Carlo Bertozzi is the CEO of Longtail. Here he talks about why the launch of bidr, Longtail's new ad trading desk, fills a gap for advertisers in the Australian marketplace. He discusses how RTB will bring greater scale and efficiency to the Australian market and how its commitment to a completely transparent ad trading model allows Longtail to focus on the core business of driving acquisition and conversion in the audience-buying space.

Could you give a bit of background as to how the idea for bidr (an independent ad trading platform) evolved and its offering in Australia?

The idea for bidr evolved very early in the genesis of Longtail – we have always had a highly developed media and ad technology focus but the development RTB and exchange trading really allowed us to open up the strategies and develop them on a larger scale.

The holistic view of a clients data across multiple exchanges provides a powerful platform if you know how to exploit it. We’ve developed proprietary analytical and targeting analysis that allows us to build successful, sustainable acquisition and data strategies, making the most of the DSP platforms.

Our remotes in a full service agency also mean we have a strong appreciation of the connection between technology, creative and media, and our trading strategies reflect this, often aiding the development of a more effective creative strategy.

Are you planning to have a national presence with offices in Sydney and Melbourne as well as Perth?

Yes we are working on an East Coast presence with Sydney first on the agenda.

What does it mean to be an ‘independent’ ad trading desk? What benefits will bidr offer advertisers?

Being independent simply means we are not affiliated with any of the agency networks.

bidr will appeal to clients keen to build market share, who are strongly acquisitions focused and understand the value of their customers. It also anticipates working with select strategic agency partners who want to engage with a specialist in this area to support their business.

 bidr uses best of breed advertising technology, an ever-evolving mix of inter-related platforms, to deliver on its audience and data strategies. As one of the first agencies in Australia to actively leverage screen-traded digital media and audience targeting as far back as 2008 we have proved the value of combining micro-segmentation, audience insights and real time bidding. 

The methodology and models that underpin the bidr model have evolved from the innovative approach to digital media that Longtail developed over the last four years, integrating strategy, technology, creative and execution.

We are also have significant experience in delivering data driven display campaigns at a regional level across all of the key states – which in itself requires a very specific skillset and understanding of the digital landscape.

Does being an independent trading desk mean greater transparency in the ad trading model?  Is your financial model fee or performance based?

Yes. We offer our clients flexibility and we work on both a fee or performance basis and regardless of set-up we ensure complete transparency across all aspects of the ad trading model.

We know there are a number of models being promoted at the moment, some more transparent than others but we see transparency as being paramount to give brands confidence in the space.

What benefit does an independent trading desk provide to Advertisers? Agencies? Ad networks?

Advertisers have the opportunity to step outside of their normal full service or media relationships and work with a specialist who can leverage their cross channel media spend to build sustainable platform neutral acquisition strategies unfettered by past historical activities. We’re looking to work with brands that have aggressive and ambitious acquisition targets – that is where we thrive.

On a more granular level, can you explain what type of impact on spend an advertiser would expect to see using an independent trading desk? ROI? Traffic? Efficiency?

A trading desk will deliver significant improvements in all of the metrics you listed, and more, over a traditional digital media model.

Can you explain through an example how bidr would work for say a financial advertiser?

Financial advertisers should already be knee deep in this space if they are getting the right advice! For example the opportunity to leverage their owned media and first party data strategies for example is huge, enabling these brands to grow key market segments and actively cross-sell between segments.  The ability to deploy to market new acquisition initiatives with scale and detailed targeting is also appealing for financial advertisers, especially as third party data becomes more accurate and readily available.

How does bidr use first party data to further optimise advertising spend? Is 3rd party data also be employed?

We use first party data in a number of ways beyond the myriad of creative and media re-targeting but its experimental in these areas. We're certainly developing some very granular targeting strategies but overlays with profile data is creating some interesting insights into attribution and recency. We have trialled integrating third party data but its still difficult to find quality sources in Australia that offer the quality and granularity locally. However we are actively seeking new options and we are in discussions about data with a number of publishers as they gradually start to open up to the concept of data deals.

How will you guarantee brand safety to advertisers as part of your offering?

We leverage the Peer39 semantic targeting data to avoid any impressions that are unfavorable, objectionable, or just not aligned with a clients’ brand.

What type of traction do you expect bidr to gain in the first 6 – 12 months of trading? We have some fairly modest targets at the moment but we’re geared to grow rapidly and as we anticipate this being a significant growth area for media in Australia and AsiaPac as a whole, as it has been in US and Europe.

What trends do you see over the next year for display advertising? Video? Mobile?

Mobile exchange traded inventory is very much on the agenda and there are a number of mobile sources in play. Screen traded inventory is the biggest thing to happen to cross channel digital marketing which is what makes this such a powerful trend – it will open up all forms of digital media in the future.

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