Download programmatic advertising in fashion.

making sense of
programmatic
advertising
in fashion.
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2
contents.
what advertisers will get from this report:
An introduction to programmatic advertising
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An understanding of its value for fashion brands
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Programmatic formats and platforms
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Targeting options for fashion retailers
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The future of data-informed campaigns
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Q&A - Common questions about programmatic advertising
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introduction.
Programmatic advertising is a hot topic right now, as an everincreasing percentage of marketers look towards using it to achieve
their digital marketing goals. Figures from the Internet Advertising
Bureau (IAB) showed that programmatic advertising in the UK
surpassed the £1 billion mark in 2014, doubling year-on-year; display
advertising, primarily served programmatically, exhibited faster
growth than search advertising once again.
Fashion retail is a fast-paced, ever-evolving
sector that has seen digital platforms play an
increasing part in the customer journey. A complex
range of products and a high level of competition
create a key role for programmatic advertising to
help brands keep pace and enable them to serve
products to consumers in the most efficient way.
It is clear that programmatic advertising is here to
stay. It offers fashion brands unparalleled targeting
and reach with the added benefit of measurability.
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what is it, and why should
brands care?
There are a lot of uncertainties as to what
Traditionally, advertisers would contact
programmatic advertising is and what it involves.
websites such as Vogue.co.uk and negotiate
At its simplest, programmatic advertising is the
advertising space, usually alongside
use of automated software to purchase digital ad
particular content. However, with over two
space. It follows a set of rules to determine when
million websites now on the Google Network
an impression should be bought on a webpage (or
alone and countless millions across the
other media). This set of rules constantly evolves
online market, it is not possible to create
as brands learn more about their customers, and
relationships at this scale. These partnerships
as the marketplace changes.
can exist for large or well-targeted websites,
The process is almost fully automated
because there are near-infinite
possibilities to bid for online advertising
space, and this simply can no longer be
done with traditional methods.
but the efficiency of scale across the entire
network makes programmatic advertising
much more appealing to most advertisers.
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the reach of
programmatic advertising.
If brands manage their advertising programmatically, they can bid for
the vast majority of appropriate placements across the online world.
Advertisers are faced with a wealth of placement
Missguided could therefore effectively serve over
opportunities. For example, when Missguided ran
42 million ads next to sportswear content alone,
its sportswear campaigns in January, it could
although an advertiser would generally break this
have targeted healthy living topics, women’s
down further to ensure that the content is as
running themes and New Year’s resolution content
relevant as possible.
as well as sportswear and fashion content.
To provide a sense of scale, table one shows
some examples of fashion related content
and how many unique devices will browse that
content in an average month. It also shows
how many impressions are available, which is
essentially the number of opportunities to display
an ad to a user while they are visiting a web page.
table one: average unique devices and impressions per month
Category
Unique Devices
Impressions Available
Clothing
39.5 million
570 million
Women’s Clothing
6.72 million
52.7 million
Footwear
7.2 million
55 million
Sportswear
5 million
42.1 million
Jewellery
4.34 million
30 million
Men’s Clothing
1.67 million
12.3 million
Lingerie
1.5 million
7.72 million
Children’s Clothing
1.23 million
7.84 million
(Data: Google DoubleClick)
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Programmatic advertising boasts huge reach,
its relevance and likely performance are fully
and considering the increasing role of digital
automated, and brands will employ a trading
platforms in the customer journey, it provides a
team to feed in information about the cheapest
great opportunity for brands to engage with a
seller of that space which will change across the
large portion of their target market at a crucial
day in an environment closely resembling that of
time in the customer’s path to purchase.
a busy stock exchange.
Consider the complexities of bidding for this
As the opportunity to reach more people across
advertising space when new website content is
a wider range of sites increases in scale, so too
being generated constantly and audiences are
does the amount of data brands have on the
constantly changing their browsing habits. The
audiences and individuals they respond to, how
only option to really reach them is now through
they behave, when and where they are, and what
programmatic means. Decisions of how much
their other behaviours are, providing a greater
to bid on any given advertising space based on
amount of insight from display activity.
summary of benefits
Traditional
Programmatic
Time
Slow
Instant
Resource
High
Medium
Cost
High CPMs* (£25+)
Medium-to-Low CPMs (£0.80 - £2.50)
Reach
Low
High
Optimisation
Limited (Post Activity)
Constant (Real Time)
Audience Data
Limited
Extensive and Real Time
*CPM stands for cost per 1,000 impressions
Programmatic advertising offers a host of advantages over traditional ad buying.
These points are discussed in more detail throughout the report.
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programmatic
formats.
An ever-increasing range of formats are available to buy
programmatically and can run across mobile, social, desktop,
and video inventory.
desktop
social
The most common format for ads bought
It is no secret that free social advertising
programmatically is through desktop display.
is becoming more difficult for brands.
For an industry that relies heavily on product
Commercialisation of social channels is a
imagery, desktop display provides a great
significant driving factor for budgets being
channel for brands to get their products in front
channelled towards paid social; Facebook in
of interested consumers.
particular has pushed social as a major category
mobile
in programmatic advertising. Facebook’s
exchange lets brands serve ads in the news feed
programmatically, and it is also helping to drive
The IAB found that mobile accounts for over
30% of all programmatic ad spend, which is
mainly driven by app downloads. Search queries
for the clothing sector are up by 51% on mobile
devices (Epiphany and Google data) and we
expect that mobile ad spend will continue to
increase. As in-feed advertising becomes more
widely available across content commonly
accessed via mobile devices, there is a great
opportunity to reach customers on the go.
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social spending through mobile/tablet devices.
video
Video advertising increased 59% year-onyear in the first half of 2014 and mobile video
advertising became the fastest-growing digital
ad format. Video on web, mobile and even
television can be served programmatically.
Formats for video range from pre-roll and midroll ads served against video content, to inbanner video and richer formats with multiple
engagement points within the ad unit.
native
M&S Sleepwear basic banner ad
Native adverts are incorporated into the flow
of editorial content. They allow brands to deliver
tailored and real-time messages, direct to
customers in a highly shareable way. Appearing
in feeds means that native advertising lends
itself perfectly to the increasing opportunity
across mobile, which is all about
in-feed advertising.
creative adverts
Across different platforms and devices,
advertisers can access a range of creative
formats. Basic banner ads, such as this example
from M&S Sleepwear, are the most common
format and good for driving reach and frequency
at a low CPM, delivering new users to a website
or bringing them back to convert.
For brands wanting to create more impact and
drive brand awareness, rich media ads can be
used. Although these can have a higher CPM,
they often attract a higher click-through rate
and allow advertisers to get creative. These
types of ads can be particularly useful if there
is a specific call-to-action that needs to be
achieved. This example from Missguided is
Missguided’s expandable rich media ads will attract better
an expandable ad and shows customers its
customer engagement than a standard banner advert.
products, latest campaign video, newsletter
sign-up and its social channels, allowing
engagement with the brand within the ad
unit itself.
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large formats
It is possible to buy large format and expandable
unaware that these can be bought and traded on
units such as mastheads (like the example from
a low CPM, so it is still currently possible to take
Diesel), double multi-purpose units (MPUs),
advantage of a less competitive market and
and page takeovers on a programmatic basis.
deliver high-impact ads on a low budget.
It is not so widely used as advertisers are often
dynamic ads
Programmatic advertising lends itself to greater
granularity and segmentation, which in turn
allows for more relevant messaging.
The most efficient way of delivering many
messages to multiple audiences is to automate
the process. Dynamic ads use the feed of
a website to automatically create ads from
the assets, tailoring to different users based
on a number of factors – on-site behaviour,
abandoned baskets or a user’s location, to
name a few.
This Levi’s advert pulls in product images that
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a customer is likely to buy based on previous
This dynamic ad is effective at re-engaging with
browsing activity on its site.
non-converting customers.
using programmatic
targeting.
Targeting is one of the strongest USPs of programmatic advertising;
it gives brands the ability to accurately target and test very specific
audiences and report on the results, which is hard to find through
other channels.
It is possible to apply greater layers of
targeting with programmatic methods,
for example bid modifiers. If we are
targeting a fashion enthusiast reading a
fashion blog between the hours of 6pm
and 7pm and we know that is when they
are more likely to convert - and at a
higher average order value - we can then
afford a higher bid to serve that user
an impression.
This can apply to ads across all channels
including desktop, mobile, social and video.
This report uses two audience profiles to
highlight the targeting options available and the
difference in strategies between low and highend fashion audiences. It also shows insight into
how programmatic can open up overlap analysis,
e.g. what else is my audience interested in? What
holidays do they take? Do they work full-time
or part-time? Which financial products do they
use? What car brands do they prefer? All these
learnings can then be harnessed to find a brand’s
audience beyond the obvious places and help
inform its marketing strategy outside of
display advertising.
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luxury brand
example targeting and tactics
Contextual: Appear next to relevant content e.g.
fashion week editorials, best buy guides, and
Example target segments for
high-end fashion retailers:
relevant content in relation to luxury goods and
an affluent audience.
• Designer spenders
Placement: Create a target list of premium
• Purchasers of luxury brands
sites to appear at a much lower CPM e.g. Vogue,
• Purchasers of luxury goods
Vanity Fair, Harper’s Bazaar, the Times’ fashion
section, blogs, and portals.
• Net worth
Device: Consider audience and messaging; will
• Household income
they be commuting, or out and about with their
• High-end magazine websites
mobiles? Are they more likely to respond from
tablet or desktop, and what time of day will be
• High-end restaurant diners
the best time to get in front of them?
• High spend on beauty treatments
Audience data: Use data to identify users
• Purchasers of designer handbags, jewellery in the market for specific luxury brands or
competitors, based on net worth, lifestyle
attributes and purchase behaviours.
Trend data: Use outside feeds e.g. harnessing
social media hashtag buzz indicators around
events such as London Fashion Week, or use
programming, Google trend data, market stats
or weather to inform a bidding strategy or
messaging e.g. higher frequency of ads when
users might be planning their outfit for the
weekend or a special occasion.
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or watches
• Sports e.g. sailing or golf
• Class of travel e.g. business class, first class
• Affinity with certain brands e.g. Net a Porter
• Sites e.g. Times fashion, Vogue, Harper’s
Bazaar, Vanity Fair, luxury portals and blogs
V
V
high-street
example targeting and tactics
Contextual: Appear next to relevant content
e.g. fashion week editorials, best buy guides,
Example target segments for
high street fashion retailers:
relevant content in relation to affinity goods
and less affluent audience.
•
Online e-commerce sites
Placement: Create target list of premium
•
Fashion blogs
sites to appear at a much lower CPM e.g.
•
Celebrity news and gossip
entertainment category, fashion magazines.
•
Jobs
Device: Consider audience and messaging; will
•
Affinity with particular brands e.g. Topshop
targeting them nearer to payday get a better
•
Income
•
Sites e.g. celebrity news and gossip, fashion blogs, celebrity news and gossip, news sites,
response? What time of day are they online and
receptive to advertising?
blogs, look magazine, Glamour magazine etc
Audience data: Use data to identify users in
the market for high-street brands, which can
Data available can help strategists decide which
include the use of income levels and job types.
of these options would be most effective for a
brand. For example, an advertiser can get an idea
Trend data: Use outside feeds e.g. harnessing
of the demographics of a site’s visitors, such as
social media hashtag buzz indicators around
age group, gender, social grade, income, location,
events, or use programming, Google trend data,
popular times for traffic, and devices used.
market stats or weather to inform a bidding
strategy or messaging e.g. a higher frequency of
ads before summer holidays to promote a new
season range.
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the future of
data informed
campaigns.
First-party data is becoming an increasingly important point
of differentiation in programmatic campaign planning. Still a
significantly under-utilised tactic, the segmentation and integration
of CRM data into retargeting strategies provides the possibility
of hyper-personalised targeting. Done effectively, this can have a
significant impact on the lifetime value of customers.
If, for example, a brand knows that a segment
of its customers purchases multiple items of
clothing from a specific brand or designer each
season, the same segment of customers can
be targeted with precise designer-led creative
upon launch of their new season range.
Similarly, if a segment of customers is
predictable in when they buy certain items,
the timing of the targeting could be such that
they are captured when they have the highest
propensity to convert.
Taking this a step further, more complex
customer data-modelling techniques can be
employed, similar to those seen more commonly
in personalised email marketing and website
content. As an example, if a brand knows that
a customer has bought a particular item or set
of items, and its other customers’ behaviours
show they are therefore likely to purchase
a specific other item, they can be targeted
programmatically with creative content
focused on this additional product.
More simply, this technique could be
used to re-engage with dormant
customers, with bids or cost set to take
into account the likelihood of them
making further purchases.
Advancements in data management platforms
(DMPs) and the programmatic technologies
operated by media owners and demand-side
platforms (DSPs) are bringing this approach
to a more mainstream audience. The ability to
identify groups of people while they browse
online, targeting them based on what is known
about them as customers, enables brands
to target creative towards them in a highly
personalised way.
The technology, however, is just the starting
point. Success in this area of programmatic
advertising is extremely dependent on the
quality and complexity of a brand’s data
modelling and customer segmentation. Getting
this wrong and targeting customers with
irrelevant creative could easily have a negative
impact on customer value and brand perception.
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Of course, it is also advisable to consider what could be deemed as ‘too personal’. If
customers are uncomfortable with just how relevant the targeting is - such that they
feel they may have been personally identified - this too can have the exact opposite
of the desired effect.
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q&a:
what fashion marketers want
to know about programmatic
advertising.
Q: Can an advertiser ensure that
inventory is brand-safe?
A: The move to programmatic means placements
and reviewing the content are no longer selected
manually, and so the concern is placed on
whether ads are showing against safe content.
There will always be a certain level of risk
involved when marketing on such a scale, but
most technology introduces a classification
system to ensure placement quality remains high
and free of high-risk content. Additionally, the
use of negative contextual targeting can allow
advertisers to stop their ads appearing next to
specific negative content.
It is possible to create individual deals with
premium publishers (PMPs) that essentially
guarantee content or large formats on their
sites and trade it programmatically. If a
site is performing well or it is a site a brand
wants to associate with, this is a good way of
guaranteeing more brand-safe inventory, but
at a lower cost than going direct.
Q: How will an advertiser know if it’s
appearing on good-quality sites?
A: As the programmatic method of buying
display advertising has grown, it is no longer the
case that it is only ‘remnant’ impressions that
are traded. All major publishers now make their
inventory available so brands can appear on
premium publisher sites at a fraction of the cost
of buying directly.
The IAB has introduced verification and publisher
guidelines to ensure that ad quality is monitored.
In addition, all good platforms and partners have
sophisticated tools with ‘brand safe’ features to
ensure adverts only appear on quality sites. It is
also possible for an advertiser to manage this by
creating a blacklist of sites and categories they
do not want to appear on.
It is essential to select the right partner that can
answer these questions and put measures in
place to protect a brand.
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Q: Is wasted ad spend a concern?
A: The real-time optimisation programmatic
advertising allows means that wasted ad spend
is minimal. If an advert is not being seen by
its intended audience, then it will not perform
and it will be stopped, meaning advertisers can
buy more of what works and less of what does
not with every passing second. This favours
programmatic over traditional methods where
advertisers would have to pre-purchase a
number of impressions with no way of stopping
adverts if they turned out to be poor quality.
Furthermore, in order to grow campaigns, it is
essential to try new placements and assess
Q: Where does the human aspect come
into programmatic?
their value. This is speculative spend that allows
A: There is a misconception that programmatic
advertisers to find new customers, but will
advertising means a computer is running a
lead to a small level of wasted spend. The key
campaign without any need for human input.
difference is that with traditional methods, an
However, the algorithms alone are not clever
advert may only appeal to 50% of a website’s
enough to run for long without losing efficiency,
user base and therefore waste 50% of spend,
mainly due to budget and marketplace changes.
but with programmatic means, adverts can be
tested and refined quickly, and so wasted spend
Firstly, impression prices fluctuate across
is limited to less than 10% in reality.
different buying platforms, and so changing the
platform that impressions are bought through
is how maximum efficiency is generated. However,
Q: How do advertisers know if someone
has seen a display ad?
no tool is able to see these price changes in
advance, so human intervention allows preemptive changes to cheaper platforms.
A: An ad impression takes into account the fact
the ad has loaded on a given page. It is possible
There are also large changes in online behaviour
to use frequency caps and time lag analysis to
caused by external factors such as news stories,
assess the optimum number of times to show
weather patterns, holidays, fashion trends and so
an individual an ad before they take the
on. This cannot be accounted for in an algorithm
desired action.
that is based on known data. Therefore, there is a
need to tweak bidding algorithms to account for
The IAB has published a new metric based on
market changes.
ad viewability. It is now possible to identify the
exposure an individual has had based on size,
Finally, business objectives change regularly
placement and number of seconds viewed. This
to deal with things such as sales, designer
allows some negotiation with the bidding to
trends, competitor activity, new season stock,
ensure that advertisers are paying for ads that
etc. This requires changes in budgets, targets
a user is more likely to have seen. It is important
and display strategy.
to run benchmarking tests with lower viewability
measures to see what kinds of placements and
exposure work for a brand.
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conclusion
Programmatic advertising provides a great opportunity for marketers
to reach the right people, on the right devices, at the right time. It can
be used to keep pace with an ever-changing audience in an effective,
trackable and efficient way.
There is an opportunity for brands to use
their customer data to create more effective
Report Author: Emma Ashby,
Display Manager, Epiphany
campaigns. The ability to target specific
segments through programmatic advertising
With 13 years’ experience in display and media
provides marketers with a powerful way to
management, Emma has managed data driven,
engage with their customers. The more a brand
tailored and integrated campaigns for clients
knows about its customers’ online behaviour,
across the fashion, finance, travel, charity, retail,
the easier it becomes to reach them.
B2B, e-commerce, higher education and
FMCG sectors.
Programmatic advertising lends itself to using
current customer data to inform campaigns,
but also helps to discover and test new
customer segments without risking significant
amounts of advertising budget on
untested territories.
If you would like to learn what
programmatic advertising could offer
your brand, feel free to email us on
[email protected].
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epiphanysearch.co.uk
0800 019 9727
[email protected]
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