Creative optimization company, Tumri, announced in a release today what it calls a new cloud-based, “real-time marketing analytics solution” with the goal of simplifying “campaign launch and reduce time-to-value for the most common types of dynamic creative marketing campaigns.” Read the release.
AdExchanger discussed the announcement with Tumri CEO Calvin Lui.
AdExchanger.com: It would seem that Tumri could use these new tools to create its own demand-side platform. How much longer until you pull the trigger on the Tumri DSP?
CL: At a high level, Tumri’s mission is to provide marketers with a dynamic marketing platform that offers the following capabilities:
- Deeper marketing insights
- End-to-end, real-time decisioning
- Efficient execution
Today, Tumri is mainly known for our dynamic creative optimization technology. But we’ve also been asked to, and have delivered, media buying and optimization services for some of our clients. Media buying and optimization has not been our core competency, but for certain clients it is critical that we tightly integrate their media and creative optimization to accomplish their goals. So, we can offer a combined offering if an advertiser wants such an option.
In our view, though, a demand side platform (DSP) is just one of the components of the end-game in “next generation” display advertising. Current discussions about DSPs revolve mostly around data-driven, real-time access to media inventory via exchanges and real-time bidding (RTB) environments. In addition to exchange and RTB executions, however, we believe that the long term solution will continue to need a way to marry analytics and thought processes across contract media buys, too. Dynamic creative works across all media executions and is a critical part of the end-game, as well.
We currently work with several providers of media optimization solutions, many of which are DSPs like MediaMath, Turn, x+1, and others. We also can work with various landing page optimization providers. Over time, Tumri may also need (or be asked) to provide offerings in each of these categories. We aren’t really sure how all this plays out, frankly, so we have architected our Dynamic Marketing platform to let marketers choose the specific point solutions that they feel works best for them. Right now, we are prepared to offer partner solutions as well as offer a fully integrated solution, depending upon our client’s needs.
How important is real-time or near real-time reporting to effective creative optimization? Are Tumri and its clients at the mercy of others such as data providers and proprietary in-house tracking systems, for example? Getting real-time feedback from offline, in-store purchases is next to impossible is it not?
Real time reporting is critical to creative optimization in a large number of campaigns today, and we believe it will become even more critical in the future. Effective marketing today is no longer about one-time burst campaigns revolving around singular events. Moving forward, effective marketing will be more and more about engaging in a real time dialogue with consumers, on an ongoing basis. These conversations must always be aware of who the conversation is with, where the conversation occurs, why it is occuring, and what is being said and has been said (by both parties). Doing this will eventually require real-time data analysis, optimization and reporting across the board. And this real-time reporting is not just needed for creative optimization, but also for media and audience optimization. Prices, stories, news change constantly – this impacts what catches the attention of consumers. We believe that we are at the very beginning of a “next generation” of marketing, where all pieces will need work in concert with each other in real time: data providers, media sources, and tracking and attribution systems.
In our view, a platform that can measure, report and act dynamically upon multiple dimensions of data in real time will be a prerequisite to future marketing improvements and enhancements. But this is not just “future talk” – there are real marketers taking advantage of these capabilities today. We have worked with major brands such as HP, Nike, Sears, Travelocity and more and have seen very significant, tangible business results.
Regarding in-store purchases: real-time feedback from offline, in-store purchases is a real challenge at this point. However, there are proxies that we can work with. Over time, these systems and executions will become more integrated and more possible.
Looking at agencies, the media side is comfortable with these new automated creative tools. But the creative side is wary. Have you considered how you get creative agencies and creatives to leverage and champion your technology?
Yes, we’ve seen some caution from creative shops – until they understand that we aren’t so much trying to automate the creative process but instead are automating the busy work of managing content as well as testing and optimizing complex campaigns. That, and making whole new types of personalized marketing even possible. To be clear, Tumri does NOT replace the creative process. The “magic” of developing the right message, image and copy to inspire consumers is the work of very talented creative agencies and designers, and we would be foolish to think we could replicate this part of the business. We are technologists. We provide a platform that makes it possible to cost-effectively implement one-to-one marketing at the scale of display, using our clients creative designs and assets to drive every campaign.
To help further streamline this new “dynamic” creative process, we continue to roll out new tools – not templates, but instead useful design tools in familiar environments – that enable creative agencies to work seamlessly in their own creative environments and then upload their work into our platform with little effort. The goal is to make their work efficient and effective without constraining their creative juices.
A lot of the solution in overcoming resistance to dynamic creative optimization is simply to continue to meet our client’s needs and those of their creative shops as well. We are actively working on new solutions here. For example, our AdPod Heat Map report shows creative designers the exact parts of the ad that generated an enagagement, a click or a conversion. We have more tools in the works, so stay tuned.
By John Ebbert
