Similar to brand safety, data safety has also been a popular topic of discussion. The two are inextricably linked, yet the data side is often under-discussed. The whole industry wants more data, but if a brand does not know how the data has been collected, it may be potentially toxic and pose a risk for brand damage. The challenge is knowing the data they’re leveraging has been properly collected, consented to by the user, and is ultimately trustworthy. The occasional user may not be worried about data collection as long as the content they are consuming is good and their targeted ads are tailored to their wants and needs. However, it is clear that the majority of people do care about their data collection, which in turn means that the industry also has to care. For companies that are worried about the potential revenue loss that comes with distributing improperly collected data, there may be a silver lining. With the direction in which the industry is moving, verified data could be monetized for a higher price than that of its potentially unsafe counterpart. Being able to label data as brand-safe will set a standard for businesses that will be willing to pay more for the security of verified data collection.

With supply path optimization, we look at the balance between advertisers’ desire for a direct path to inventory, and publishers attempt to maximize yield. When publishers make their inventory available in multiple places at the same time, it creates increased complexity for advertisers, as DSPs and buyers drive up costs by bidding on the same impression. 

So how can we collectively simplify the supply chain? On one hand, it would be advantageous for advertisers to reduce the number of paths in order to understand who to work with for the desired inventory. 

There was a time in the industry when everything was bought publisher-direct; but the natural exponential growth of inventory lead to some unsafe practices, making brand safety an important discussion. As a result, a type of regression to the original practices seems to be happening, where advertisers know the publishers with whom they want to work, and stick with them. 

But for publishers, making inventory available in as many places as possible creates the greatest chance to maximize yield. The more supply available, the better the pricing will be from the buy-side; as a result, more demand encourages publishers to anticipate more partnerships. It is crucial for creating long-term relationships that both advertisers and publishers align on how they value their audiences, what their KPIs are, and how they can match one another. 

Programmatic technology has reached digital out of home (DOOH) advertising, and the advantages are substantial. Marketers are eager to make use of the amazing capabilities such as environmental triggers, retargeting using geofencing, and cross-channel amplification. After all, a reported 22% of consumers search, purchase, or take social action within 30 minutes of seeing an OOH ad.

Programmatic DOOH campaigns are able to deliver highly relevant content in a cost-effective way. This is likely why the worldwide DOOH market size alone is projected to grow to $15.9 billion by 2027. Compounding programmatic tactics with the vast capabilities of OOH creates many opportunities for campaign success.

One valuable benefit of DOOH is the ability to customize external data feeds from an advertisement location’s surroundings to deliver precise and relevant content to the consumer based on date, time, location and real-world behaviors.

Some examples of triggers are weather conditions, nearby concerts, sports wins, or even stock trends. By doing this, programmatic DOOH campaigns deliver precise and relevant content to the consumer with speed and flexibility in a cost-effective way.

The vastness and variety of screens are only growing, and the availability of touch screens allows consumers to further engage with the ad using their hands or devices.

One undeniable benefit of audio is that advertisers don’t have to compete for the listener’s attention since only one ad can run at a time. That translates to guaranteed exposure and a higher potential for engagement.

A crucial factor in entering a new age of adtech is practicing a vendor agnostic approach to run a variety of different campaigns successfully. Today, media buyers can rely on historical data from vendors and get actionable insights in order to produce tactics that have a proven track record.

Sticking to the same list of vendors can result in missing out on beneficial collaborations for more diverse campaigns with specific goals.

We already know there were over 1,100 start-ups in attendance this year, so naturally many seasoned speakers were keen on passing on their knowledge to new founders. A lot of discussions focused on how to build your brand and make yourself heard amongst the sea of competing businesses.

David Meltzer, CEO of Entrepreneur.com, had a handful of incredibly useful tips. Firstly, positivity is essential and will come back to you if you put it out into the universe. More so, tell the truth in all things, hook on emotion, and don’t compare yourself to other brands. Saying things like “we’re the ______ of the tech world” causes consumers to make assumptions about your brand that may not necessarily be what you’re trying to express.

Some other common advice is don’t underestimate SEO, nail it before you scale it, network as much as you can, and above all, your consumers will determine how your brand develops. Be adaptable, because you may have a vision about what your product will do or how it will be used, but in the end, your customers will shape it however they see fit.

If you’re a start-up founder or even a future tech entrepreneur, you’ll definitely want to check out Collision 2020. The information is truly invaluable.

When it comes to protecting a brand’s image, precautions are essential. Before running any campaign across Independent Open Web, you’ll want to know which online properties are serving your ads and make sure they meet viewability standards. Be straightforward with vendors, ask them about their supply partners, and more importantly, if you will have access to the list of domains that will be delivering your ad campaign.

Consider how much control you have over where your ads are served, whether or not you can toggle supply sources on or off, and if you’re able to create your own whitelist. Find out how new supply sources are being approved to make sure vendors only onboard the domains that meet all the Brand Safety criteria.  Some vendors may have automated systems in place to scan each domain while others have dedicated Quality Assurance teams that hand pick each site.

Lastly, ask your vendor what they do to avoid false impressions such as non-human bots and whether they use pre-bid or post-bid verification tools.