First Edition | December 2024
Times Internet for Marketers
India's largest digital products company. Brand building for digital begins here.
In-Depth
In today’s competitive advertising landscape, brand procurement teams face immense pressure to maximize value for every dollar spent, often equating efficiency with value. This drive for tighter margins impacts the entire supply chain, pressuring agencies to prioritize high-volume, low-cost impressions. While these cost savings may appear beneficial, the relentless pursuit of efficiency has reshaped the industry, leading to unintended consequences.
The meaning behind metrics: Agencies often prioritize short-term cost-saving strategies to meet contract metrics, sacrificing long-term brand-building goals. This pressure drives media buying toward low-cost programmatic channels, including MFA sites that inflate metrics with clickbait content but fail to engage real audiences. Such platforms also attract bots, further skewing metrics and exposing the ecosystem to fraud.
A shared responsibility: The drive for efficiency often begins with procurement but doesn’t absolve publishers of their responsibility to maintain quality. Publishers must safeguard their platforms against low-quality content and fraud, creating high-value environments that benefit advertisers and audiences alike. The focus on cost-cutting has created inefficiencies, highlighting the need to redefine value beyond cost-efficiency for meaningful impact.
Redefining priorities: As procurement prioritizes efficiency, brands must weigh the trade-offs and consider investing in premium, high-quality inventory. Shifting focus from low-cost impressions to real engagement fosters trust, protects against fraud, and builds long-term brand loyalty.
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