By bsr - February 1st, 2015
We're continuing our conversations with the Pros of Programmatic, this week talking to Jeremy Hlavacek at the Weather Channel. We discuss his current approaches to the technology, the future of programmatic, and how much brands should be embracing it if they want to succeed.
Jeremy, you’re the Vice President of Programmatic at the Weather Channel, so judging from your title, it’s something your company is invested in right now. What’s your current approach to programmatic?
Jeremy Hlavacek: We have heavily embraced it as a publisher. It’s been a very successful growth channel for us.
Do you see that continuing? Will you be increasing the amount of resources – budget and/or personnel – you devote to programmatic at the Weather Channel in 2015?
Yes, absolutely – we are adding more resources to drive more programmatic revenue.
And right now, how many people at your company are currently focused on programmatic?
Technically, everyone in our ad sales organization is thinking about programmatic. Plus, all of our sellers leverage my [programmatic] team to help them close deals and grow their clients’ business.
Speaking of clients, in your opinion, why should brands be interested in programmatic advertising? What’s the benefit for them?
Programmatic is a more efficient and more targeted way for brands to run advertising. Everyone – not just brands – should be aware of it, if not interested in it.
Vendors, education, understanding, information, and misinformation.
Everything we’ve been researching at Incite points to the fact that programmatic technology will continue to mature and become more pervasive. How will the increasing maturity of programmatic technology influence your broader strategy for your inventory?
I think as programmatic continues to mature, it will make the entire ecosystem better because efficiency will help focus dollars on the best possible targets.
And that should help everyone involved. One way we know that programmatic is a ‘Big Deal’ comes on the foot of the ANA announcing that “programmatic” was the word of the year in 2014. Looking to the future, what do you think the advertising word for 2015 will be?
“Programmatic TV”
Interesting. We’ve spoken to a lot of people in that space, so I’m inclined to agree with you! Finally, in your professional opinion, who are the best advertising technology providers in the space?
By market share – Google. From there, it’s a wild West on the Lumascape.
Thanks, Jeremy. Looking forward to seeing you in May at the Incite Programmatic Summit!
If programmatic is on your radar - like Jeremy says it should be - check out the Incite Programmatic Summit where Jeremy and his peers from top Brands, Agencies and Publishers will be sharing their expertise and insights on the future of advertising. Check out the full event agenda and speaker faculty.