Publicis Groupe Media’s recent partnership with Rapt Inc. will bring a suite of analytic tools to its digital media agencies: Starcom MediaVest Group, ZenithOptimedia Group and Digitas. By providing supply, demand and value data on digital inventory the holding company hopes to change the buying process.
“You look at relatively antiquated processes like up-fronts — that is a very opaque way of buying media,” said Tim Hanlon, EVP at Denuo, the media futures practice of Publicis Group. “Nobody knows what the best price is; nobody knows the real value of that media inventory.”
The collaboration between the two companies is a call for transparency in the media buying and selling process, according to Hanlon. Client-specific data, however, will be protected. The three groups using the new platform complete $1.5 billion in cross-Internet media buys yearly.
Media sellers also can use the Rapt service to measure the value of their ad inventory against market data. Rapt Information Services will also provide forecasts and media performance indices to benefit media analysts.
“The digital media world is so much more dynamic than, say, classic media like TV or radio,” Hanlon concluded. “There’s a much more dynamic element, and, because of that dynamism, we have to be much more intelligent about what is really going on.”
