Gail Chiasson, North American Editor
“Programmatic is the perfect enabler for digital place-based media,” says Alan Smith, chief digital officer for Assembly, New York.
Smith will be speaking at the Digital Place-based Advertising Association #VideoEverywhere Summit Nov. 3 during New York Digital Signage Week. He will be one of several knowledgeable professionals on a panel, moderated by Matt Prohaska, CEO, Prohaska Consulting, that will also include: Andreas Soupliotis, CEO, Ayuda Media Systems; Jim Mollica, vice- president digital marketing, Under Armour; and Jody Smith, product manager, BroadSign International Inc.. They will be discussing the topic ‘Programmatic: The Way Forward for Digital Place-based’.
“It’s all about automation,” says Smith whom we interviewed last week. “It’s complex, because it can use data, demographics, mobile and overlay and more. But it’s still constrained because of inventory. And the role of sales people is totally changing with programmatic. Their role is less transactional and more inspirational. They have to deal with how they can help brands – things that they weren’t always thinking about before. As inventory increases, programmatic will be used more and more.”
We asked Smith his views on such companies as Vistar and VUKUNET. Vistar Media is an advertising platform that enables brands to reach consumers based on their behavior in the physical world. It works with enormous data sets that help it understand where consumers go throughout the day. Through its geospatial technology, it can not only gain valuable insights from this data but also, act on these insights by reaching on-the-go consumers through mobile and out-of-home. Vistar Media claims to be the only company that can offer this seamless experience, surrounding consumers with media across both screens.
“Vistar is an interesting company,” he says. “It has opened people’s eyes on how digital place-based is tied to mobile. It’s something of an evolution. As for VUKUNET, I’ve never worked with it so I can’t offer an opinion.”
We also asked who he thinks is the leader in programmatic.
“Assembly is certainly up there,” he says. “We are transparent in the way we do everything.”
And with programmatic, is pricing going to go down?
“It depends. The theory is that if there is enough value and data intelligence involved, it becomes more valuable so the price could go up, not down. But it could be challenging.”
We also asked Smith what is the best campaign that he has seen in 2015 that was a programmatic buy.
“I’m probably biased but I really think it was Timberland,” he says. “It used location-type data. Venues were aligned with the Timberland brand and it used digital signage. I think it was inspirational.”
And what kind of standardization is needed for programmatic?
“Well, there has to be verification of content and data. I haven’t heard a lot that’s being done in that space yet, but I see that there are companies getting more involved in measuring, so it will all grow.”
At Assembly, Smith is responsible for leading the agency’s digital media practice and managing teams across display, programmatic, search, video, social and mobile on behalf of clients. Smith war liewas head of media investment and programmatic for North America at Essence, an independent digital media agency. During his six-year tenure at Essence, both in the U.S. and abroad, he led such accounts as Google and eBay. He also served as head of media for North America and strategy and was planning director.
PROGRAMMATIC: THE WAY FORWARD FOR DIGITAL PLACE BASED – PROHASKA, UNDER ARMOUR, ASSEMBLY, BROADSIGN, AYUDA takes place in the Broadway Ballroom 16:45- 17:30
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