Operative Blog

Does this sound familiar?

Lack of data integration

Too much manual data entry

Mistakes and discrepancies are constant

Invoices do not match

Every RFP is different 

IAB is trying to create a standard RFP –> Proposal –>IO –>Invoice process.  In conjunction with the IAB, Operative is participating in the beta project .  Geoff Petkus,  Senior Director of Product for Operative, takes the stand to showcase the ‘standard’ communication process between Agencies and Publishers.

Step one, RFP receipt.  We will validate the incoming RFP for any errors and codes. The next step includes client-specific rules for what to do next. Each publisher will have the ability to define rules for any agency or account. 

Next we go to RFP management.  When an RFP comes in from an Agency, it will be assigned from a queue so that everyone is working on the most recent business.  After that, it will be organized into a RFP detail page. 

The last step is sending the proposal. 

Question of the day-  How does the new Ebusiness RFP platform play in a world that could be eliminating a major part of the RFP process?  

The whole process is meant to return RFP’s faster because they are in an agreed upon template to start with.  Operative can play a big role in the workflow- ask us how…email Sales@operative.com to hear about our work with Donovan Data Systems iDesk and innovations in streamlining agency/publisher communications.

Geoff Petkus

Right this moment, Operative’s Senior Director of Product, Geoff Petkus, is presenting at the IAB Ad Operations Summit on the IAB working group’s advancements in automating agency and publisher communications. 

Check out the session: The Power of Automation, E-Business Solutions!

Follow Operative Founder and VP Sales, Lorne Brown on Twitter- http://twitter.com/LorneBrown

Follow the IAB on Twitter- http://twitter.com/IAB

The question is not WHO owns the data but who CAN USE the data.  So the truth is that more data leads to more complexity in our business. The vast majority of publishers are still trading on content and not audiences.  But staying ahead of the technology curve allows a publisher to be more aggressive in the innovative marketplace. 

One big problem within digital advertising is that the cost of doing business is 2x or 3x the amount of other mediums (such as print, radio, TV, etc).  We need one electronic system to handle the workflow and inventory…  The fundamental problem is that companies like Procter and Gamble cannot spend $1 billion online without a better understanding of audience measurement. 

Think about search.  Google is successful because they gave the advertiser control.  This is a concept of what needs to change in the display market- let the market decide what it wants to buy.  Display has 95% of all inventory but provides very little control for advertisers. 

Predictions – if you are looking at demand side platforms and buyers are looking to find value, then you will see audience based buys through open marketplaces and there will be less integrated sponsorships (Yahoo).  Data will either liberate us or crush us (WPP). There will be two different planners: the ones in the marketplace and the other will be integration (WPP).  Real time bidding (like a clearing house) will control 60% of the business in 2 years (WPP).

The knowledge is where the data is.  How can Operative become a force and help publishers use this data?  Let us know your thoughts…

Dan Murphy, SVP at Univision Interactive Media and LONG TIME supporter of the IAB, gave an update on the IAB Ad Operations Council.

The joke of the day is that Ad Ops has become a REAL job- where everyone is wearing suits and leaving the jeans and sneakers at home.  According to Dan, both the agency and the publishing sides have value to bring to the table.  6 years ago, the industry was talking about all of the same problems we continue to address today (late creative, intrusive ads, audience measurement, rich media specs and discrepancies).  6 years ago, Ben Reid (when working for About.com) spearheaded the “OARS- Online Ad Reporting Standards” project (ebusiness).  Today, Operative still has a stake in the eBusiness initiative: Geoff Petkus has continued to work with the IAB committees on standards and specs to unite both publisher and agency processes and data models.    

The new IAB audit will go a long way to standardize the industry.  An overwhelming amount of impressions are audited throughout the web, and verification systems will need to help the ecosystem and not hurt the process.  According to a survey Dan initiated, “Ad Ops is 50% more complex than it was 3 years ago”.  Fragmentation is out of control right now because of the different sites and structure in the marketplace.  While innovation and growth are not slowing down, the largest concern for media companies is “Inventory and Yield Management”.  A close second is “Billing Discrepancies.”

Operative.One Campaign360

Are discrepancies STILL keeping you up at night? 

Has your CFO  charged you with the responsibility of driving revenue opportunity within your Ad Ops department in 2010?

Now is the time to alleviate pain.  Create operational efficiencies within your digital organization by implementing tools that will automate the collection, reconciliation and reporting of primary and 3rd party ad server data. 

Visit our booth and ask the team about the benefits of Operative.One Campaign 360.

IAB Ad Ops Summit - Operative mugs

Need a refill on your coffee before heading back into the 11:30am session on “Ad Units?”

Stop by our booth and pick up a mug!

Kamal Chadha (CBS Interactive)- Panelist

Tim Messier (The Weather Channel Interactive)- Panelist

Steve Sullivan (Microsoft Advertising)- Moderator

As an industry, we’ve made strides in discrepancy management by implementing guidelines and best practice processes.  But the issue of discrepancies is still catastrophic.  Between human error and mapping line items to placement ID’s, manual processes and lack of automation only continue to perpetuate the impact of discrepancies.

Real life example: Today, the publisher gets the tag from the agency, and inserts the tag into the ad server.  For each tag, there is an associated publisher #.  How do you sync the tags with the publisher #, and report on the two?  Answer: more reporting options.

1. Madison, the CBS Interactive media custom server, collects all line item information.
2. Weather.com uses Solbright and passes a flight ID to the ad server for unique information.
3. Schedule standardized reports that will help you get in front of these issues before billing at the end of the month.
4. The last option is reporting through access to the ad server’s API.  CBS Interactive’s goal is to have an API automatic system that pulls 3rd party numbers every night with an alert function that highlights areas of concern.  There’s a new solution on the market with similar functionality.

Next steps- get the IAB council back together.  Educate the industry on possible solutions such as AdJuster and Operative.One Campaign360. Finally, establish partnerships that will ease the discrepancy pain.

What does TRUE operational efficiency look like?   Buying, selling and executing digital advertising should be a transaction similar to eating out at a restaurant- you don’t HAVE to think about too hard.  As an industry, publishers and agencies spend too much time in petty details and legal issues and THIS needs to change. 

David Cohen of Universal McCann asked 3.5 Questions:

1. Characterize ad ops?  We NEED good people but we LOSE good people.  Others talked about challenging times with too many demands.  There are common sentiments about how this portion of business is perceived. 

2. Greatest improvements?  Better collaboration every day. 

3. Could discrepancies start going down?  Is this one of media’s greatest pains?  Consider the amount of time it takes to analyze the data, the manual processes and paper STILL involved the process.  We still need mutual trust, collaboration and transparency among publishers and agencies.

David shows a chart called the Road to Nirvana (not the band), and all of the pieces that need to change to make the system run a lot smoother.  It starts with something as easy as RFP standardization, and continues to T&C’s.  Late creative is another big issue that needs to be solved. 

2010 is our year.  Simple dialogue can go a long way.  The only constant right now is that the rate of innovation is fast.

David’s prediction for 2015 is that there will be two different camps: High volume vs Premium publishers. 

Total commercial websites will drop dramatically.  In 2015, MSA’s will be signed at the beginning of the year in order to make life much easier.

Jeremy Fain, VP of Industry services at IAB takes the stage to discuss… DISCREPANCIES.

Last year’s presentation was called “The War on Discrepancies.”  Why were they happening?  If the ad servers were correct, than what was wrong?  Could it be process?  Click here to read about Best Practices in discrepancy management and actionable processes that can make a positive impact on revenue.  Today’s big conversation is around “system’s integration.”  With SI, we will never reach the future. 

Up next-  a look into the  future.  What is true operational utopia going to look like, considering that our focus is operational excellence.  David Cohen (executive VP) from Universal of McCann, will give us a peak into the agency side of digital operations.

Randall Rothenberg takes the stage to tell everyone we are not geeks, we ROCK STARS of interactive media. 

Nothing would be customized or accomplished without Ad Operations. 

We are the guardians of the data and without, there wouldn’t be any revenue.  This is our Woodstock.

Creatives used to be the rock stars- until they realized they needed ad ops to make the ads go live.  The future of this media depends on the skills of everyone in this room.  How do we make the internet flow as smoothly as possible?