Nazita Skoghag AdProfit Head of Programmatic on Guaranteed & Post-Cookie Opportunity
“In tricky circumstances, programmatic has proved its staying power.”
Nazita Skoghag is Head of Programmatic at Adprofit. We spoke to her about 2020 and the pandemic’s impact on programmatic, post-cookie opportunity, plus how guaranteed trading is going right now in the Nordics:
For those who don’t already know, can you run us through what AdProfit does and who you work with?
Adprofit was founded in 2008, by Louise Fritjofsson. Essentially, she brought her extensive buy side experience to a publisher-focused platform and created a "Finance - B2B - Premium Consumer" advertising network that in short time became the largest network of its kind across the Nordics.
From day one, focus has been to simplify the buying process enabling buyers to access 60+ premium websites in this market.
What have been the most significant changes to the market through 2020 and the pandemic?
Clearly the pandemic has affected everyone this year.
But one positive we can take is this - in tricky circumstances, programmatic has proved its staying power.
Some are saying it has even increased both market share and total spend. That wasn’t expected by everyone – but it does suggest the power of flexibility versus traditional media buying.
How important is programmatic guaranteed to your business?
In my past experience working for a publisher, programmatic guaranteed wasn’t really high up on the agenda.
But at Adprofit, especially during the pandemic, we’ve seen more requests for guaranteed than ever before. But we are still far from reaching the highest peak, especially since we only offer standard formats through guaranteed.
Partly this may be explained by agencies’ having programmatic targets for this year they had to reach. And regular deals weren’t enough.
While we’ve spoken above about the advantages of flexibility in this market, having another level of control and predictability on top of that is clearly another useful option.
What would you say are the benefits of manual/direct sold guaranteed deals switching to programmatic?
The potential benefits of programmatic buying and selling are pretty well documented. But working on a guaranteed basis alongside real-time, less so.
Having both sets of activity operating in the same system potentially makes various business functions simpler, from reporting, to billing and even data management.
In terms of switching guaranteed deals to programmatic, and the process around that - set up is quicker, and less time consuming, you don’t have to exchange tags, and the system does the rest.
For publishers seeking to grow PG revenues, what would be your main advice?
My main piece of advice is simple – offer the same products you already do through the traditional i/o business via programmatic channels.
If you have specific contextual, vertical strengths, make those available to buyers too, however the market safely allows you to.
If the agency wants to spend more programmatically, they will find ways of doing so – the question is how seamlessly they can do so through a specific publisher.
Programmatic guaranteed has been hyped for big growth a few times in the past, do you think it is now really living up to the promise? And if so, why do you think that’s the case?
I think it’s different this time, for two reasons.
One, the maturity level of the market, and two, the development of the product.
In the first iteration of guaranteed, each platform wanted to create their own vision of how it would work, and the various systems didn’t talk to each other.
We’re in a much better position today. Systems largely are integrated and speak the same language. Here I believe Magnite/Rubicon stands out since they are integrated with various DSPs, which makes it easier for us to approach any buyer regardless of which DSP they are using.
The knowledge across the market today is also on a different level. Plus, from the agencies, we see bigger programmatic budgets and future targets
Where are the major opportunities coming up right now, would you say, for sellers and buyers across the Nordics?
The biggest question mark hanging over us is without a doubt what a post-cookie world looks like.
Just as we saw in the early days of guaranteed, many SSPs and DSPs are currently bringing their own individual ID solution to market right now.
It’s great that the market is so creative. But the real, long-term need is for a common solution for everyone. And crucially, that is not just the ad industry insiders, but those outside of the bubble too.
In this intervening period, there are bound to be twists and turns. There is without a doubt an opportunity here for us. I believe it’s a chance for publishers to prove more than ever the extra value they bring - from contextual and brand safety in particular.
How is the experience of working with Magnite/Netric on guaranteed deals? Would you recommend them as a partner?
Netric has always provided world class support. You can always count on a rapid reply, and just as importantly, an accurate answer. None of this is guaranteed with other partners.
You also have the benefit of market knowledge, for any advice, they are ahead. The connection to Rubicon/Magnite also means the right integrations are in place, on a global basis, and the right setup for the future.
We started using Magnite’s Programmatic Guaranteed product this year together with Netric and I was surprised how easy it was to setup from my end, but also how easy it was for the buyer to accept the guaranteed deal and create the campaign from their end.
I would most definitely recommend them to any publisher – big or small!
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