data-driven advertising for the travel industry

Digital Data-Driven Advertising for the Travel Industry Suzanne Schultz, Hollis Thomases and Bruce Rosard

©2013 PhoCusWright Inc. All Rights Reserved.

PhoCusWright’s

SPOTLIGHT

December 2013

Suzanne Schultz, Founder and Digital Media Strategist, Growth Marketing WerksSuzanne pioneers the digital media landscape and fulfills her passion for advertising as founder and digital media strate-gist of Growth Marketing Werks, a boutique digital media consultancy. Suzanne launched her media career as an adver-tising sales executive with The Boulder Daily Camera, Food Network, Fine Living and DIY Network. In 2008, Audience Science, a performance-driving leader in audience targeting and retargeting, hired Suzanne to generate revenue from the Midwest territory. As she was able to during her previous positions, Suzanne diligently built the new territory into a multi-million dollar revenue driver. Today, Growth Marketing Werks is a go-to solution for ad agencies and advertisers who are in search for results-driven, digital media strategy, media training, panel participants and more. Suzanne earned her degree in Business Administration (with an emphasis in Marketing ) from the University of Colorado’s Leeds School of Business.

www.growthmarketingwerks.com

Hollis Thomases, Entrepreneur, Author, Columnist, Digital Strategist & Client AdvocateAn independent digital marketing and advertising consultant, Hollis started her first company, Web Ad.vantage, in 1998. Now wearing the hat of “client advocate” Hollis helps companies navigate the complexity of the ever-changing digital marketing and advertising landscape using fact-based assessments and analysis. Over the years, Hollis has served a di-verse client roster including Nokia USA, Endo Pharmaceuticals, SANYO Biomedical, UNICEF Canada and Johns Hopkins University. Hollis authored the book, “Twitter Marketing: An Hour a Day,” published in January 2010 by John Wiley & Sons. She has also been a regular columnist for Inc.com (“Digital Entrepreneur”) and ClickZ (“Digital Media Planning”) as well as a contributing expert to Social Media Marketing Magazine. In 2007, Hollis was the U.S. SBA’s “Maryland Small Business Person of the Year.” She is a graduate of Cornell University.

http://www.linkedin.com/in/hollisthomases

Bruce Rosard, CEO, UP211Bruce launched UP211 to provide strategic marketing and business development services to companies in the travel vertical. With 30 years executive level experience in travel, Bruce currently serves in a number of roles, including as executive vice president of the Mountain Travel Symposium, the largest event for mountain travel professionals in North America and as president of Travel Massive Global, a travel industry community now in 38 cities in 9 countries. He is also an active mentor with TechStars, the #1 start-up accelerator in the world. Previously, Bruce was vice president, sales and marketing, for PhoCusWright, the travel industry’s leading research and event company. At PhoCusWright, he led a global team focused on how travelers, intermediaries and suppliers connect. Prior to joining PhoCusWright, Bruce was the founder and CEO of Moguls Mountain Travel, a pioneer in online marketing and distribution. He engineered the sales of Moguls to RSN, a venture backed firm, and to Intrawest, a public resort operator. Bruce graduated with honors from the University of Connecticut, majoring in marketing and minoring in skiing.www.up211.com

http://growthmarketingwerks.com

http://www.inc.com

http://www.linkedin.com/in/hollisthomases

http://up211.com


Digital Data-Driven Advertising for the Travel Industry December 2013

About PhoCusWright

PhoCusWright is the travel industry research authority on how travelers, suppliers and intermediaries connect. Independent, rigorous and unbiased, PhoCusWright fosters smart strategic planning, tactical decision-making and organizational effectiveness.

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InTrODucTIOnAt $20.1 billion, U.S. digital advertising revenues hit a landmark in the first half of 2013, according to a survey conducted by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PwC U.S. as part of their ongoing IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report. This number represents an 18% increase over the $17 billion reported in the first half of 2012. As digital advertising continues to grow, advertisers will have unprecedented access to new advertising opportunities. Unlike traditional digital advertising, which involves media planners making decisions about the placements of ads based on publishers and sections of content, data-driven advertising relies on robust technologies that utilize consumer data to identify and deliver ad impressions to targeted users at an appropriate point in the shopping process. Data-driven advertising helps to eliminate excessive ad spending on untargeted impressions, improving overall campaign efficiencies.

Most travel advertisers want to drive action (i.e., bookings, revenue). With its unparalleled level of return on investment, data-driven advertising can accomplish this goal. Data-driven advertising reaches target audiences at low, controllable costs while creating the potential to scale campaigns. Once campaigns are scaled, ad technology optimization engines can learn and improve campaign performance over time. Quality data, when matched with advertising inventory and smart technology, can drive campaign performance to even greater levels. Due to its potential, data-driven advertising has evolved rapidly into a highly sought after revenue generation tactic.

SPOTLIGHT OvervIewData-driven advertising impacts outcomes and drives sales at greater speed and efficiency. However, because of its complexities, data-driven advertising can be difficult to understand. This Spotlight provides explanations and information needed to navigate the performance-based, advertising

Digital Data-Driven Advertising for the Travel Industry

Suzanne Schultz, Hollis Thomases and Bruce Rosard

http://www.iab.net

http://www.pwc.com/us

http://www.iab.net/adrevenuereport

http://www.iab.net/adrevenuereport


ecosystem. IAB, the advocacy organization for digital advertising, is referenced multiple times in this report.

This Spotlight is divided into five sections:

1. Section one defines the digital data-driven advertising ecosystem and educates the travel advertiser on the pillars of these types of advertising campaigns and their considerations;

2. Section two empowers advertisers with 10 simple steps for getting started in this ecosystem;

3. Section three gives recommendations to circumvent obstacles that may get in the way of successful execution;

4. Section four offers several travel-related case studies; and

5. Section five identifies top providers of data-driven advertising to the travel industry and showcases their capabilities and solutions. In this Spotlight, the term “providers” refers to companies providing advertising solutions.

SecTIOn One

The Digital Media LandscapeThe IAB has produced a reference tool outlining “what’s what?” in the digital advertising ecosystem called the IAB Digital Advertising Arena. Specifically, the tool identifies each component a marketer needs to consider when effectively executing a digital advertising campaign. Compared to the LUMAscape, which had been the definitive reference guide for ad-tech professionals since 2010, the IAB Digital Advertising Arena has simplified the supply chain while maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem (see Figure 1).

The blue ring represents companies that provide advertising opportunities. The red ring represents ad campaign “add ons.” This report focuses on and further explains the components within these two rings.

Key PillarsThree pillars comprise data-driven advertising: 1) data, 2) inventory and 3) technology. The success of each pillar hinges upon campaign objectives and goals that the advertiser sets prior to launching its campaign.

Data PillarData delivers the ”who” when trying to reach a particular target audience. In traditional digital media ad buys, a travel brand selects specific “premium” publishers whose content aligns with the target audience, but in so doing, the brand also must pay premium CPMs. On the other hand , data-driven ad campaigns identify targets using ad technology – audience targeting,


http://www.iab.net/iabarena

http://www.slideshare.net/fullscreen/tkawaja/luma-display-ad-tech-landscape-2010-1231/1


predictive modeling, look-alike modeling and act-alike modeling – and then find those targets within inventory sources accessed through DSPs, ad networks and publishers. When various data sources can be aggregated or combined, specific targeting becomes even more accurate. Once a campaign goes live, each provider optimizes audience data differently. Optimization is explained further under the technology pillar.

Inventory PillarInventory refers to the ad placement opportunities advertisers use to reach their target audience(s). In vast supply and accessed across many channels, digital media inventory can come in many forms, such as (but not limited to) display, video, mobile and social.

Inventory comes from two sources, depending on the inventory type:

1. firSt-party inventory means it comes directly from publishers. An advertiser’s campaign can access this inventory by buying directly from the publisher or a full-service DSP and/or ad network that has direct relationships with publishers. This type of inventory is considered premium due to a direct plug into the publisher’s system.

2. third-party inventory is made available through an ad exchange derived from both short-tail and long-tail publishers.

The world of inventory acquisition is measured in three currencies: CPM, CPC and CPA. Regardless of how a campaign performs, publishers want to ensure they get paid without diluting the integrity of their brand by bringing in low-quality advertisers (think late-night TV infomercials). CPM guarantees payment for the publisher while attracting high-quality advertisers. CPA and CPC models have the potential to expose advertisers’ brands to areas that could sacrifice brand integrity; inventory typically comes from long-tail publishers with low-quality content. Even if a campaign is bought on a CPM basis, ad technology optimization engines will enhance the goals set up prior to campaign launch (e.g., $100 CPA or $10 CPC).

Figure 2 represents the inventory currency ecosystem. The shaded circles show a CPM model and how it relates to publishers.

Depending on whom they select to buy from, advertisers can purchase ad inventory from companies that offer either dynamic pricing or flat fees.

• In dynamic pricing, a DSP makes a real-time CPM-based bid for inventory (“impressions”) on the exchange and passes the winning bid pricing along to the advertiser. Parameters can be set to cap the max bid, similar to search advertising. However, most DSPs that offer dynamic pricing will advise advertisers to set an eCPM (effective CPM). An eCPM allows the DSPs flexibility in the price of an impression, enabling them to dial the bid up or down in order to meet the campaign’s objective. By setting an eCPM,



the advertiser does not miss out on reaching a potential customer who may have been restricted with a straight CPM-based buy.

• DSPs, ad networks and publishers can all offer flat fee pricing. Flat fees provide advertisers the comfort of knowing the contracted CPM and, therefore, it easier for the advertiser to hold the media provider to this fee. Lastly, flat fees include the markup, so there are no hidden costs.

Technology PillarTechnology is the backbone that brings data and inventory together and, consequently, is integral to what makes data-driven advertising effective. Both DSPs and ad networks have proprietary technologies – their “secret sauce”– that support and manage campaign effectiveness. As Google protects its search algorithms, so do providers guard how they define, optimize and confirm an audience. As a result, the ability to expand on the technology pillar is limited and advertisers must test providers to determine the effectiveness of their “secret sauce.”

Source: Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB)


Figure 1

Advertising Arena



OTHer DATA-DrIven ADverTISInG cOnSIDerATIOnS

creative OptimizationFor the travel advertiser, manually managing the various markets and messaging based on market prices, weather and seasonality can be incredibly overwhelming and labor-intensive. If products, services and/or offers fluctuate depending on the target market, consider employing creative optimization (“dynamic creative”). At time of ad call, a dynamic ad can be created on the fly by using a unique ad template and different elements pulled in from a feed or data source, such as a weather feed, an advertiser’s abandoned shopping cart, a consumer’s purchase from the advertiser’s website, geographic location by IP address and more. Dynamic creative enables an advertiser to deliver one-to-one marketing to a user, while making more efficient use of creative resources.

Advertising risksWhile data-driven advertising boasts incredible potential, it also comes with risks. Advertising is a big business; where dollars flow, so do unethical and fraudulent business practices. The complexity of digital advertising exacerbates the potential of becoming a victim.

Fraudulent activity can come in a many forms, and the topic could warrant an entire article. The two primary forms of fraud are human click-farms and bots. Human click-farms pay people to sit at a computer and sporadically make “false” clicks. Bots also produce ‘false’ clicks, but run on automated software that generates clicks multiple times per day. Both human click-farms and bots trick optimization engines into elevating a specific website user’s worth, which can lead to optimization towards incorrect audiences and/or inventory sources.

Unfortunately, certain types of travel advertising are more susceptible to fraud, such as those that send site traffic to a third-party partner site or a booking engine to complete a booking. At the place or page from which the targeted user leaves the advertiser’s site to click on the third-party partner site or booking engine, the travel advertiser typically loses its ability to gather insight and fully track the user through to a conversion. Due to the inability to tie back the conversion to hard data, this type of conversion is considered a “soft conversion.” Human click-farms and bots can identify and home in on soft conversions – not only sending false traffic to the advertiser’s site, but also firing false clicks and soft conversions.

An advertiser’s investment can be protected by implementing the best practice tips below:

• Ensure selected media providers have safety measures in place to identify and deter fraudulent activity from entering their inventory sources.



• Monitor websites and other analytics for signs of unusual behavior, such as, but not limited to: unusual site traffic increases; similar KPI performance across vendors, creative and/or tactics; the same IP address credited for the same conversion multiple times; and the same IP address visiting the website multiple times a day or a week.

• Set up a hard conversions. Define the hard conversion by an action that can be tracked by hard data such as an email sign-up, booking, or request for a visitor guide. Refer to Thwarting Obstacles to Opportunities, Opportunity #3, later in this Spotlight to learn how to set up a hard conversion with a third-party partner.

niche Target Audience restrictionsAn advertiser needs to be able to scale-up traffic from its target audience. Unless the advertiser’s website sees large enough volumes of traffic to to drive conversions, the ability of a provider’s optimization engines to ramp-up and perform will be restricted. As a result, the advertiser’s campaign will likely fail. Asking providers what their site traffic and conversion figures should be in order for their optimization engines to work effectively can help prevent restrictions from happening.

SecTIOn TwO

Get Started…Getting started may seem overwhelming, but pushing marketing boundaries pushes advertisers’ companies into new, more performance-based, accountable territories. Here’s how to get started:

1. Set clear objectives, KPIs and goals.

2. Ensure the team in place can handle the campaign bandwidth. Requirements vary by: a. In-house or out-of-house agency b. The number of utilized ad providers. c. The demands for internal communication and reporting

3. Identify five to 10 providers to evaluate.


Source: www.liesdamnedlies.com


Figure 2

Inventory Currency Ecosystem


4. Use Luma Partner display LUMAscape to identify additional providers.

Read trade publications such as iMediaConnection, DigiDay, AdExchanger, Ad Age Digital, AdWeek Technology and thought- leadership reports.

5. Talk with peers who are already successful in this space and ask them which vendors are preferred and why.

6. Talk to providers and learn about five to 10 of their offerings. a. If time is a concern, consider hiring a digital media consultant and/or a digital media agency to vet the providers (the number of providers you need to vet will depend on campaign objectives, budget and flight length).

7. Remember to plan for the development of ad creative, landing page development, campaign tracking and reporting to ensure alignment with campaign strategy.

8. Choose 1-3 providers. a. The number of providers included depends on budget and flight length.

9. Run the campaign for at least 30 days to gain enough insights to make future choices.

10. Listen to the recommendations and trust the expertise of chosen providers.

11. Be patient.

12. Test. Learn. Evaluate. Repeat. a. The data-driven advertising space changes daily, which means that step 10 will be continuous.

SecTIOn THree

Thwarting Obstacles to OpportunitiesThe complexity of data targeting can lead to great opportunities, but also great hindrances. Follow the recommendations below to increase your expertise in data targeting and avoid potential obstacles.

Opportunity #1: unlock first-party data and convert it into defined digital media targets obStacle: First-party data (such as data sourced from an advertiser’s own CRM, site analytics, call center data, etc.) as well as budgets may reside in different organizational silos, which can prevent the level of access needed to deliver the necessary targeting.


http://www.slideshare.net/fullscreen/tkawaja/luma-display-ad-tech-landscape-2010-1231/1

http://www.imediaconnection.com

http://digiday.com

http://www.adexchanger.com

http://adage.com/channel/digital/20

http://www.adweek.com/technology


recommendation: Bring all associated departments – marketing, customer acquisition and website engineering– into the conversation during the strategy phase rather than waiting until the deployment phase. Get all departments onto the same page prior to the sign-off phase to avoid breakdowns during the deployment and management phases.

Opportunity #2: evaluate an ample supply of providers obStacle: Too many providers, too many claims. How can we separate the mediocre from the excellent?

recommendation: Set aside a three-to-four week time period to hear from as many providers as possible. Develop of series of questions that address your objectives, KPIs, goals and the provider’s platform solutions. Use the same set of questions for each meeting. Evaluate each provider based on alignment of objectives, KPIs and goals, the provider’s solution, reputation and customer service. Be wary of providers that claim to do everything yet lack willingness to share what’s “under the hood” when asked for specifics about the three key pillars: data, inventory and technology.

Opportunity #3: Track conversions in real-time and optimize based on conversion obStacle: For travel advertisers, many times the conversion (the booking, for example) occurs outside of the advertiser’s site, limiting their ability to do both real-time conversion optimization and proper attribution. The inability to track and measure off-site conversions circumvents the whole notion of data-driven advertising and has the potential to impede performance.

recommendation: Identify where the final conversion occurs and engage that location’s entity in a conversation early on to discuss performance-based advertising. If the entity is unfamiliar with how performance-based advertising works, take the time to educate them. Ask the entity to implement a conversion pixel on the final “thank you” page. If the source prohibits this type of activity, it’s important to define up-front the critical KPIs that can then be tracked as hard conversions during the campaign by the provider.

SecTIOn FOur

Travel case StudiesLearn how other advertisers are using data-driven advertising by reviewing the case studies below (note that the following travel case studies are submitted by providers and have not been independently verified).



national Air carrier exceeds cPA Goal by 53% (Provided by Adara)

campaign Objective• In this test campaign, Adara was tasked to promote, via its first-party data partnerships, a travel brand to a unique in-market traveler audience traveling to Chicago

Method• Utilizing first-party partner data from Kayak, Sabre, Travelport, Marriott, Hilton, IHG, Preferred Hotels, Ritz Carlton, and Room Key. Adara precisely targeted travelers when they were searching for travel on routes serviced by the airline

• Adara delivered advanced retargeting of site visitors by

• Removing those site visitors who converted to avoid wasteful duplicative use of impressions

• Utilizing short retargeting windows to increase the relevance of the remessaging

results• The campaign ended with a cumulative cost-per-customer acquisition 53% lower than goal.

• The success this $15,000 test generated in 2011 rolled into 2012 renewals worth more than $400K in advertising spend.

Airbnb Increases Bookings from 800,000 to 2M (Provided by Google)

campaign Objectives• Acquire customers for Airbnb

• Attract, engage and inspire an audience beyond travelers

• Increase awareness about Airbnb among consumers in target cities and countries

Method• Remarketed with Google display ads

• Used striking images of actual rental accommodations to bring them to life

• Purchased TrueView ads on YouTube to educate users about Airbnb’s service



results• In one year, the website increased the number of nights booked from 800,000 to 2 million.

Other Online Travel case Studies (Provided by respondents)http://www.advertising.expedia.com/en-us/about-ems/case-studies/

http://www.google.com/think/case-studies/loews-hotel-similar-audiences.html

http://www.google.com/think/case-studies/case-study-myrtle-beach.html

http://rocketfuel.com/resources/case-study/success-story-sands-casino-resort

http://rocketfuel.com/resources/case-study/lufthansa-soaring-savings-lufthansa

http://www.sojern.com/success-stories.html

SecTIOn FIve

Provider reference GuideEach provider has a unique marketing solution that benefits travel advertisers, though for providers, advertising performance is their primary objective. The Provider Reference Guide sheds light on how each of 10 providers delivers its unique offering, and compares the providers’ capabilities and solutions.

MethodologyThe data in this report was compiled by surveys and interviews of top providers of digital data-driven advertising to the travel industry. Providers were identified by vertical, product offering and marketplace demand.

• 10 media providers participated in the research, ranging from ad networks and DSPs to publishers and DMPs

• Interviews for this report were conducted between July 22, 2013, and August 19, 2013

• Interviewees filled out a 19-question survey prior to a phone interview

• Phone interviews lasted 30 minutes

accordant media is a full-service DSP with a broad range of solutions that extend beyond the traditional offerings of display, video, mobile and social, such as in-stream audio, digital out of home and programmatic TV. Furthermore, its solutions can track and optimize across channels, except for mobile and digital out of home. Because the company is fully transparent with its data and inventory sources as well as impression cost, Accordant advertisers know exactly what they are buying. Accordant can also enable advertisers


http://www.advertising.expedia.com/en-us/about-ems/case-studies/Pages/default.aspx

http://www.google.com/think/case-studies/loews-hotel-similar-audiences.html

http://www.google.com/think/case-studies/case-study-myrtle-beach.html

http://rocketfuel.com/resources/case-study/success-story-sands-casino-resort

http://rocketfuel.com/resources/case-study/lufthansa-soaring-savings-lufthansa

http://www.sojern.com/success-stories.php


and agencies that choose to execute campaigns internally to act as their own trading desks.

adara media is a full-service DSP and travel-marketing platform that pulls its data from 50 of its direct travel partners’ search, purchase and loyalty programs. Adara uses travel history data as its base indicator for future consumer behavior, providing advertisers with unique access to first-party travel data. When buying this data, Adara garners data usage agreement from the seller so it can give data transparency to the buyer.

blueKai started out separating audience intent data from media data. Originally, the company focused on hotel/travel, retail, finance and auto, and sold the data to publishers and ad networks. As demand for third-party data increased and trading desks emerged, BlueKai morphed into a DMP. A DMP can house an advertiser’s first-party data in an advertiser’s dedicated, private data “warehouse” and access it through the advertiser’s selected media providers, or provide third-party data access to DSPs, publishers and ad networks. Since BlueKai does not deploy campaigns, advertisers must use a trading desk or a separate media provider to utilize BlueKai’s data.

choiceStream originally pioneered recommendation engines for publishers. Later, the market proved to be of little value to those willing to pay for a premium product. ChoiceStream did, however, find a viable use for the marketplace research, algorithmic knowledge and consumer insight it acquired during that time, and the company transitioned easily to data-driven advertising. Today, as a full-service DSP, ChoiceStream gives advertisers traditional and nontraditional options to gather real-time audience insights. ChoiceStream’s nontraditional option is targeted in-banner custom surveys, in which response data gets profiled and fed into ChoiceStream’s optimization engine to enhance campaign performance.

expedia media SolutionS, a division of Expedia, Inc., leverages global audiences from Expedia.com, Hotels.com and Hotwire.com so advertisers can reach online travel shoppers. Expedia Media Solutions offers custom solutions for advertisers of all sizes and budgets. Depending on a campaign’s objectives, Expedia Media Solutions provides options to link to custom landing pages housed within Expedia.com or advertisers’ own websites.

GooGle is a one-stop shop for all things related to digital advertising. Google’s ad solutions include Google AdWords, DoubleClick Ad Exchange and DoubleClick Bid Manager.

• Google AdWords allows advertisers to buy across both Search and Display. Sites in the Google Display Network (including AdX and AdSense), accessed via AdWords, have partnered with Google to show relevant AdWords ads. Ads can be targeted contextually, by keyword, demographically, by audience or by page.

• AdX is a real-time inventory marketplace connecting buyers and sellers.



• DoubleClick Bid Manager allows agencies and advertisers to buy from multiple ad exchanges in real-time.

rocKet fuel is a full-service DSP that offers a wide range of solutions, including display, video, mobile and social. Its optimization engines learn and optimize in real-time, based on advertiser website traffic and campaign conversions. Rocket Fuel campaigns perform best with advertisers that have large amounts of website traffic and conversion data.

Sojern is a full-service DSP that partners with top airline websites to capture search and booking data, enabling relevant, targeted ad messaging to travelers. Sojern defines its targeting as act-alike modeling, because it incorporates the consumer intention that look-alike modeling lacks and does not focus on the kind of common user profiling (i.e., the ”who”) in audience targeting.

triGGit, a full-service DSP, focuses on site retargeting. An early participant in Facebook Exchange (FBX), Triggit has since shifted its inventory source primarily to the FBX news feed and right-hand rail. For the majority of Triggit advertisers, dynamic creative is utilized by accessing an advertiser’s product feed and/or shopping cart abandonment data, or by “macro insertion” – populating the dynamic creative based on travel search fields such as destination, to/from and departure dates.

undertone is an ad network with direct publisher relationships that provide advertisers the opportunity to deploy nontraditional ad creative such as IAB Rising Stars, integrated publisher ad units and responsive design ad units that adjusts based on a consumer’s device. Algorithmic optimizations and efficient ad network pricing support each nontraditional ad execution.

In SummaryDigital advertising in the United States — continue to evolve, producing new tactics, solutions, technologies, and providers. Less than a decade ago, data-driven advertising was just beginning to emerge. Since then, data sources, inventory acquisition, pricing models and algorithmic technologies have progressed rapidly to meet market demands and, the “digital generation” has come into its own. Savvy advertisers now realize that in order to reach all audiences, ad provider soultions must be embraced and tested as fast as they are produced, To remain competitive and current, travel advertisers must change their paradigm to one of constant curiosity instead of relying solely on staid, tried-and-true tactic(s). If advertisers push boundaries within their own organizations and with the providers with whom they partner, they can bring about unprecedented performance in digital channels.

the detailed chartS below are a reference tool to compare the providerS’ capabilitieS and SolutionS. the data waS collected by a Survey that waS completed by each provider. when evaluatinG theSe chartS, note that each provider haS a unique value propoSition, and Should not be expected to offer every feature aSSeSSed within the chartS.


http://www.iab.net/guidelines/508676/508767/ad_unit/risingstars



Company Type Minimum Monthly Spend Currency Models Dynamic

Creative Campaign Dashboard

Post Campaign Analytic Reports

Accordant Media

Full Service DSP Trading Desk $15,000 CPM, CPC, CPA

Adara Full Service DSP No Minimum CPM

BlueKai DMP $10,000 Audience Data: CPM DMP: Flat Fee

ChoiceStream Full Service DSP Trading Desk $15,000 CPM, CPC, CPA

Expedia Media Solutions

Premium Publisher OTA Declined to Disclose CPM, CPC, Sponsorship

Google Ad Network, Full Service DSP, Ad Exchange No Minimum CPM, CPC, CPA

Rocket Fuel Ad Network,Full Service DSP $10,000 CPM, CPC

Sojern Full Service DSP No Minimum CPM, CPC, CPA

Triggit Full Service DSP $20,000 CPM, CPC, CPA

Undertone Ad Network $5,000 CPM

Source: PhoCusWright Inc.




Figure 3

Overview

Figure 4

Services



Accordant Media Adara BlueKai

ChoiceStream

Expedia Media

Solutions Google Rocket Fuel Sojern Triggit Undertone

Demographic

Contextual

Interest

Lifestyle

Offline Data Past

Purchase

Product / Brand Affiliation

Psychographic

Search Intent

Social

Travel Data

Travel Sites

Online Travel

Purchases

Air Hotel Car Rail OTA Meta GDS

Expedia website

data

Air OTA Meta

1st Party 3rd Party Other Transparent

Marketer Partner Accordant

Media Marketer's campaign data

Adara

BlueKai

ChoiceStream Custom survey data

Expedia Media Solutions Declined to

Disclose

Google

Rocket Fuel Declined to Disclose

Declined to Disclose

Sojern

Triggit

Undertone





Figure 5

Audience Data

Figure 6

Data Access



AccordantMedia Adara BlueKai

ChoiceStream

Expedia Media

Solutions Google Rocket Fuel Sojern Triggit Undertone

1st Party Admeld

AppNexus

DoubleClick Ad Exchange

Microsoft Ad Exchange

OpenX PubMatic

PulsePoint Right Media

Rubicon Adap.tv

BrightRoll Exchange

FBX

SpotXchange

YouTube

Other TubeMogul AdSense Private Exchanges

Transparent Yes No N/A No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes





Figure 7

Inventory Sources

Figure 8

Retargeting


APPenDIX

Media Terminology Glossary • act-aliKe modelinG is a way of defining target audiences that, through cookies and past user action, exposes future user intent.

• ad exchanGe is a sales channel between publishers and ad networks that can also provide aggregated inventory to advertisers. Ad exchanges provide a technology platform that facilitates automated, auction-based pricing and buying in real-time. Ad exchanges’ business models and practices may include features similar to those offered by ad networks (the definition of an ad exchange excludes technology platforms that exclusively provide tools that enable direct media buying and selling between exchange participants).

• ad networKS provide an outsourced sales capability and a means for publishers to aggregate inventory and audiences from numerous sources into a single, buying opportunity for media buyers. Ad networks may provide specific technologies to enhance value to both publishers and advertisers, including unique targeting capabilities, creative generation and optimization. Ad networks’ business models and practices may include features that are similar to those offered by ad exchanges.


Accordant Media Adara BlueKai

ChoiceStream

Expedia Media

Solutions Google Rocket

Fuel Sojern Triggit Undertone

Standard IAB

Rising Star IAB

Rich Media

In-Banner Video

PreRoll

MidRoll

PostRoll

Text

Other Partner

PlacementsCustom,

Sponsorship Lightbox Ads

Online Boarding Pass Wall

Paper, Boarding

Pass Take-Overs

Screenshift, PageGrabber,Screenshift

(high impact)



Figure 9

Creative Formats


Most popular ad networks:

• AdECN (owned by Microsoft)

• AdBrite

• FBX (Facebook)

• Google AdX

• OpenX

• Right Media

• advertiSer is an entity that pays to have its advertisement served to its respective target audience.

• audience tarGetinG is a method of ad targeting that enables advertisers to show an ad specifically to visitors based on the visitors’ shared behavioral, demographic, geographic and/or technographic attributes. Audience targeting uses anonymous data rather than personally identifiable information (PII).

• behavioral tarGetinG, sometimes also called behavioral profiling, interest- based advertising or online behavioral advertising, uses previous online user activity (e.g., pages visited, content viewed, searches, clicks and purchases) to generate a “segment,” which is then used to match advertising creative to users. Behavioral targeting uses anonymous, non-PII data.

• cooKie, also known as an HTTP cookie, web cookie or browser cookie, is a string of text sent from a web server to a user’s browser that the browser is expected to send back to the web server in subsequent interactions.

• contextual tarGetinG delivers ads into content containing an advertiser’s specified topic or focus using contextual scanning technology.

• converSion pixel is a specific type of tracking code (sometimes also referred to as a “web beacon”) that is triggered to indicate that a user has successfully completed a specific action, such as a purchase or registration (i.e., the conversion).

• coSt-per-acquiSition (cpa) is a value derived from dividing the total cost of the ad by the number of desired or achieved campaign conversions (e.g., sales, email sign-ups, registrations, store locators).

• coSt-per-clicK (cpc) is the value derived from dividing the total cost of the ad by the total number of clicks on the ad.

• coSt-per-thouSand impreSSionS (cpm) is the value derived from dividing the total cost of the ad by the number of delivered impressions per ad buy and multiplying by 1,000.



• data information in a form suitable for use with a computer. In digital advertising, three types of data are most commonly associated with cookies:

obServed factS are data from an interaction that is recorded directly. They include:

• Browser information (e.g., user agent, operating system, installed plug-ins)

• Ad impressions, clicks and conversions

• Searches, pages viewed

declared factS are data provided directly from a human that are generally recorded as part of site registration or use. They include:

• Demographic information like age, gender, and occupation

• Social connections

• Geographic information like state and ZIP.

inferred factS are data generated by aggregating observed facts and comparing those facts against other sets of observed and declared facts. Examples of inferred facts include:

• Suggested friends (e.g., on Facebook)

• Demographic information, when it hasn’t been declared

• Market segment

data SourceS

• First-party data: Marketer-owned, in-house data aggregated from online and offline sources such as loyalty programs, site analytics and CRM platforms.

• Second-party data: Data culled from the marketer’s digital advertising campaign, such as ad optimization data.

• Third-party data: Online and offline data that is aggregated and then sold through outside suppliers who in turn sell it through a DMP or exchange.

• data-driven advertiSinG is a digital advertising tactic that combines consumer data, digital inventory and technology to achieve an advertiser’s digital marketing objectives at the most efficient cost.

• data manaGement platform (dmp). A system that allows for the collection of audience intelligence by advertisers and ad agencies, thereby allowing better ad targeting in subsequent campaigns.



• data SupplierS. Outside or third-party data sources that aggregate online and offline data and sell it through a DMP or an exchange.

• demand-Side platform (dSp), also called a “buy-side optimizer” or “buy-side platform,” is a technology platform that provides centralized and aggregated media buying from multiple sources, including ad exchanges, ad networks and sell-side (publisher) platforms, often leveraging real-time bidding capabilities of these sources. Leading DSPs

• [X+1]

• Accordant Media

• AppNexus

• ChoiceStream

• DataXu

• Invite Media

• MediaMath

• Rocket Fuel

• Triggit

• Turn

• demoGraphic tarGetinG. A method of targeting that enables advertisers to show an ad specifically to visitors based on demographic information such as age, gender and income, which may come from site registration data or an inference-based mechanism.

• effective cpm (ecpm). A measurement term targeted towards an ad campaign’s overall effectiveness rather than a maximum ceiling for a CPM- based buy. ECPM managed campaigns allow a DSP to bid above and below the CPM so long as the overall campaign meets the eCPM.

• full-Service dSpS provide the same services as an ad network but also acquire inventory through real-time bidding (see DSP definition).

• GeoGraphic tarGetinG. A method of targeting that enables advertisers to serve an ad specifically to visitors based on their ZIP code, area code, city, defined market area (DMA), state and/or country based on their user- declared registration information or an inference-based mechanism.

• Keyword tarGetinG. Targeting content that contains specific keywords.



• looK-aliKe modelinG is a method of ad targeting that creates reach for advertisers by building larger audiences from smaller audience segments. In theory, the look-alike audiences a benchmark set of characteristics with the original audience segment share.

• lonG-tail publiSherS are websites that are not short tail publishers (see “Short-tail publishers”).

• predictive modelinG is a model based on the laws of probability.

• proGrammatic buyinG’S definition is still in development. Andy Cocker, COO/co-Founder of Infectious Media, describes programmatic buying as “online display advertising that is aggregated, booked, flighted, analyzed and optimized via demand-side software interfaces and algorithms. While it includes real-time bidding (RTB), it also includes non-RTB methods and buy types such as Facebook Ads, API and the Google Display Network. ‘Programmatic’ also implies the use of multi- sourced data signals to inform targeting and optimization decisions. The majority of inventory available via programmatic is non-guaranteed, auction traded during the ad call.”

• provider, for the purposes of this report, indicates an entity providing an ad technology to deliver and/or to assist with the purchase of data-driven ad campaigns.

• publiSher is an individual or organization that prepares, issues and disseminates content for public distribution or sale via one or more types of media, including digital.

• real-time biddinG (rtb) is a real-time system for either bidding on or buying ad inventory. The earliest RTB ecosystems evolved from the efforts of DSPs to create a more efficient exchange of inventory and, in doing so, placed significant emphasis on user information (e.g., demographic and behavioral data) while minimizing the situation information (e.g., the publisher and context).

• Search retarGetinG is a method of targeting that enables advertisers to serve an ad to a user based on one or more of the user’s previous searches or search click events.

• Short-tail publiSher is a top-tier publisher that makes up the lion’s share of both site traffic and advertising revenue.

• Site retarGetinG is method of targeting that enables advertisers to serve an ad specifically to a previous visitor while the visitor is on a third-party web site.



• tradinG deSK is a centralized, service-based organization that works as a managed service layer, typically on top of a licensed DSP and other audience buying technologies. A trading desk also manages programmatic, bid-based media and audience buying and works as an agency’s internal “center of excellence,” supporting agency teams who wish to tap into this new buying model on behalf of agency clients.

Additional Sources: ClickZ, “Online Media’s Alphabet Soup”; AdExchanger “Define Programmatic Buying”, AdExchanger Agency Trading White Paper, IAB Glossary

Survey and Interview Participants

accordant media is an independent, programmatic, media buying and optimization company that makes audience targeting and biddable media simpler and more effective for leading agencies and brand marketers.

Rebecca Steuer, VP Marketing; [email protected], 646-571-1966

www.accordantmedia.com

adara is a global leader in helping digital advertisers efficiently use big data to reach highly targeted traveler audiences and helping top travel companies turn their data into new revenue streams.

Kit Simon, EVP/Global CRO; [email protected], 847-404-8897

www.adaraglobal.com

blueKai is the world’s first, complete, enterprise data activation system for intelligent marketing, offering clients a solution for managing and activating first and third party data for use in marketing and customer interactions.

[email protected]

www.bluekai.com

choiceStream is a consumer, choice-based programmatic advertising platform that utilizes proprietary and third party data, RTB content and dynamic creative to lift campaigns for brands and their agencies.

Jeff Valente, CRO; [email protected], 646-242-6984

www.choicestream.com

expedia media SolutionS is dedicated to building innovative media partnerships for travel and non-travel brand advertisers, enabling clients to leverage Expedia’s network of leading travel brands and global points of sale.

Derek Netelenbos, Senior Director; [email protected], 425-679-7608

www.advertising.expedia.com


http://www.adexchanger.com

http://www.adexchanger.com/Agency_Trading_White_Paper.pdf

http://www.iab.net/wiki/index.php/Category:Glossary

http://accordantmedia.com

http://www.adaraglobal.com

http://www.bluekai.com

http://choicestream.com

http://www.advertising.expedia.com/en-us/Pages/default.aspx/


GooGle, inc. is a global technology leader focused on improving the ways people connect with information. Google’s innovations in web search and advertising have made its website a top Internet property and its brand one of the most recognized in the world.

650-253-0000

www.google.com

rocKet fuel, inc. delivers a leading, programmatic media-buying platform at big data scale. It is designed to use the power of artificial intelligence to improve marketing ROI in digital media across web, mobile, video and social channels.

[email protected], 888-717-8873

www.rocketfuel.com

Sojern. A leading data-driven traveler engagement platform that delivers the most efficient marketing, distribution, monetization and insight solutions at scale. [email protected]

www.sojern.com

triGGit is able to turn advertisers’ entire product catalogues into dynamic retargeting experiences on Facebook.

[email protected]

www.triggit.com

undertone. A digital advertising company that sits at the intersection of media, creative and technology developing immersive video, high impact and display ad units that enable brands to engage consumers beyond the confines of traditional banner ads.

www.undertone.com


https://www.google.com

http://rocketfuel.com

http://www.sojern.com

http://triggit.com/facebook-retargeting

http://www.undertone.com

data-driven advertising for the travel industry

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