Of the major challenges in buying media programmatically, marketers across the globe list brand safety as #2. To combat these concerns, 47 percent of marketers have increased their use of contextual targeting, with 29 percent more planning to do so. Launched in Q4 2018, MediaMath Contextual powered by Oracle is a pre-bid targeting solution that drives conversations with consumers and aligns brand messages when and where they are most relevant. With MediaMath Contextual powered by Oracle, marketers can expect a more accurate and faster solution, making topics available for targeting, or avoiding, within minutes.
We had a chance to catch up with Eric Rector, Head of Partner Management at Oracle Data Cloud, to learn more.
Q. Why did Oracle Data Cloud and MediaMath decide to work together to bring a contextual product to life?
A. Oracle Data Cloud and MediaMath have been working together for years to offer best-in-class solutions to digital advertisers. MediaMath and Oracle Data Cloud have found common ground in a commitment to understanding and respecting the customer, which serves as the foundation for what is now MediaMath powered by Oracle. By realizing early on how important it was to get pre-bid contextual targeting right for its clients, MediaMath has genuinely been able to leverage the power of Oracle Data Cloud. This places our two organizations in a perfect position in which to collaborate to bring this comprehensive contextual intelligence offering to life.
Q. What are the key differentiators of this product?
A. The industry-leading contextual intelligence technology from Oracle Data Cloud is truly a step above the rest.
- Content defines relevance: This advanced contextual algorithm has a unique ability to look at the actual content on a webpage to influence decisions around relevance to a brand message. Where competing technologies wield heavy reliance on keyword indicators in the URL string to determine the context of the page, for example, MediaMath Contextual powered by Oracle goes deeper, examining things like word relationships and frequency to confidently and efficiently determine true context.
- Pre-bid drives efficiency: It would be remiss if I did not highlight that MediaMath Contextual powered by Oracle is a pre-bid solution. The beauty of pre-bid is that it allows the marketer to avoid wasted spend by enabling the decision around targeting to take place before the bid transacts. Why pay for an unused placement?
- Real-time decisions ensure accuracy: Today’s content ecosystem is continuously evolving. Just because a page was safe yesterday does not mean that is the case today. The real-time nature of MediaMath Contextual powered by Oracle is continuously re-categorizing to ensure targeting decisions are made based on the most relevant and up-to-date content out there.
Q. Why should marketers and agencies be excited about the release of MediaMath Contextual powered by Oracle?
A. Together, MediaMath and Oracle Data Cloud are committed to making the life of a marketer easier. So, in addition to providing a welcome space for advertising through contextual intelligence, we want to provide marketers with efficiency and accuracy in targeting, along with optimization of spend.
We understand that each brand is truly unique, so the ability to offer customization is something we hang our hat on. In the case of brand safety, for example, what is safe for one brand is not necessarily safe for another. We take this seriously and believe it provides real value for our customers.
Q. What makes YOU most excited about the launch?
A. Contextual intelligence is an exciting and high-growth area for programmatic, and it is only becoming more relevant. The opportunity to collaborate with MediaMath and bring this contextual offering to market is the first of many successful endeavors as we dive further into our “Super Friendship” with MediaMath. That is very exciting indeed.
Q. Now that MediaMath Contextual powered by Oracle has been released, what’s next for the relationship?
A. Last year was a defining one for the Oracle Data Cloud and MediaMath relationship, and we are excited to see what successes 2019 brings. We are currently working together to bring new data types to our joint pre-bid solution. This variety in data types will better enable our mutual customers to make intelligent decisions before the bid occurs.
Q. What are both the big challenges and the big opportunities you think marketers will face in 2019?
A. One of the significant challenges that marketers will continue to face in 2019 is the navigation surrounding the use of first-party data, as well as the implications of regulations that impact the ability for brands to reach their ideal customer. This is also a great opportunity, however, as MediaMath Contextual powered by Oracle lends itself exceptionally well to this environment due to its cookie-free nature. This allows marketers to continue to effectively reach consumers without disrupting the integrity of their campaigns.
Cassie Albee is a Sr. Manager of Product Marketing working closely with the Product team to launch audience, data and identity products that are integrated into every part of MediaMath’s technology stack. She focuses primarily on positioning and communicating the value of these products and how they make the marketer’s and agency’s job easier. Cassie lives in New York City, but originally hails from Massachusetts. As such, she is a die-hard Patriots fan, despite the heckling she receives on a daily basis.
Eric Rector is Head of Partner Management for Oracle Data Cloud where he focuses on ensuring the growth and overall success of our enterprise solutions among our channel partners. Prior to joining the Oracle Data Cloud team, he was Director of Publisher Development at Undertone, implementing the organization’s first-ever guaranteed publisher contracts, securing millions of dollars’ worth of publisher inventory. Eric brings more than 10 years of deep industry expertise and relationship management to Oracle Data Cloud, holding previous positions at Digital First Media as the director of sales, and Cox Digital Solutions, plus notable roles at PubMatic and Microsoft—each one highlighting a track record of high-growth initiatives and success.