Balancing the Tried-and-True with the New and Never-Been-Done

Mark McKee, Vice President, Marketing, Videology

There are several factors converging that are affecting advertisers’ relationship with risk:

1.) The increasing role of procurement in media investment decisions

2.) The rise of DVRs and other disruptive technologies that have taken away the safe havens once provided by traditional media

3.) The data-driven approach to media planning and buying that has improved accountability

For an ad tech guy who plays decidedly in the third bucket, you would think I’d be all about minimizing risk. And, in a sense, I am. We continually look for new ways to use data to gain insights into an advertiser’s consumers, improve targeting, measure outcomes and improve ROI.

But, ironically, despite video’s efforts to build our entire offering around uber-accountability, we’re still the new player in the market. What’s more, the highly analytical, mathematically-driven approach to media planning and buying that video employs is confusing. You can’t see it. You can’t understand the intricacies. And you can’t see the great results until you’ve already committed to running a campaign.

All of this is simply to say, even though digital media has brought unprecedented levels of accountability to advertising, innovation without any risk is not possible. The question is, when is the risk worth it and how do you tell?

It’s been said that “Creative without strategy is art. Creative with strategy is advertising.” A little bit of courage, paired with sound business rational, seems the surest way to strike the right risk balance. Of course, this requires a base level of trust between all parties involved—agencies, advertisers, media companies and technology partners.

From the perspective of the video ad techs, this means providing complete transparency into our business. And from the agency/marketing perspective, this means understanding and accepting upfront what media partners can and cannot guarantee when testing innovation—whether an emerging technology or a new creative execution.

There’s a lot of exciting new territory ahead in the advertising space. If we get the risk equation right, what we can accomplish together is the near future is truly astounding.