Some players have a clear definition of curation, but its evolving nature means pinning it down to one description limits opportunities. Reducing curation to a deal ID is simply a function of curation rather than what it is. But what is certain is that, when applied correctly, curation becomes not just a strategy or another product but the essence of what programmatic advertising was meant to be. Only by recognising this can the industry take full advantage of its benefits.
The fact is, curation isn’t just one thing but actually incorporates multiple elements, including curation technology, services and deals. Combining these parts creates a new infrastructure that brings innovation to the supply side by getting closer to the impression and, in doing so, closer to the signal. Aggregate all these signals through curation and programmatic buying improves, campaigns perform better, and media owners achieve greater monetisation.
Delivering new revenue streams and control for brands
Taking a strategic approach opens new opportunities for brands. As more look to in-house their advertising activities, curation is lowering the traditional barriers to entry for them.
By using specialist curation technology intelligently and supporting it with the necessary resources, brands can remove their data from the wider programmatic environment and integrate it with a preferred single supply partner. They can then let their in-house teams decide which advertisers get access to the data and distribute it via a PMP.
Suddenly, the brand has control. Owning the direct advertiser relationship, they determine who to work with, how the data is monetised and the expected performance. In doing so, they can deliver closed loop reporting and understand how their data asset is influencing campaign success.
This approach also has implications for the efficacy of their data by reducing data leakage and ensuring compliance with current regulatory requirements.
Optimising your audience path, not just your supply path
The traditional focus in programmatic has been on supply path optimisation, which ultimately comes down to technologies and commercials. Curation, coupled with interoperability, is now shifting the narrative to audience path optimisation.
It makes reporting across multiple tech stacks possible by accessing multiple DSPs and SSPs. Now, brands can use this to find an exact path to a matching audience rather than limiting their opportunities by only having access to a single stack.
At Multilocal, for example, we plug into 16 SSP curate platforms and can work with any DSP, which gives us critical integrated reporting to inform optimisation across multiple supply paths. This ensures the best results for advertisers and the best monetisation for publishers.
And campaign results must come down to hard sales, not soft media KPIs. That’s why you need to look at incremental net revenue, so you’re measuring what’s important to your business.
As new players emerge in the market and tech continues to converge, we see a lowering of fees from DSPs and SSPs. But far from freeing up more money to enter the auction, money is just being allocated elsewhere among the growing number of vendors. So, unless you’re looking at net incrementality, all you've got is a gross redistribution of costs.
Limiting curation limits its benefits
Ultimately, it’s your approach to curation that determines the value it delivers for you.
Pigeonholing it at a basic level as another data-packaged deal ID is too simplistic and ignores how far curation has evolved. Now, it’s about so much more. It’s about moving advertising from being focused on cheap scale by turning the open marketplace into a rich tapestry of quality opportunities. Then, brands can align with the publishers they want to appear alongside.
It’s about driving commercial outcomes that build businesses. And it’s also about doing things better and becoming a better industry. However, this can only come from recognising curation’s true strategic importance for anyone buying programmatically.
