In Spain, programmatic advertising currently accounts for more than 25% of all digital investment. Whilst the market is much smaller than the UK and other European neighbours like France and Germany, it is starting to develop, but it is not without its challenges.
For starters, Spanish businesses typically work in a far more regimented way, which means that the organisational structures need to be readdressed across departments more frequently to ensure a smooth ebb and flow of data throughout the entire organisation. Breaking down these structures requires strategic partnerships to be established, which are focused on streamlining processes through the use of technology. Removing silos speeds up the capabilities required to adopt a more agile and holistic approach to fast moving programmatic needs.
However, the fact this disconnect exists does mean there are two different types of marketers in Spain, the digital pioneers and the digital agnostics.
The digital pioneers are very familiar with programmatic, committed to improving the effectiveness of their existing strategies and constantly looking to grow.
Whilst the digital agnostics lack a full understanding of the potential benefits of programmatic, are new to the techniques and associated processes of this developing form of advertising and find it all rather confusing.
This dynamic naturally creates a lack of cohesion and a clear divide. When you take these challenges into account, it’s not surprising that Spain has been slow to the programmatic party.
So what’s the solution?
Success in programmatic can often, although not exclusively, be determined by the extent to which agencies and technology partners connect at a strategic level. This partnership not only helps to create a fully aligned strategy and ensures that KPIs are met, it also highlights alternative processes, which can improve the performance of campaigns and the efficient use of budgets.
At Accuen, we believe that agencies like us serve as an effective layer between brands and their technology partners. These partnerships all need be focused on the same goals and objectives to operate successfully, but each also need to understand the value the other can provide to the overall programmatic strategy being delivered.
An agency trading desk acts as the forefront partner for brands, as agencies have the capability to negotiate global agreements with a wide variety of technology partners which advertisers can benefit from. This capability is essential to ensuring the right inventory is acquired and the right audiences are being targeted. If budgets are not being used in the right way, the effectiveness of campaigns will be diminished.
For agencies and technology partners to connect at a strategic level and create high performance strategies it is important that the needs and KPIs set by each individual brand are fully understood, specifically how they are going to evaluate the success of their programmatic activities. At the same time brands need to understand that programmatic is not simply another channel. It requires a greater level of education and transparency, so it is critical that brands understand that programmatic is the future of buying media not only digitally cross device, but across radio and TV as well. Whilst the latter is still for many territories a long way off, brands need to start thinking about a multichannel strategy and how programmatic can influence and drive engagement in other channels like performance, TV, and traffic to point of sale. Understanding these areas will increasingly become more important as greater focus is placed on the measurability of individual investment opportunities for specific audiences.
Breaking down barriers and establishing a universal need for a holistic approach however, is understandably rather difficult, but the dynamic nature of the programmatic landscape cannot be ignored. The solution ultimately lies in achieving greater clarity and more effective systems. There has to be great communication between both the tech partner and the agency in order to create value for the brand. For that to manifest itself into a tangible benefit for brand clients though, technology partners and agencies need to work together. There has to be a strong communication link between both parties and technology needs to be quick in providing solutions and recommendations in strategies in order to provide the best opportunity and potential results for each brand at an individual level.