways with better, smarter data. As personalization
becomes more important to consumer engagement, we’re
starting to move away from an attention-based approach to
advertising and toward an intention-based approach. The
challenge will be in navigating the constantly changing media
landscape, and brands must continuously work, test, and learn
alongside their ad partners and scale relationships if they wish
FUTURE OF PROGRAMMATIC 14
to stay ahead of their competition.
 Being that we’ve reached a point
where AI is fully deployable, it stands
to reason that the greatest strength of
programmatic is its ability to do more
with less at scale. What does that mean?
Those doing a “good enough” job have
transitioned away from spreadsheets and
into more robust automated systems.

Unfortunately, many of those folks are now afraid to move.

Herein lies the opportunity and current weakness in the system.
In the early days of programmatic, we labored to inform people
that programmatic was about people. Sadly, due to the cost
of operations, many have chosen to pay people less or keep
people that are less able to think both creatively and analytically.
But there are companies in the media ecosystem that have been
slowly but methodically innovating beyond the tech and data.
These companies and people will continue to stand out and
grow while the others holding on in hopes of a nearby exit will
continue their painful journey.

FUTURE OF PROGRAMMATIC 15
Expert Perspective: Fully Harnessing Programmatic as it Evolves

Are there still technical barriers to overcome for

programmatic to reach its full potential, or is it
now a matter of the application of that tech and the
nature of the brand/agency relationship?

The issues today are issues of humanity. The industry did not
build programmatic based on the outcomes they wanted for end
users, themselves, and the world. It was built based on the pure
and raw ability to capture value from within our industry, and
we’re paying for that shortsightedness now. The good news is
that as marketers and consumers (and even publishers for that
matter) begin to get focused on better outcomes with balance/
counterbalance measurement, programmatic will evolve as a
means to not only drive clicks, completed views, and sales.

Along with other tools, programmatic

will become the means by which
companies deliver better sustainable
outcomes for themselves, their
consumers, humanity, and the planet.

Technically speaking, the bigger issues are around the new

rules being applied to the tools. GDPR, CCPA, and other
forthcoming rules will predicate how everyone is allowed or
not allowed to participate. Being that most of the industry
is far behind IAB standards, it stands to reason that the
industry isn’t fully prepared for advances that are available
to us now. Those of us that are building for the future
understand that we’re developing programmatic and ad
tech tools that you may not be aware you must have yet.
FUTURE OF PROGRAMMATIC 16
Expert Perspective: Fully Harnessing Programmatic as it Evolves

What short-term and long-term advice would

you offer advertisers looking to fully harness
programmatic to drive efficiencies and business
growth?

Find a way to set aside budget for ongoing learnings. Reward

the players internally and externally that represent the outcomes
and the world you want to live in. If you don’t like the people
you’re working with, take responsibility for where you are and
begin your journey to find the right partners. Take note of people
who are really sharing the “innards” of the tech stack and
helping you traverse your journey in a way that galvanizes your
brand equity and success throughout this auriferous process.

Technology is a tool. AI is also a tool.

And just like a bat and ball, grand
slams and home runs happen when
you have the right team, plays,
practice, and players. Choose wisely.

FUTURE OF PROGRAMMATIC 17
 Daniel Gilbert
CEO at Brainlabs

“There is an arms race amongst TV

broadcasters and digital platforms
in terms of programmatic TV. I think
we’re going to see a very accelerated
progression in programmatic TV,
with major breakthroughs happening
next year, [such as] the first
programmatic linear inventory.”

FUTURE OF PROGRAMMATIC 18
Essential Programmatic
Insights

Programmatic advertising uses audience data and technology to tailor

campaigns to the right person, at the right moment, in the right context.
When properly executed, programmatic advertising ensures that brands
only deliver helpful, relevant, and timely content to achieve its desired effect.
Done poorly (e.g. a consumer buys a winter coat at his favorite online store,
and then he gets “followed around” for the next six weeks by online ads for
winter coats he doesn’t need), it can have a detrimental impact on a brand
and waste a company’s most precious resources: time and money.

Studies have shown that billions of dollars of brand investments in digital and
programmatic advertising are being wasted. As digital ad spending continues
to increase, with current projections estimated to reach $517 billion worldwide
in 2023, according to Statista, it has become crucial for brands to be cautious
and informed when moving forward with a programmatic advertising strategy.

The following section curates essential insights for marketers currently

using programmatic or considering it.

FUTURE OF PROGRAMMATIC 19
 Essential Programmatic Insights

Expert Advice
To capitalize on the omnichannel promise,
marketers need expertise and tools from
programmatic agencies, ad tech providers, business
and procurement teams, and trade associations.
Soliciting expert knowledge and advice will enable
brands to build more efficient teams, break down
data silos, and achieve more reliable targeting
attribution while aligning budgets with outcomes.

Mapping the
Supply Chain
Brands should ask their agency for a comprehensive
breakdown of their media supply chain—what each link
in the chain does, how much it costs, and what value
it adds. Complete transparency from the agency leads
brands down a path that could significantly improve the
effectiveness and efficiency of their programmatic digital
media investments.

FUTURE OF PROGRAMMATIC 20
Essential Programmatic Insights

Contract Reviews
and Updates
Companies need to work with legal and procurement teams to
review and renegotiate the terms of agency contracts at least
once a year. Agency partners need to be entirely transparent
and upfront if there are any connections between them, their
holding companies, and any technology partners in the supply
chain. To ensure the agency is optimizing, set objectives and
targets upfront and review performance regularly.

Data Quality,
Access, and Privacy
To avoid data challenges, marketers must:

Ensure data quality, which includes accuracy, completeness,

reliability, timeliness, and consistency.

Work with agency partners to establish a clear process for

data access and help make data sharing easier and ongoing.

Stay up to date on privacy issues in ad tech. Programmatic

must ensure the ethical use of data and that consumer
privacy is fully respected.

FUTURE OF PROGRAMMATIC 21
Essential Programmatic Insights

Ultimately, programmatic technology is a tool, and its essential that those who
use the tool are well equipped with the knowledge and skills to wield it well.

Brands willing to invest in their teams’ skills, whether through hiring

practices or upskilling current staff, are better positioned to run successful
programmatic marketing campaigns. This investment reduces the likelihood
that poor quality data and siloes will hinder the marketing organization. They
can better understand which links in the supply chain add value and which do
not and build a digital advertising model—with the most relevant agency and
technology partners—that delivers optimal value.

Jim Sink
Leader at MediaMath’s Global Partnerships Organization

“Once considered remnant inventory, 69 percent of

all digital media will trade programmatically during
2020. First-party data is now a brand’s best asset,
and marketers increasingly want more transparency
into their digital investments, technology, and
operations. On the downside, the dawn of 2020 has
illuminated that we still have far to go to clean up
our media supply chain so it’s safe, efficient, and
valuable for all parties, from advertiser dollars to
publisher content and success.”

FUTURE OF PROGRAMMATIC 22
New Applications for
Programmatic Media

Programmatic is evolving so rapidly that it’s hard to keep up. There

seems to be an opportunity for programmatic advertising through every
channel, and the following section identifies the frontrunners.

Programmatic
Linear TV
When it comes to media buying, traditional
TV can still deliver a strong brand message
during key moments in pop culture, such as
the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, the
Oscars, or the World Series.

However, there’s only so much watercooler programming and live TV

available in a media buy, which opens up the door for programmatic
linear TV (PLTV).

PLTV is an automated, data-driven method of planning and buying

linear TV advertising that allows advertisers to extend TV reach while
still targeting their core audience. This audience-first approach is
also faster; agencies can build the campaign, get all the parameters
set, and go live within hours. This level of agility gives agencies
more control, enabling them to optimize and adjust bids while the
campaign is live, and provides advertisers with updates in real time.

FUTURE OF PROGRAMMATIC 23
New Applications for Programmatic Media

Programmatic
Advertising on
Wearable Devices
Nearly 57 million people in the U.S. used a wearable
device, like a smartwatch, at least once a month in 2019.

While smartwatch advertising is in its infancy, this channel has

enormous potential for the following reasons:

Sensor technology can capture indicators of a user’s emotions

(e.g., heart-rate variability), providing a channel for highly
personalized ads based on sensual segmentation and targeting.

Smartwatch advertising opens up the opportunity for brands

looking to target a younger audience: the 25–34 segment,
representing 38 percent of the wearable device market.

These devices are a rich source of data. Wearables regularly collect

data on location, lifestyle, health metrics, and real-time moods.

The downside? Data and privacy concerns.

 Jason Furlano
SVP of Programmatic at MiQ’s Toronto office

“I’m still finding that companies are

executing [omnichannel programmatic]
in a very siloed format. They’re looking
at digital-out-of-home, or they’re looking
at OTT or connected television, and then
mobile or desktop activation. And they’re
actually executing predominantly through
separate teams at agencies. They’re
executing across a variety of channels,
but it’s not connectivity focused on
omnichannel in the true sense of the word.”

FUTURE OF PROGRAMMATIC 25
New Applications for Programmatic Media

Accelerated Growth
for Voice Activated
Advertising
From Amazon’s Alexa to Google’s Assistant
and Apple’s Siri, analysts predict 8 billion digital
voice assistants will be in use by 2023, a substantial
increase from the 2.5 billion assistants used in 2018.

From a conversion and revenue generation standpoint, automated

technologies open up endless ad delivery opportunities between
songs or podcast content. Consumers can engage with simple voice
commands like “buy it,” “download the app,” or “I want to learn more.”

As voice-activated assistants and technologies become more

prevalent, brands will have more opportunities to engage listeners
through automated programmatic advertising.

FUTURE OF PROGRAMMATIC 26
New Applications for Programmatic Media

Looking Ahead to 2021

Programmatic advertising is not for the faint
of heart. The industry is laden with challenges,
from evolving privacy regulations to data
issues and ad fraud. However, programmatic
advertising will continue to gain momentum
across all media channels, and the COVID-19
pandemic may help speed up its adoption.

5G networks with unprecedented data speeds will drive further

growth of content streaming on mobile devices, presenting a
significant opportunity for brands to invest in video ads for on-the-
go mobile audiences. Advances in AI and machine learning will only
improve performance ROI through this channel in the long run.

FUTURE OF PROGRAMMATIC 27
Sources
“Aveeno’s Data Driven Masterbrand.” 2018 Silver Effie Award Winner, Data-Driven. Brand:
AVEENO, Johnson & Johnson. Lead Agency: J3.

“Will Three Times Be the Charm?” Keri Bruce, Partner at Reed Smith LLP; Sam Tomlinson,
Partner at PwC. ANA 1-Day Conference: Law and Public Policy, 9/15/20.

“The Programmatic Promise.” MiQ, 2020.

“Fixing the Leaky Bucket: How to Optimize Value from Programmatic Buying.” Jide Sobo,
Director, Strategy & Innovation at Ebiquity, 2020.

“US Programmatic Digital Display Ad Spending.” eMarketer, November 2019.

“Analyst Inbox: Lizzy Foo Kune on Common Programmatic Advertising Issues.” Gartner.

“Analyst Inbox: Lizzy Foo Kune on In-House Programmatic Advertising Challenges.”

Gartner.

“Analyst Inbox: Lizzy Foo Kune on the Best Approach to Programmatic Advertising.”
Gartner.

“The Future of Programmatic Advertising: Top Trends & Tech to Watch in 2020.” Phil
Parrish, ProgaMetrix. April 2020.

“What Does 2020 Mean for the Future of Programmatic Advertising and its Automation?”
Jim Sink, Media Math. January 2020.

“Why One Media Buyer is Embracing Programmatic Linear TV.” Marta Martinez, Think With
Google. September 2019.

“Data Silos: What They Are and How to Get Rid of Them.” Swetha Amaresan, HubSpot.
May 2020.

“It’s Time for AdTech to Get Serious About Data Quality.” Oliver Wellmann, MarTech Series.
November 2019.

FUTURE OF PROGRAMMATIC 28
Our Story
Knowing that marketers are increasingly challenged in their efforts to
keep up with the latest trends and technologies, the ANA tasked itself with
creating a program designed to help marketers anticipate—and prepare for—
the future of marketing.

ANA Marketing Futures is what emerged. With a focus on innovative topics

and emerging trends, ANA Marketing Futures provides resources that will
influence and inform via member cases, research studies, and insight from
industry innovators. Check back often to learn about emerging trends and
become inspired to take steps toward the growth of your business.

ABOUT THE ANA

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Learn more about other game-changing

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