In this series, we interview the people and companies paving the way in programmatic TV advertising.

This week, we talk to Jeff Green, CEO of The Trade Desk, a demand-side platform that powers the desks of the world’s most advanced buyers in online advertising. Jeff is a veteran of the advertising industry – prior to The Trade Desk, he founded AdECN in 2004, which was acquired by Microsoft. 

What is your programmatic TV strategy or point of view?

Of the $600B spent in advertising annually, half that is television – the opportunity is tremendous. We believe that all channels of advertising will be bought and sold programmatically within the next few years, and we’re confident in clypd’s capabilities for television as that channel goes digital.

As a demand-side platform, our role is to lead the charge on technology and create an environment where the buyer’s expertise is accelerated – not delayed – by the emerging opportunity. At The Trade Desk, we’ve committed ourselves to working shoulder-to-shoulder with SSPs such as clypd in changing the way advertising is bought and sold.

What are the greatest opportunities and challenges related to programmatic TV?

Television is going digital – it’s the easiest way to say it. The greatest opportunity for the $5B RTB industry is in overtaking the $300B spent in linear television each year. That shift is happening, and it’s thrilling to shape it with partners such as clypd.

Regarding challenges, what’s important to understand is that – on the buy side – we’re not trying to take budget from TV teams. We’re here to equip buyers who have a need to buy in programmatic TV as well as the other digital channels. The biggest challenge will be making that technology offering across channels within agencies while demonstrating the power of a unified buy. The reporting capability on a multichannel strategy within a single platform means that media teams are running insights up the marketing chain that are changing the way their clients do business.

How much of TV advertising do you believe will go “programmatic” over the next few years?

There is no reason all of television advertising, all channels, in fact, could not be brokered programmatically in the near future. That is a complex concept because “programmatic” does not mean only RTB. In the programmatic forward market, advertisers will be able to reserve inventory on an upfront basis as they do now. They will have guarantees for the inventory and there will be penalties in play if the publisher doesn’t follow through – just as there is now for direct buys.

The difference? They’ll get the robust audience targeting we’ve achieved in the programmatic spot market, where you don’t have to blast your Super Bowl to 100 million people and hope your target segment of “young, urban golf enthusiasts” caught the spot. You can target your advertising directly to them, without a single impression wasted.

What are the greatest benefits that advertisers will gain from programmatic TV?

With programmatic television, advertisers are able to achieve major branding and awareness goals while targeting their very specific segments. Its effectiveness is unparalleled in the history of marketing. Particularly in programmatic television, marketers are reaching consumers in an immersive environment, where they’re enjoying content they’ve selected and are ready to receive brand messages in an authentic and engaging way. As part of a multichannel strategy, you can map the user from that moment of first awareness all the way to conversion.

With public companies like Mondelez (Oreo, Chips Ahoy, etc…) discussing their favor and investments programmatic, how should media buyers be thinking about programmatic TV advertising?

We see more and more that media buyers have to think multichannel at all times. Even as a traditional “TV buyer,” you are seeing your budget shift into digital. It’s an important evolution and one we’re confident will continue to develop in the coming months. As we work with the agencies and trading desks that drive media buys for these powerhouse brands, our charge is to lead them with buy-side technology – and find partners who are doing the same on the sell-side.

What else do you think is important to share?

The future of the programmatic forward market will change advertising as we know it. The Upfronts, the Newfronts, everything we do today to try to back the ‘old way’ of advertising into the new technology… it is a work-around. We are focused on permanent change. The RTB market grew from $0 to $5B within about seven years – we’re confident the programmatic television opportunity will grow even faster because of the robust forward market that is now being put in place.

To learn more about Jeff Green and The Trade Desk, head over to their website.