Valuing mobile ad inventory is challenging as advertisers struggle assessing viewability, attribution and other measurements. To find out how media-buying agencies tackle this problem, AdExchanger asked agencies, “What are the attributes of quality mobile inventory?”
Click below or scroll down to read their responses.
- Jenn Cox, mobility lead at Starcom USA
- Jason Pope, VP of AOD at VivaKi
- JiYoung Kim, SVP, creative solutions and strategy at Ansible Mobile
- Sean Gillespie, media supervisor at Neo@Ogilvy
Jenn Cox, mobility lead at Starcom USA
“One of the biggest differentiators in quality mobile inventory is accurate location data application and transparency into the data sources used (e.g., GPS, Wi-Fi, triangulation, etc.). At Starcom we believe that mobile location data is one of the best sources of consumer insight – better than any self-reported survey – and therefore, its accuracy is critical. Transparency is the other key to identifying high-quality mobile inventory. When a partner allows us full visibility into what is purchased and how it’s purchased, it’s typically a sign that the partner recognizes there is nothing to hide.”
Jason Pope, VP of AOD mobile at VivaKi
“Before we run any advertising, we run through a very robust vetting process of all sites and apps that extends even bit further than the vetting that Apple and Android do for app store approval. This gives us a great base to work with, however, we really believe that the issue of quality inventory in mobile is actually largely a demand-side issue.
Because there is an abundance of inventory in mobile we can leverage mobile-centric demand-side platforms (DSPs) to aggregate that inventory. A strong mobile DSP can then create user segments based on mobile behavior that inform the bid algorithm on the true value of any given impression. This is really the key to programmatic audience targeting that allows us to assign the proper value to every ad exposure.”
JiYoung Kim, SVP, creative solutions and strategy at Ansible Mobile
“The main factors we look for are ‘mobile-only’ or ‘mobile-best’ targeting criteria – e.g., location (real-time or historic) and proximity combined with weather conditions, plus time of day – layers onto other targeting data such as purchase history in a really nice way to enable mobile to do things that weren’t done before.
We’re always looking for mobile media options that allow us to target new moments or in new places, and add new metrics to support mobile performance (e.g., the much talked about ‘visit rate’). Ultimately, the more mobile inventory qualifies as a precision strategy, the higher quality we deem it.
Nirvana is when we are also able to use all that rich data to initiate a creative interaction that’s unique to personal context. This is something that can be done easily these days with partners who allow dynamic rich media – for example, displaying sunscreen for babies to moms at a playground on a sunny day vs. lotions for dry skin when mom is at home as the weather gets cold.
Finally all of the above also involves a lot of vetting and sanitizing. Not all location targeting is created equal, purchase-based retargeting has a few different definitions, and even cross-screen has a few different methodologies.”
Sean Gillespie, media supervisor at Neo@Ogilvy
“‘Content is king’ applies to mobile, though it’s also a matter of where the user is coming from that indicates what is considered quality. In these terms, I have found that users fall into two groups:
Shangri-La (Search to find): Devices are utilized to seek out specific content from known publications (i.e., Twitter IPO on CNBC.com). To this user, inventory on premium, endemic content is essential to reach the user. Mobile devices provide support to users who are likely exposed to more traditional channels of communication (TV, print, desktop). In this instance where exposure is occurring elsewhere, mobile acts as supporting media making frequency and targeting less important than endemic premium inventory.
Click-happy: Media consumption is focused on mobile devices, likely to have brand exposure occur here rather than supporting more traditional channels. They click around, browsing seamlessly between premium and nonpremium content. For them premium content and publications are less indicative of brand recognition. They are as likely to react to an ad on a blog as they are on a massive publication. Audience targeting and scale are paramount to quality of content as frequency is the key.”
