This article was originally posted on Programmatic Italia

In Italy, Radio is a medium that enjoys a loyal audience. According to the latest data from TER (Radio Publishers Table), within the first six months of 2018 there were over 34 million listeners tuned every day to radio stations.
However, the market is changing and for many years now, the medium is characterized by a strong digitalization that has changed the way we listen to the radio, adding new types of use, such as streaming on the web or smartphone or listening through Podcasts.
In the last period, the audio ecosystem has been further enriched by Web Radio, content created for online and available only with this mode of use, and has seen the explosion of a series of on-demand streaming services, from Spotify to Deezer.
Even in advertising terms we are witnessing a growth in spending on non-traditional audio media.
According to the latest data from eMarketer (based on IAB), global digital audio advertising spending is increasing rapidly, it grew to 1.6 billion dollars in 2017 (up from 1.1 billion in 2016).

The ecosystem is booming

In Italy, according to GroupM estimates, there are over 14 million Italians who use digital streaming services every day.
The phenomenon, characterized by important numbers, has allowed us to seize the opportunity, creating a product that utilizes the programmatic and aggregates the main web radio of RadioMediaset, Radio Montecarlo, some radio aggregators and major platforms international on-demand streaming, giving advertisers the chance to buy audio spots delivered before or during a listening session.

Inventory purchased via DSP, with the added infinite potential of data:

In fact, these spots tailored to the interests of each individual user, to their socio-demographic profile, to their device, to their geographical position, like any digital campaign.
Additionally, thanks to the four-handed work carried out with GroupM 's Research & Insight team, it’s now possible to link to the Audio programmatic campaigns,the target of Light Radio Listeners  or those who consume less than an hour and a half of daily Traditional radio, with a real advantage for the client in terms of incremental reach achieved and CPG saving (on the specific target), preserving the frequency of the overall audio plan.

Effectiveness, measurement and evolution

The digital world lives with measurement obsession. For clients accustomed to buying space in Radio, being able to measure audio campaigns is essential, just as it is for us it is able to guarantee this activity, in all its wealth of information.
Thanks to the digital efficiency and the granularity of the data it provides, the campaigns are measurable and tracked with the Listen Through Rate (LTR) parameter and the client can receive the data of the users who actually listened to the spot (today we boast a superior benchmark at 90%).
This is a market that is changing rapidly and there are many trends that can no longer be ignored, but even in this case it will be essential to inform operators and clients to start creating an Italian marketplace. In Italy there is a very strong radio culture but only a few traditional publishers can now be purchased through programmatic buying platforms. This highlights a great market opportunity that is also worth capturing on the publisher side.
In general, programmatic has gone beyond the boundaries of the online world, to embrace several other mediums—not just the audio but also the digital billboard for example—and Xaxis is not getting caught unprepared. In DOOH, we are certainly in a first phase of automation of the processes that has already lent to advertisers—over 20 customers activated this year including market leaders, such as Ford or Zalando—numerous advantages. On the audio front, we have foreseen aforementioned potential and have moved as first mover.
Within both markets, we offer our clients state-of-the-art and innovative advertising solutions, guaranteeing them a strategic competitive advantage.

Originally posted in Italian on Programmatic Italia | October 22, 2018

Programmatic Advertising is now a well-established type of online advertising, which we increasingly value will increase its weight in the digital planning model, thanks to the efficiency that data, targeting and automation ensure to customer campaigns.
Today, however, Programmatic is no longer just related to the digital world . More and more often we talk about using the programmatic linked to traditional considered means. First and foremost with Television , a medium that has started to review the classic planning schemes, the Out of Home and the Radio , which in the last period have become the protagonists of a radical transformation.
If until yesterday these were simple beta tests, today the programmatic planning of these media is a consolidated practice , thanks above all to the trust reserved by our customers to the use of this increasingly successful mode of purchase. As GroupM, we were pioneers with the first campaigns already in 2017, and in the course of 2018 we strengthened our knowledge and experience, also welcoming valuable feedback from advertisers.

In the outdoor world, Digital Out Of Home is growing in terms of inventory and spending .
Globally, according to data from the Market Insights Reports report, the Digital Out of Home market was valued in 2016 over $ 13 billion and is expected to reach over $ 34 billion by 2025.
Incredible numbers that also reflect the Italian trend. From Kinetic estimates, from 2013 to 2017 there is an overall increase of 30% in digital systems and a 40% increase in advertising investments. Today, DOOH's share of the total Out Of Home market in 2017 is 11.4%, a number destined to grow.
Objective data that allowed Xaxis - GroupM programmatic unit -, in partnership with Kinetic - WPP's Out of Home planning agency -, to launch on the market a scalable product for the automated purchase and sale of Digital Out Of Home spaces , grouping in a single marketplace the main operators of the Out-of-Home media and an inventory of physiologically fragmented spaces.
Clear Channel, Telesia, Urban Vision, Exomedia (represented in Italy by MovingUP ) and Grandi Stazioni are some of the publishers currently available via DSP. A very wide choice of digital spaces in the city center, stations, airports, subways and shopping centers, spaces that can be purchased programmatically and with many advantages for advertisers.

The programmatic purchase of the OOH vehicle is released from the classic time logics (7 or 14 days): it is possible to buy only specific days or time slots, with creative changes directly on the platform ; this allows to intercept the reference audience by planning even some specific places and moments of the day in which the customer's target is present. We know, for example from offline sources (TSSP Synoptics and publisher data), that most Commuters moves in the 6:00 - 9: 59 / 17:00 - 20:59 bands only on weekdays: thanks to automation, we can intercept these users at that time, providing targeted advertising on the screens without any loss.
Effective planning also in terms of amplification with mobile . According to IAB estimates, 48% of consumers are more willing to click on a banner after being exposed to an OOH ad. This is why we recommend combining the two DOOH and mobile vehicles, with mobile campaigns near the screens, to increase the memory and intercept even those potentially distracted.
The next evolution will bring next year to associate to the DOOH campaigns the potentials given by the moment marketing and the so-called "Triggers" , that is the possibility to show specific creativities based on climate changes or atmospheric conditions, all in real time.

There are many challenges and improvements to be made in a market that requires education, skills development and regulation . An IAB work table is active, which sees us involved together with Kinetic and which is aimed at defining technical standards and positioning.
The ecosystem has the potential to become globally scalable, but fundamental aspects must be regulated , such as third-party tracking, the identification of standard measures for screens or the measurement of contacts exposed in real time, the so-called Opportunity To See , or how many people have actually seen or are seeing the single passage / spot. Currently on this topic there are many researches and technologies that estimate the count and the number of people around the screens, from cameras to wi-fi, a situation that adds fragmentarity to a non-homogeneous ecosystem, in which it will be necessary to identify a technology or a third-party provider that can act as a univocal certifier of all publishers.