Verizon Media DSP Summit: Programmatic DOOH indispensable to brands in the future

Leveraging big data to find the right audience has been challenging but it’s the key to success in every campaign. In the forthcoming cookieless world, what consumers' biggest concerns are, and what benefits they see on data sharing, will be crucial to every marketer. In the first Verizon Media DSP Summit in Hong Kong, speakers delved into the must-watch trends on programmatic DOOH; data in the cookieless world; the programmatic campaigns success cases, and the result of programmatic and the DSP survey.

Kicking off the event was a speech from Verizon Media’s APAC co-head Rico Chan.

“We leverage our resources, teams, along with the 5G technology to cover and improve every aspect of our lives. With multiple media brands and ad solutions, we put the users in our hearts. What they have done online prompts us to create ad services, distribute content, develop technologies and ad platforms,” he said.

He said Verizon Media works with partners to offer high quality content to users, connecting advertisers with brands and customers.

“Reliability and efficacy are the keys to our success. Putting users’ preferences and passions at the core of the business to create ad tech and content can help everyone stay truly connected.”

Francis Fung, senior manager of insights and research, international consumer growth marketing at Verizon Media, talked about a previous study in programmatic and DSP.As programmatic and DSP will be the trends in the future, however, only 25% of Hong Kong display ad spending was through programmatic buying, according to the study. Fung said there is still room for growth in the market to reach the global average of 69%. Meanwhile, advertisers and agencies were open to increasing programmatic buying in the next six months.

Currently, there are three leading DSPs in Hong Kong: Verizon Media DSP, DV360, and TTD. Fung said 91% of customers were satisfied with Verizon Media DSP, especially on local sales support, data power, targeting capability, and ad format variety.

Verizon Media’s senior director, ad creative technology for APAC Roger Li then went on to explain the topic of “Data in a cookieless world”. In digital marketing, cookies are necessary for ad platforms to identify users and target audiences. However, due to increased concern about identity theft and more stringent regulations from the governments, brands and marketers are getting more difficult to obtain data from customers.The diversity of data is the core of analysing users’ identities. “Accuracy is the key to Verizon Media’s identity graph success. Brands and marketers need to gather data from different platforms, such as desktop, mobile, connected TV, and as many platforms as possible,” Li said.

Verizon Media’s identity graph is a multifaceted database, gathering data from users’ every step, such as login, news, searches, on Verizon Media platforms and combining them with brands’ first-party data to enhance accuracy.

Leveraging AI to identify users’ activities is also important. When users go to yahoo for news, Verizon Media can form a predictive model by analysing what types of devices they use, their browsers’ user agent, IP, or ads that they have watched to figure out users’ behaviours and preferences.

Li suggested three ways that can enhance the efficacy of ads in a cookieless world. First, they have to develop a trusted relationship with users. Although they are concerned about identity theft, users are still willing to receive personalised ads.

Brands also need to offer users a good reason to log in - a way that attracts users to offer data in exchange for services or experiences. Finally, brands can also choose a reliable partner such as Verizon Media to offer a comprehensive digital advertising solution.

By using DSP, brands and marketers can complete an ad cycle through a single platform. Jenny Tsang, programmatic advertising lead of Verizon Media, explained that there are three advantages of leveraging Verizon Media’s DSP: convenience, performance, and innovation.“Verizon Media’s DSP offers a wide variety of formats such as display ads, video ads, native ads, audio ads, connected TV, and DOOH,” she said.

“We are also working with different reliable organisations to ensure the ads can be displayed to the right audience and brand safety. “

Offering convenience and guaranteeing a seamless journey, Verizon Media DSP helps brands understand their audiences better (through the audience insights tool) and create audience segments (through the audience builder tool) before planning campaigns (by using omniscope).

When it comes to performance, Verizon Media’s DSP leverages AI machine learning with multiple data to create a predictive audiences model, which can lower CPA by four to eight times compared to traditional lookalike modelling.

A long-term partner with Verizon Media, Matterkind created a campaign for Canada Goose. By leveraging varied and unique targeting segments, ongoing optimisation, as well as implementing footfall measurement, the campaign achieved over  68% viewability while CPA decreased by 48%. Delivering a successful campaign to meet their client’s business outcomes. Matterkind’s director Alexis Wengraf commented, “I recommend using Verizon Media’s DPS as it offers unique targeting solutions. He added that agencies and advertisers should make sure that “audiences and tracking have been set up well before launch” and “take advantage of bid multipliers to optimise campaigns”. Wengraf went on to say that “agencies should not be afraid to go beyond the client brief” when planning their strategies.

Concluding the summit is a panel discussion with the theme of “DOOH in the programmatic world” moderated by Eudora Li, head of APAC Supply at Verizon Media.Arnaud Redon, general manager, Airports, JCDecaux Hong Kong & Macao told that the programmatic DOOH panels at the Hong Kong International Airport will be available on Verizon Media DSP in November, and he explained the strong relevance to introduce new programmatic DOOH and automated audience targeting.

“More than ever, brands are expecting greater flexibility and more precise targeting to dialogue with the constantly growing OOH audiences. Programmatic DOOH ads, and automated audience targeting featuring dynamic content capabilities, can deliver contextual messages at the right time to the highly premium airport audience of Hong Kong International Airport,” he said.

“I think digital OOH is an expansion of any multifaceted marketing strategies. Verizon Media is designed with the omnichannel capabilities to optimise campaign goals across different formats,” said Matthew Chan, head of native, search and programmatic advertising, Verizon Media.Asked what a brand, an advertiser or agency can expect and what the deliverables of programmatic DOOH campaigns are, Tammii Pang, group buying director of Dentsu, commented, “With impressions and footfall being the currency, alongside the advantages of 5G cloud services and new technology, programmatic DOOH can make investment accountable.”Speaking of the vision of programmatic DOOH in Hong Kong, VIOOH’s chief revenue officer Gavin Wilson added, “The vision for Hong Kong is to be able to target travellers with highly impactful and relevant OOH messages upon their arrival in the city. Also, brands can use highly tailored yet impactful screens to broadcast the messages too.”

Verizon Media DSP Summit is archived on Yahoo TV.

This article is sponsored by Verizon Media.