On Tuesday, October 2nd, Neal Mohan, Google's VP of Display Advertising, moderated a presidential-style debate about programmatic buying and building brands online at the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s MIXX conference. He was joined on-stage by Jon Suarez-Davis, VP of Global Digital Strategy and North America Media at Kellogg’s, and Curt Hecht, Chief Revenue Officer at The Weather Channel, who represented the advertiser and publisher sides in this debate.
When it first emerged, programmatic buying promised to transform how digital media was bought and sold. However, some publishers equate programmatic with the loss of advertiser connections and the death of premium inventory. This leaves the industry to confront key questions: Can the whole industry benefit from this transformation? How should publishers and advertisers work together in this new world order? This debate emphasized the importance of transparency to grow the industry for both advertisers and publishers. The lively discussion emphasized the need for marketers and publishers to partner not just for inventory but also for better data and audience analyses.
