James Simmons, MATCH Media’s Director, talks about how being Australia’s largest privately-owned media agency allows unbiased media buying as part of their media strategy for clients. He also stresses while there’s been a shift from traditional media buying skills of negotiation to a more scientific approach, we must not forget the art of advertising.

Simmons goes on to provide an insightful overview on how the ecosystem evolution will impact agencies and ad networks while highlighting the many opportunities for publishers in the shake up.

Can you give some overview on MATCH Media's core competencies and offering in the Australian and APAC markets?

MATCH Media, founded in 2003, is the largest privately owned media agency in Australia with billings under management in excess of $130,000,000, with a mix of both global and local clients.

We are experts in un-jumbling today's complex media landscape.  MATCH thrives on communication ideas that create powerful and rewarding connections between brands and people.

MATCH specialise in media strategy tailoring the buying solution to individual clients needs, whilst offering a full suite of digital services to ensure insights are drawn out of the digital marketplace to give our clients an advantage over the competition.

We advise brands on the most effective channels for engaging consumers. We provide a unique combination of communications planning and media strategy across all forms of media and offer full service in digital across all emerging ways of trading.

What is MATCH Media's exchange strategy in Australia?  Are you likely to setup your own Ad Trading Desk - or partner with a DSP?

We deliver the most suitable and effective mix of media for our clients. Clearly, exchange trading is something that has benefits to an advertiser from an ROI, targeting, transparency and immediacy point of view. There is no doubt that exchange trading has given Display a new lease of life with some studies suggesting Display will surpass Search spend by 2015, in large part due to this biddable data-driven form of display audience buying. Exchange trading is more prolific in the States and Europe and with Australian interest rapidly developing; we will ensure we will have the best possible exchange offering for our advertisers.

We are setting up an ATD, however we are not rushing in to a solution straight away as there are a lot of developments on the horizon in terms of DSP technology. We will look to work with all DSPs that enables us to access the greatest pool of inventory possible. That said, people are just as important as the technology. Getting the right skill sets to trade safely and effectively on these exchanges is an industry-wide problem.   Naturally, the Australian market varies from others, which is why we will progress methodically with the roll-out of our ATD, developing learnings along the way.

As an independent agency, Match is in a position to offer unbiased display buying. We will not force spend through the exchanges and value the skills sets developed over many years on the network side and the value of direct buys. It’s all about having the most appropriate mix of suppliers who are likely to best execute in order to achieve a client’s KPI objective.    

What impact is the rise of ad exchanges having on Australian publishers?  Are the big 5 Australian publishers making inventory available to ad exchanges?

It’s not the end of the networks or big 5 that is for sure. The smaller networks may well suffer, as well as any larger network unwilling to react to this new display ecosystem. The Big 5 will need to embrace RTB and exchange trading.  There has been plenty of speculation surrounding certain publishers’ not releasing inventory to ad exchanges. Obviously, these publishers have enjoyed high margins for some period and and exchanges threaten certain business model and is a changing of the guard so to speak. Naturally, there is a resistance to making inventory available. Some will continue to resist, citing their results and efficiencies in hitting KPI targets over many years. Others with evolve their business model; adopt trading desks of their own; and form partnerships with SSPs. One thing for sure – everyone is interested to see what their stance will be and I expect to see of raft announcements from the Big 5 over the coming weeks/months announcing their startegy

As with many things, a certain fear sets in with the unknown. Although, there are opportunities for publishers that lie within this shake up.

As the exchange ecosystem evolves, what will be the impact on the agency model?  Will agencies have to become more tech and data focused?

The good agencies will be analysing and utilising the hoards of data available these days. This data enables agencies to make more informed and therefore better decisions when it comes to the planning and buying process. We are better able to understand the users and their journey in the path to conversion, or whatever that KPI metric might be.

Analysing, interpreting and putting this data to good use requires separate skill sets. When it comes to attribution, you need people who can understand the 3^rd party technologies your clients in order to do things like ensure the metrics each use are consistent. Whether the agency has a bespoke offering or partners with a 3^rd party technology, staff need to be increasingly technical and analytical. The traditional network buy relied on good negotiation skills whereas exchange trading lends itself better to people with a mathematical background.  However important the science part becomes we must not forget the art of advertising.

What challenges do advertisers and agencies face in buying online media in terms of transparency and brand safety in Australia and APAC?

Exchange trading is theoretically more brand safe than trading on blind networks, for example. The reason for this is that the exchange gives the agency the URL of the page where the impression bid was originally made. The agency can screen for the brand safety of the content at the page level before bidding. Besides relying 100% on an algorithm we want to ensure that the ad placement is given context. There are also a number of brand safety tools in the market to ensure we are discarding unsafe impressions.

Where exchange trading can become unsafe is when those trading on the exchanges have not been trained properly.  Eexchanges have varying rules and if the person trading on them doesn’t understand them, your campaign will not be as effective and safety could be compromised.

Are your clients actually aware of ad exchanges? Do they see the benefit of real-time bidding (RTB) and real-time audience buying?

I can only speak on behalf of our clients and it is a really mixed bag however the majority of our clients like to be kept up to speed to latest relevant industry developments. To that end, we will/are educating advertisers on this new display ecosystem and how it will impact them specifically. I don’t think advertisers in general are fully aware of the benefits available to them, as this is such a nascent medium.

The benefits of RTB are quite clear on the surface of things. The algorithm is about getting the right inventory; at the correct scale; for the best price. We then get feedback in order to refine and improve results. RTB provides more granular feedback, within fractions of a second, which enables better decision making. This is a very top line view and it gets more complicated but this is essentially the crux of RTB technology’s value.

How evolved is the ad network space in Australia?  Are we likely to see agencies and advertisers move to RTB and automated buying - and disintermediate existing ad networks and intermediaries?

For the reasons mentioned above, I believe we will see agencies and advertisers utilise RTB and automated buying. Although there shouldn’t be a sole reliance on an algorithm and automation can only get you so far. It is important to have the advertisers appear on the right site contextually, with the most adept creative. A lot of talk around exchange trading and RTB seems to concentrate on the user as an impression rather than a human being. It’s important to keep the customer in mind. If you are going to the trouble of buying an ad you don’t want to waste the opportunity you have with that potential customer by not showing them the right creative, or mix of creatives.

As mentioned earlier, networks will adapt or die. I have would think the people that run these networks will adapt their model, to the benefit of agencies and advertisers. This is an exciting time in terms of the evolution of these networks. You would expect ATDs to cannibalise some of the budget, as they are on the way and deal in the same area. However, if exchanges and networks both provide positive ROI, this ensures greater revenue for the advertiser, which would make sense to reinvest until a point of unviable diminishing return. The outcome will be a better solution for the client

How will agencies plug the skills shortage gap in this new area of display?

This is digital’s biggest issue full stop, first it was display, then search and now DSP’s it is an ongoing challenge for digital due to the phenomenal growth that is achieved year on year and the diversity of skills needed in this medium.

The challenge for agencies is to make themselves attractive to talent and then to keep that talent, as there will be a finite amount of experienced people.  There is no doubt people will come from other industries with more analytical backgrounds but I think it will be an evolution of talent rather than revolution as this sector grows. 

Are you using third party data in any of your media buys?  Do you see the data market growing this year?

Yes we are using data and I expect to see the market grow to a significant volume, however we are still feeling our way around this area at the moment. The speed of adoption may not match the level of interest in this at the moment. To make the point, publishers are still wary of exchanges and still trying to figure out what their proposition is with them.

As mentioned, data is what will drive us all to make better decisions. Advertisers and agencies will certainly be pushing for to make the most of this in the battle to win the race amongst their peers in reaching the best inventory at the lowest floor price. Although, getting the right technology and people in place to make sense of the data and ensure that it’s being interpreted correctly doesn’t happen overnight.

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