News & Opinion

Is in-housing programmatic the right solution?

Last week, Ryan Kangisser, Digital Partner, MediaSense, was delighted to be involved in a roundtable event hosted by Infectious Media, looking into current attitudes and trends around programmatic in-housing.

It followed an insightful piece of research into this topic which surveyed over 200 global brand decision-makers. The full report is available to download here.

The event involved several leading global brands at different stages of their in-housing journey. There were those who are now taking greater control of their supply chain, those working much more directly and independently with specialist agencies, and those who had transitioned towards a fully owned and operated in-house model.

The debate revolved around the challenges of talent (both recruitment and retention), operating model (what to buy vs rent) and ways of working (who reports into who).

The key takeouts from the event were:

1. The lack of control and transparency in current agency models has driven a consideration of the in-house model
2. In-house in programmatic doesn’t mean the same thing to everyone, it can be best defined by a hybrid of internal vs external ownership of technology and process
3. There is no one “right model” in programmatic, as recently highlighted by the WFA, stating there might be “as many different models as there are company-specific requirements”
4. Model selection should be driven by a brands’ business goals and should determine what needs to be owned in-house vs. agency requirement
5. Most brands who are are taking control of programmatic already have a track record of in-housing, having previously transitioned channels such as SEO and paid search in-house

From what they read in the trade press, many marketers could be forgiven for thinking everyone is in-housing their programmatic capabilities.

However, based on the research conducted by Infectious Media and our own experience, there are only a small number of brands who have executed a fully programmatic in-house model, and have done so with a thorough assessment of their capabilities with expert advice.

Most advertisers we work with are increasingly looking to take control of the supply-chain so they can more confidently and transparently navigate the ecosystem, and ensure their interests (and importantly data) are protected.

At MediaSense, we have developed a programmatic governance programme designed to equip brands to take greater control of their programmatic activities. Furthermore, through our proprietary diagnostic, we help brands to determine just how suitable and compatible an in-house model could be for them.

For more information contact ryan.kangisser@media-sense.com

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