Earlier this month, Matt Sweeney, CEO of Xaxis, published a thought-piece in AdExchanger called Humanizing Programmatic which is worth a read. It’s reflective of our philosophy here at AffinityX and very relevant to local media and marketers who are challenged with harnessing the power of programmatic.
Sweeney’s premise is that “despite prevalent misconceptions, programmatic advertising requires deep human input to properly manage, guide and meld the wealth of technologies and strategies in service of a marketer’s goals.”
He argues that it is humans who have the institutional knowledge, the relationships in the industry and the ability to interpret machine learning in the context of marketers’ specific goals and, ultimately, that “only humans can think like consumers.”
At AffinityX, we agree 100 percent. We are the power of people plus technology. Our 2,200-plus team members use sophisticated tools and platforms — including our custom, in-house built systems and the best in adtech and martech — to continually deliver best-in-class results for our clients and their customers.
It’s people, not machines, that are needed to execute strategy, develop amazing creative and communicate with clients and partners on a human level. And what about brand safety? Machines will not hesitate to place ads in inappropriate context if the algorithms conclude they are good matches. Only human auditors can make the right judgment calls.
The automation of digital advertising has no doubt been a game-changer and AffinityX offers a comprehensive suite of digital revenue solutions (including programmatic display) that have helped some of the biggest names in local come of age. We will always champion the incredible value of the human touch.
Contact us today and let some of our experienced people talk to you about your options in programmatic and digital.
