AOL launches new programmatic TV platform; MCN expands audience segments

Arvind Hickman
By Arvind Hickman | 3 April 2017
 
Yasmin Sanders, AOL.

AOL, in partnership with Multi Channel Network (MCN), has launched a new global programmatic TV buyer platform that expands targeting with three times more audience segments than its previous offering.

ONE by AOL: TV replaces its current programmatic TV platform and becomes the first self-service platform that draws on MCN inventory and audience segments from MCN's Multiview panel data.

MCN is increasing the number of tradeable Multiview audience segments within the ONE by AOL: TV platform from 15 to 47, expanding MCN’s programmatic TV offering for Australian media agencies and advertisers.

This means that advertisers will be able to buy against specific audience behaviours. For example a hardware store could target heavy buyers of hardware equipment or supermarket might target light buyers of food and alcohol in a campaign.

“This is about advertisers being able to increase their return on investment for their TV ad dollars,” AOL ANZ senior director, programmatic TV Yasmin Sanders tells AdNews.

“We're in a world now where audiences are fragmenting and there's no denying that. We're in a space where blunt age and gender demography is certainly important but this enables buyers to understand more about the audiences that are watching television.

“From the sell side and broadcasters, this will allow the to understand the true value of their audiences as well.”
AOL has tested the product with clients and media agencies with “significant” sales uplifts and increased visits to websites on the back of programmatic TV ads.

MCN national sales director Nick Young believes that within three years a quarter of all TV inventory will be traded programmatically.

“In the last two years we have seen an increasing number of media agency partners join us in the journey,” he adds.

“Once they’ve used the platform and experience the benefits of driving greater business outcomes for clients, we’ve seen significant, repeated increase in investment over the last year. We, therefore, estimate TV campaigns traded programmatically on the Foxtel platform will grow from just under 10% today to over 25% in three years.”

One of the media agency partners on board is Dentsu Aegis Network's programmatic arm Amnet Group.

Nic Hawley, national head of screen strategy and innovation at Amnet Group ANZ, adds: “ONE by AOL: TV provides our clients with access to a brand safe TV private marketplace that offers market-leading control, insights and access to premium linear TV inventory at scale. This is a significant milestone as programmatic technology transcends into more traditional media channels.”

AOL says the benefits of the new tech include:

Transparency and control: Advertisers buying linear TV through AOL’s interactive, self-serve module have greater control in selecting audience targets, establishing KPIs and setting campaign parameters. They can plan, purchase, and measure campaign performance with enhanced inventory and pricing transparency, transacting highly targeted programmatic buys.

Intelligent Automation: The platform’s automated data exchange lowers operational burdens on campaign planning and purchasing, which increases workflow efficiency and speed to market. Once the buyer has generated the plan that meets their goals, they can submit the order directly from within the platform through a fully automated integration within the network. 

Rich data and measurement: With up to 47 audience behaviour segments available through the platform, we are bringing marketers the most extensive data and targeting solutions available for TV today, allowing them to make more effective media buys driven by person-level data.

Premium inventory: AOL has a long-standing partnership with MCN to offer premium subscription TV inventory at scale.

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