Is every company now an adtech company?

Rio Longacre, Managing Director of Advertising and Marketing Transformation at Slalom, delves into adtech, AI, and the future of marketing. With mounting privacy regulations and the deprecation of third-party cookies, more companies are venturing into the ads business. While it is now easier to enter the space, building and running a successful ad network involves complexities such as balancing ad revenue with core business and creating demand. Today, Rio discusses whether every company is now an ad tech company.

About the speaker

Rio Longacre

Slalom

Rio is Managing Director of Advertising and Marketing Transformation at Slalom

Part 1 Is every company now an adtech company?
Part 2Avoiding AI swirl

Show Notes

03:08

The rise of ad networks

Many businesses are looking to monetize their first-party data and user base by creating ad networks. This is due to privacy laws, cookie deprecation, and a changing digital media landscape. However, many are struggling to create demand and price their inventory effectively.
06:44

Challenges of businesses becoming ad networks

While selling ad space can be lucrative, it shouldnt impact sales, user experience, and traffic to the website. Brands must find the balance to ensure a symbiotic relationship between advertising and the core business.
08:10

Challenges for marketers with new ad tech networks

The rise of new ad tech networks with varying KPIs and terminology creates challenges for marketers. To address this complexity, agencies and holding companies are investing in solutions to streamline media buying and analytics across multiple ad platforms,
10:51

The impact of new ad tech networks on in

The fragmentation of ad networks is prompting some firms to reconsider in-housing strategies and rely on external agencies for ad buying. Ultimately, the splintering of ad buying is a challenge for marketers, favoring big agencies and holding companies over in-house teams.
13:13

The impact of data privacy regulations on ad tech networks

Data privacy regulations and the deprecation of third-party cookies are driving the development of alternative adtech solutions. While some new approaches raise questions about privacy compliance, regulations like GDPR are pushing businesses to more privacy-conscious solutions.

Quotes

"Everyone wants to monetize first-party data because of privacy laws and cookie deprecation. All of these trends are splintering the world of digital media making it possible to do that." - Rio Longacre
"Even if you have a self-serve DSP portal for brands or buyers, it's not as easy as just building an adtech platform. You have to get there, create demand, and know how to price things." - Rio Longacre
"You start selling online ads, and those have an 85% margin. Stuff becomes attractive. The key is figuring out how to run the new business to drive a better user experience on the site, and sell inventory to marketers." - Rio Longacre
"We're seeing many people hit the pause button on bringing ad buying in-house because of the splintering that tends to favor the big agencies and holding companies." - Rio Longacre