Comments on: Avoiding the Sophomore Slump http://www.adexchanger.com/ad-agents/avoiding-the-sophomore-slump/ Digital media optimization news and discussion website. Fri, 10 Feb 2012 23:33:42 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Greg Hills http://www.adexchanger.com/ad-agents/avoiding-the-sophomore-slump/#comment-4683 Greg Hills Tue, 02 Feb 2010 14:50:29 +0000 http://www.adexchanger.com/?p=14349#comment-4683 >So while much of the industry is rightly focused on technology and >platforms, in order to build scale we need to help the buyers adopt >those tools. In that sense, the exchange space is as much a service >business as it is a product/technology business. Great point. 2009 was a great year for educating marketers (or at least media clients) on the potential benefits of these new approaches. But, as you point out, its not just technology that makes this work, people matter to. Exchange buying revenue is not as scalable as say, the software business. You need to scale up hiring and train. Internal education may be a taller order than client education. Right now exchange buying is centered in specialist groups, often terms centers of excellence by the agency themselves. I'm not sure that this concentration of knowledge is sustainable as client demand ramps up. The tools need to "reach down" and become easier to use. The users need to "reach up" through training. It will be really interesting to see how this dynamic resolves itself.....not that it necessarily will, its totally possible that platform vendors and agencies will get this wrong. >So while much of the industry is rightly focused on technology and >platforms, in order to build scale we need to help the buyers adopt >those tools. In that sense, the exchange space is as much a service >business as it is a product/technology business.

Great point. 2009 was a great year for educating marketers (or at least media clients) on the potential benefits of these new approaches. But, as you point out, its not just technology that makes this work, people matter to. Exchange buying revenue is not as scalable as say, the software business. You need to scale up hiring and train. Internal education may be a taller order than client education.

Right now exchange buying is centered in specialist groups, often terms centers of excellence by the agency themselves. I'm not sure that this concentration of knowledge is sustainable as client demand ramps up.

The tools need to "reach down" and become easier to use. The users need to "reach up" through training. It will be really interesting to see how this dynamic resolves itself.....not that it necessarily will, its totally possible that platform vendors and agencies will get this wrong.

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