A new study reveals a significant gap between the level of sophistication of interactive advertising platforms and how comfortable industry executives are in articulating the value of those platforms to media buyers and marketers.
More than 640 digital publishers, advertisers, agency executives and researchers from across the U.S. responded to the IAB and Ernst & Young survey. Roughly 75% of these executives work directly with social media and mobile ad platforms, but roughly one-quarter of them are uncomfortable explaining the value of these platforms in the context of buying or selling ads. Approximately 85% of respondents said online video is important to their businesses, but a full 20% were uncomfortable demonstrating the benefits of this interactive ad vehicle.
Close to 35% of survey respondents indicated they were uncomfortable using third-party audience and sales data to optimize ad performance and 20% expressed unease interpreting syndicated audience research. Additionally, 22% are unclear as to how to utilize server-side web analytics.
IAB plans to introduce a training regimen and certification program to help address the problem.
In related news, Kip Voytek of Rapp, won MDC’s $1 Million Challenge and will now head up a new, New York-based non-profit focused on digital arts and science education called the Digital Works Institute.
Chuck Porter, of MDC Partners says, “Hopefully, it will help to enlarge the pool of digital talent and enhance the quality of digital innovation across a broad array of businesses. It’s not really a business investment for MDC, it’s more of an investment in the future of the industry.”
