forrester research: building a proprietary audience business.”

Client logo goes here

Michael Greene, Analyst

Building a Proprietary Audience – Win the Interactive Marketing Game

Presenters:

Manu Warikoo, VP of Product & Solutions

September 13, 2011

© 2011 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited2 © 2009 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited

Building a proprietary audience business

Michael Greene, Analyst

September 13, 2011

© 2011 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited3

Key questions for today

Why do digital publishers need to consider building a proprietary audience

business?

How should publishers approach this new market opportunity?


No matter the medium, publishers have always been in

the business of selling audience

.


What do we mean by audience targeting today?

Targeting based on user attributes such as surfing or search behavior, demographic characteristics, or mindset that does not rely solely on specific site or content adjacency.


But digital technology has altered the ways buyers and sellers think about reaching the right audience


Two critical factors create an audience imperative for digital publishers

Evolving buyer

behavior

A new competitive landscape


Last year, marketers told us that buying audience was major spending driver

58%

39%

31%

48%


Agency buyers are taking note, putting a priority on audience targeting


Direct buys are still the norm, but programmatic buying is rapidly rising in prominence


Agency buyers are turning to a diverse mix of media partners


Digital publishers are also facing a new breed of competition.


Advertisers have nearly unlimited options for how they can spend their money on audience


What does this all mean?

Advertisers and their agencies are embracing audience targeting

opportunities through both traditional and programmatic buying methods

A diverse competitive set means digital publishers can’t afford to sit still.

They must evaluate audience-related opportunities to capture new

budgets and take share of existing spend

Successful publishers will command a premium through both differentiated

media and differentiated audience data


Publishers of all kinds are stepping up to meet evolving buyer demands

Large publishers like NBC-Universal are building audience targeted ad

products to sell across both direct and indirect sales channels

Niche publishers like Forbes are leveraging audience data to provide

extended reach and new insights to advertisers


Building a proprietary audience business: A three step approach

Evaluate and contr

ol your data asset

s

Assess

your mark

et opportunities

Execute a go to mark

et strategy


Step 1: Evaluate and control your data assets

Start with a data audit. Look at multiple sources of data that could

potentially come together – site-side audience behavior, CRM data, offline

data, etc…

Examine current sales channels. Many publishers are already selling

audience today, often through third-party sales channels. Identify these

relationships and how they are packaging your media and data.

Identify unauthorized data use (i.e. data leakage). It’s tough to build an

audience business if third-parties are selling your audience without your

consent. Use a data protection tool to identify any cases of unauthorized

data use.


Step 2: Asses your market opportunities

Third-party data targeting

• Apply third-party data to inventory

First-party data targeting

• Package together proprietary data and media for direct sales

Publisher trading desk

• Publisher conducts audience extension campaigns on behalf of advertiser

Media-focused monetization Data-focused monetization

Which suits your data assets and advertiser opportunities?


Step 3: Execute

Build the right products. Publishers will have to decide whether they

build custom for advertisers, build a steady suite of audience products, or

a some of both.

Invest in the right technology infrastructure. From building audience

segments to forecasting inventory availability, publishers will need a more

extensive toolset to manage a more complex business.

Invest in the right personnel. Building a proprietary audience business

will require new skill sets across sales and ops teams. Look for individuals

with strong analytical skills and an understanding of the language of

audience data.


Summing it up: identify your audience opportunities now

Audience buying doesn’t replace content adjacency. Buyers tell us

that content and audience need to work together. Find ways to deliver

both to media buyers through bundled products and a wider array of ad

products.

Create the right sales incentives. Selling audience is a new skill set for

most sales organizations. There is no one-size fits all organizational

model, but proper incentives are critical.

Know your limitations. Publishers with limited scale or less valuable

audience data will have different , less profitable opportunities than larger

or data rich publishers. Evaluate your priorities accordingly.


Publishers must prepare for greater product complexity across marketing, sales and operations. Publishers will need to embrace structures to help

manage this complexity.

.

What it means:


Operative

Advertising Business Management

04/11/2023 Proprietary and Confidential.

Manu Warikoo, VP Product & SolutionsSeptember 13, 2011


23

11 years of deep domain expertise in digital advertising media

An estimated $6B in global ad revenue runs through our Advertising Business Management solutions

Work with more than 200 leading media companies, networks, and agencies, including MSN, NBC, Pandora, Dow Jones, OMD

More than 300 employees in New York, London, São Paulo, Melbourne, and Bangalore


About Operative


24


Product Packaging (Audience)

Key Requirements:

① Ability to sell bundled products

② Rate card management tools

③ Discipline around Sales

The Solution: Advertising Business Management

Adopting a Productization Strategy:

① Helps capture maximum revenue

② Enables operational efficiency

③ Allows you to measure product performance


25


Questions?


26

Manu Warikoo | [email protected]

Michael Greene | [email protected] www.forrester.com


Thank You

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

forrester research: building a proprietary audience business.”

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