Interview 1

Nelsi: Hi everyone, and welcome. I am Nelsi Xhemalaj|, digital media planner at Tangoo, and I'm very glad you could join us for today's session. How to Boost Your Christmas Campaigns with programmatic advertising. Uh, the holiday day season is just around the corner and it's one of the most exciting, uh, competitive times of the year for brands and marketers.

Standout isn't just about festive creatives or catchy taglines anymore, it's about using data, timing and technology to make sure your message reaches the right people when it matters the most. At Tangoo, we help brands to do exactly that. So through programmatic advertising, we turn insights into action and help campaigns deliver strong results, [00:01:00] especially during busy moments like Christmas.

Today we'll be looking at how programmatic can help you to reach the right audience at the right time, turn data into real clicks and sales, and maximize performance across all the channels. I'm joined here by my colleague, Elona Jakupi, digital media specialist at Tangoo, who will be sharing her experience and practical tips on what really works and when setting up and optimizing campaigns for the holidays.

So welcome Elona, and let's get started. So my first question for you, Elona, is, you know, as digital media specialists at Tangoo, you are at the forefront of, uh, campaign delivery for a different range of clients. Uh, what are the key steps you take during the setup phase to ensure that each [00:02:00] campaign is built for success during the holiday season?

Elona: During the setup phase, I focus on three key areas, uh, that is strategy, precision, and adaptability. So first, it's all about understanding the seasonal context. The holiday season comes with a lot of competition and fluctuating user behavior. So I start by analyzing last year's performance trends. The CPA shifts and conversion windows, that helps me, um, set a realistic pacing and, uh, budget expectations.

Then I make sure that the foundations are bulletproof as an audience, segmentation, tracking, and creative. I check that all the floodlights tags and TMS are correctly implemented and the creatives match the placements, and we're using very strong audience layers. Finally, I make sure the campaign structure [00:03:00] allows creative flexibility and accurate delivery.

So during the holidays, clients often pro provide multiple assets, so I have to double check that all the creatives are currently tagged. They are compatible with placements and they are aligned with a messaging calendar, whether that's pre ho. pre-Christmas or post holiday sales. This ensures the right message appears at the right time without delivery issues, and it gives us room to optimize based on a real time performance.

So in short, success during the holiday season starts in the setup. So that's the strong data foundations audience, relevance and agility. 

Nelsi: Okay. Thank you. Elona. Yes, you touch a lot of key points for, for us because I'm part of the media team as well. So, uh, you talk about plot, lights, tasks, creatives. So yeah, it's a bit of, uh, work, uh, uh, [00:04:00] when it comes to set up, especially during busy, uh, season when we have a lot of creatives, a lot of promotions and different aspects that we have to check.

So we said before that the Christmas period is one of the most competitive times of the year for brands and advertisers. Um, how does Tangoos programmatic approach help brands make smarter use of their budgets and drive better results during such a busy time of the year? 

Elona: The holidays are definitely one of the most competitive times of the year.

The CPMs go up. Competition for inventory gets tougher. End users are constantly bombarded with ads. At Tangoo, we focus on making budgets work smarter, not necessarily bigger. So our programmatic approach combines data precision with flexibility, meaning that we constantly monitor performance and shift spend toward the best performing audiences.[00:05:00] 

The best formats and the best placements in real time. We also use contextual and seasonal targeting. So we reach users when they're actually in the shopping mindset, for example, when they're browsing gift ideas or they're browsing deal pages, and this helps us drive stronger engagements and conversions.

So even in a crowded season, the idea is to stay efficient, relevant, and adaptable, and making sure that every Euro we spend is placed where it matters most by getting the right message in front of the right user at the right moment.

Nelsi: Okay, thank you, Luna. Uh, here, I think that the key word is, uh, flexibility. So we as a, an. A partner, a programmatic partner, we have to adapt. Um, and media planning is not something that is like, just, uh, um, strict, but it's something [00:06:00] that we can, uh, change, um, uh, considering the performance, considering the creatives, and considering the different moment of the campaign.

So, um, let's talk about, uh, collaboration, because collaboration plays, uh, a key role in campaign success. So can you please share with us how your work with the sales team, especially, uh, ensure campaigns align with client calls and seasonal promotions? 

Elona: Collaboration is a big part of how we work at Tangoo, uh, especially around the holiday season when things are moving really fast.

As part of the media team, we don't just handle campaign execution. We actually define the strategy as well. That means deciding on the targeting, bidding, pacing, and budget splits based on the client's goals and their seasonal [00:07:00] priorities. Of course. We stay in close contact with the sales team who share the client's objectives or any new promotions coming up, and then from there we translate that into the right setup on our side.

Once the campaigns are live, I make sure that the, that we keep the sales team updated on how things are performing, what's working best, and where we can adjust to get even better results. It is really a team effort, so constant communication helps us stay aligned and in that way we make quick informed decisions throughout the season.

Nelsi: Yeah, I think collaboration is very important for us during the whole year, but especially during, uh, this, yeah, go for Black Friday and Christmas period when the number of activities, number of campaigns really increases. Um, so we talk about the setup. [00:08:00] But after it is set up, there is an important, uh, phase as well of the life cycle of the campaign, which is the optimization 'cause.

Optimization is where the impact of programmatic really comes to life. What metrics or insights do you focus on the most when making adjustments to ensure campaigns deliver maximum performance?

Elona: So, as you said now optimization is definitely where programmatic really comes to life. So it's where all the data we've been collecting actually turns into results. Uh, the first thing that I look at in the core, uh, performance metrics is mainly CPA, the conversion rates, CTR, and pacing. However, I always go beyond the numbers.

So for me, optimization is about understanding. Why things [00:09:00] perform the way that they do. For example, if CPA rises in one market, I'll dig into the audience composition, add frequency, or even the external factors, uh, like local promotions or product launches that might be influencing the results. Since I manage, uh, campaigns across multiple markets, I also compare compare patterns between countries.

Some audiences react faster to urgency based messaging while others respond better to long-term value. These insights help me redistribute budgets and tailor pacing for each region accurately. Yeah, during the holiday season, things move quickly, so I monitor delivery daily and make micro adjustments to stay competitive.

However, without overspending, sometimes the small changes like shifting spend between formats or updating frequency caps can make a huge impact. [00:10:00] Overall, I see optimization as a mix of data and instinct, so using the numbers to guide the decisions, but also reading the bigger context of user behavior and seasonality.

That balance is what helps keeps campaign campaigns performing at their best, even when the market gets unpredictable.

Nelsi: Thank you. I think this is a really interesting insights because we have to look at the data, we have to look at the KPIs, but without forgetting to put them into a bigger context. So we also have to analyze, as you said, the market, um, and the competition. And you. Like having an overall view of, uh, of our activity.

Um, so, um, as a final question, uh, I want to ask you, what do you see are the biggest benefits of using programmatic advertising during the holiday season? [00:11:00] And what should brands be doing now? Now to prepare the campaigns for the success? 

Elona: I'd say the biggest benefit of using programmatic during the holiday season is really the flexibility and the precision it gives you.

Uh, things move super fast at the time of the year and programmatic allows brands to react quickly, whether it's shifting budgets, testing new creatives, or reaching the right audience at the right time. It's also very data driven, which means you can signal. Uh, you, you can use signals like a user intent or product interest to tailor your messaging in real time, and that's a huge advantage when everyone is competing for attention to prepare.

Brands should start early. They should make sure the tracking is set up properly. Um, the creatives already and the audiences are very well defined. That gives you space to [00:12:00] test, to optimize. And go into the peak season with a strategy that is already performing, um, that helps a lot. The brands that plan early and stay agile are the ones that win the holiday season, and programmatic is what makes that possible.

Uh, so that's a bit of how we prepare for and manage holiday campaigns at Tangoo. It's always a busy time, but also the most rewarding when you see everything come together.

Nelsi: Great. Thank you Elona. Uh, I thank you so much for joining us today for our webinar, how To Boost Your Christmas Campaigns with programmatic Advertising. Uh, once again a bit thank you to Elona for sharing her great insights and examples of how programmatic can make such a difference during the holiday season.

Uh, just to quickly recap. We covered how you can reach your audience at the right [00:13:00] time with the smarter targeting. Use real time insights to drive more traffic and sales and maximize your performance across different channels. If you'd like to learn more about how Tangoo can help you to make your campaign stronger this Christmas, visit Tangoo.com or reach out to our team directly so you can connect with both Luna and me on LinkedIn if you'd like to continue the conversation.

Thank you again for being here today and from all of us at Tangoo, we wish you a very successful and impact holiday season. Bye.

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Interview 2

Nelsi: Hi everyone. I'm Nelsi Xhemalaj| digital media planner at Tangoo, and I am excited to be continuing the conversation for today's session, how to Boost Your  Christmas campaigns with programmatic advertising. As we know, the holiday season is one of the busiest and most, most competitive time of the year for brands with festive campaigns everywhere, it's crucial to ensure your message cuts through the noise and reaches the right audience at the right time.

That's where programmatic advertising comes in. Helping brands optimize budgets, makes data-driven decision in real time and turn engagement into meaningful results. Today we will, uh, explore how programmatic can elevate your Christmas campaigns, and I'm very excited to be joined by Lewis Morfoot, senior Partnership Manager, uh, UK at Tangoo.

With the over a decade of experience in programmatic states and partnership, Lewis [00:01:00] has helped brands and media partners deliver campaigns that truly make an impact. Welcome, Lewis. It's great to have you with us, and please give us a short introduction. 

Lewis: Thanks, Nelsi. Um, yeah, I mean, you've done, you've done a very good job there.

I, uh, I've been in, been in the sales space in digital marketing for over 10 years. Um. Spent a bit of time in programmatic, spent a bit of time in search, spent a bit of time in SEO, um, so I'm pretty familiar with the, uh, with a lot of the space. Um, and yeah, excited to have a conversation about what is going on over the Christmas period.

Nelsi: Great. So you are the perfect person to have as and host in our webinar. Okay. Let's start our, uh, interview. So my first question is that. In the 10 years you've been working in programmatic states, uh, what do you think brands and media partners need to remember when [00:02:00] considering working together? 

Lewis: Um, I think there's, there's two parts to this.

Um, I think the first is for, you know, what the advertiser needs to bear in mind. Um, and I think the first thing to consider for advertisers when they are first approaching. Media, media, partners, agencies, anyone who might help them with, um, potentially planning and executing is, um, firstly, what, what are they actually being measured on?

Almost, they need to zoom out before they start. They start talking to anyone and think, you know what, what actually matters here? And what I mean by that. I suppose is considering outcomes over tactics. You know, I think a lot of people, particularly a lot of channels and a lot of, um, different, uh, approaches that are literally coming outta the woodwork at the moment, people are quite, uh, anxious and something excited to jump on, on top of those.

But really it's about understanding like what are fundamentally the business outcomes, um, [00:03:00] understanding the KPIs that are relevant to the business goals. So obviously kp uh, CPA. Is not going to be a realistic KPI for, you know, an awareness campaign, right? But even for I suppose lower funnel campaigns, there, there's that understanding of nuance, right?

Is it new customers? Is it about increasing order value? Is it about in increasing conversion rate? Like those, all those nuances are so important. For, for, um, getting, getting things right in terms of measurement, in terms of outcomes and a competent media agency will help you agree, um, on what, on what those KPIs need to be or what, what, what is worth measuring based on what the outcome needs to be.

Um. So think about phasing, for example. You know, when you are, um, building up, it's more about traffic, it's more about remarketing. And then when you're at the acquisition stage, it's more about, you know, like, like we've already discussed, maybe, uh, incremental revenue or conversion rate. And I think also one of the [00:04:00] benefits of speaking to a, a partner or consultant or, or a media partner, um, is that they can introduce you to new KPIs.

You know, we are, um, currently building out our own KPI called attention. Um, with a partner at Adelaide and that allows us to essentially look at someone's focus on an ad rather than just the viewability of it. Um, so that's the first thing I'd say, um, for advertisers to consider. I think another thing to also consider is what is the actual source of truth?

As a sales person, this is a, this is something that I've come up against a lot, right? Which is, um, you know, what are they actually being measured on? What is the person we are speaking to actually being measured on? Is it the ad platform? Is it their analytics? Is it the reports that they send to their boss, um, that the boss reads?

And if there's a misalignment between those two things, IE the, the ad agency or the media partner is sending report directly within the ad platform. Versus what the [00:05:00] boss is. Then see the big boss is maybe seeing within their analytics tool, if there's that misalignment that can cause serious issues like immediately, immediately when you first start.

Um, and actually it's also worth bearing in mind that that, um, that source of truth is also important when you're doing forecasting, right? Because if you, if you can understand what the source of truth, that source of truth is, if we were to put together a media plan or anyone was gonna put together a media plan to.

To forecast what was going to happen over a period, particularly Christmas, which is obviously so important. Understanding what that source of truth is, is, is critical. Um, re being realistic as well about investment versus return. I mean, the obvious thing here is channel spread. We've, I've just mentioned the fact that people get so excited about introducing new channels into the mix, but obviously if you've got too many, you spread yourself too thin, and you, uh, fundamentally undermine your ability to scale.

You know, a lot of these. A lot of these platforms like social media or some, most [00:06:00] programmatic platforms are algorithmic based and they, they need a certain level of scale to be able to spin up and optimize automatically to, to, to perform. Obviously we've got our own platform, we've got bid manager that gives us a lot of control.

But even in, in other instances, you know, there's a certain scale that is needed. Um, I suppose the last thing I would, uh, probably say. From an advertiser's perspective is alignment between the individual and the company. And again, this is something that I've come up against before where I've spoken to, um, let's say a, a head of marketing who has a very specific opinion on what a creative needs to look like or what the brand should be represented as on the adverts, but then that is different from what the official brand.

Guidelines are, or what the founder or what the board maybe agree on should be. And if there's not that very consistent, [00:07:00] um, uh, I suppose vision, it can just, it could just slow things down, right? Because it means that if we were to build creative where anyone were to build creative. They're gonna be slower in getting approved.

And actually, when we talk about agility as well over the Christmas period, you obviously wanna be agile, right? So if you've not got that ability to just quickly approve, um, and get new creators built, that's a problem. Uh, so that's, I suppose, I suppose that's, yeah. From the advertiser's perspective, I suppose the, from a sales perspective, it's actually quite simple.

Um, it, it really just comes down to competent media partners, con competent agencies. Spending the majority of the process in that initial conversation phase, understanding what the business objectives, context and challenges are, and stakeholders before any pitch is put together. Um, I very, very much believe, I mean, it sounds very obvious actually when I'm about to say this out loud that no one wants to be sold to, but I think in.

Having been [00:08:00] in sales so long, what I've realized is it's not even so much that people don't like being sold to. I think people find being sold to exhausting because what they have to essentially do is figure out the difference between what is true or genuine between what is sales talk. So. I think the point is that when a sales person is speaking to a brand, they need to be very honest about what is, what is achievable, and whether or not a partnership is even going to be successful together.

You know, I've, there's absolutely been instances where I've turned down business because there's just been a cultural misalignment, or there's been, even though the scope of the work was very much within bounds, it was just, um, there was maybe a cultural misalignment or some questions just weren't answered or weren't able to be answered in the way in which we needed them to.

To be, um, and getting that information, that full picture allows both partners to basically succeed. Right? And if you don't have that, then um, yeah, you, you're both gonna be setting yourself up [00:09:00] for failure. Um, 

Nelsi: yeah, I totally agree with you. It seems like very obvious. Okay, you have a client, you should ask a lot of questions, but a lot of time also as, as a delivery team, media team, uh, we miss some information.

So I think it's very important for a sales person to ask all of the questions that, uh, um, should to the brand to know better, uh, which are the goals, to know the commitment. Um, so yeah, I think it's, it seems obvious, but. Really it's not, and I think it's very, very important. Yeah. Um, because in that way I think we can erase like, I don't know, like 50% of the problems that we can encounter during our, uh, delivery.

So thank you very much for this, uh, insight. 

Lewis: Yeah. Can I, I'll also just add as well, obviously, like, I think it's just worth mention mentioning and bearing in mind that it is okay for brands to not know [00:10:00] these things. By the way, you know, I'm not, I'm, I think it's fair to assume that a business needs to understand everything to approach a media partner or a consultant, but I think there needs to be a level of open-mindedness, um, and at least some foundational work that is needed for.

To be that conversation initially. So, you know, and a media partner is there to support with helping them understand what they need, what KPIs to track, um, or what success will need to, you know, what, what success will look like based on what their goals are. But, um, I think it's that open-mindedness to sort of absorb, you know, expertise from someone else, whether it be Tangoo, whether it be anyone else, um, to get those things right.

Nelsi: Yeah, totally agree. Thank you. Um. Um, so, uh, speaking about trends, uh, what do you think programmatic trends are, are you seeing in the built up to Christmas 2025? 

Lewis: Um, so I suppose the first one [00:11:00] would be, uh, I suppose the first one would probably be the spread of sh i, I suppose this, this, this, the share of spend, maybe this sort, the spread of spend across the year.

You know, I think. You've typically seen that period sort of ramp up from, um, you know, October in the buildup to sort of the, the cyber five as it's sometimes called. Right? You know, the Black Fridays, the Cyber Mondays, the Thanksgivings. Um, but I, I've actually seen planning and execution happening even before that, and I think it comes back to that point earlier.

Right. Which is, uh, almost like fatigue, you know, that, that people. Are so fatigued by ads over intense holiday and consumer periods that people are looking for ways to, um, differentiate, I suppose. So they're, they're maybe starting campaigns earlier, um, not necessarily, you know, running a Christmas ad in August, but maybe diverting some of the budget that would've gone towards a Christmas ad, [00:12:00] uh, earlier in the year.

Um, so I, that, that, that's the point I'm basically trying to make is that the share of spend in that, in this Christmas period is maybe slightly smaller, even though, and that's not to say it's like declining, you know, there's still growth happening over this period, but the relative growth is smaller versus spend in other parts of the year.

That's, that's something that I've, I've seen. Um, I would also say younger generations, um, are becoming much, much more aware of. Social proof. And I, again, I, I think I wanna be really clear, like obviously, yeah, like obviously there's a lot of money spent on influencer marketing, so that's, that's clear. But I think what I mean is programmatic ads in particular, those that I've seen be successful anyway, need to be reinforcing the organic storytelling that is coming from that brand's community rather than trying to artificially create something.[00:13:00] 

Outta thin air because there's just, you know, our generation now and, and those that are younger than us, they, they're just so tech savvy now. I mean, I, for example, can instantly spot when someone is, something is AI on the internet. So you can imagine like how aware younger kids are to, you know, maybe not misinformation, but certainly misinformation.

But I mean, just sort of disingenuous or, you know, fake. Excitement or hype people, they can just see through that. So it's that ability to, and I'll give you an example actually. Um, Lego shifted their budget have shifted almost all their budget this year away from tv. And what they've done is they've spent all of that money in, and they've put it into YouTube and Pinterest sponsoring, um, unboxing and building content within their community.

So they're just essentially, and, and I know it's, again, it's, [00:14:00] it's influencer marketing. It's, it's slightly, slightly different, but they're, but they are taking that influencer activity and they're putting that into programmatic ads and they're promoting those things as almost like trying, trying almost like a native programmatic ad.

And they're trying to sort of, um, enhance and, um. Uh, you know, uh, accelerate that sort of community sense within their ads rather than that, that, um, rather than that fake, that that fake, uh, fake news, I suppose, that some, some brands tend to push out. Um, maybe the last point would be, uh, I suppose the importance of CTV this year.

Um, I mean, you know, again, anyone who's been anywhere near programmatic will know how important CCTV is, um, as a channel that has been growing. Um. I think it's going to, it's going to be, it is growing bigger this year. Streaming services are sort of converging towards specific DSPs, which is making buying a lot, seem more seamless.

Um, it's also making it a lot more [00:15:00] accessible to mid-size, even smaller brands to be able to, to buy. So that's, that democratization is just meaning that you're seeing more brands being able to invest in CTV, which probably explains why it's growing so much. So I think that's maybe three. I dunno, is it.

Does that help answer? Those are the three I think I would probably call up. 

Nelsi: Yeah, yeah, yeah. We are actually seeing all of this, uh, in our, um, delivery. We're seeing a lot of brand investing more and more in the connectivity and also what you said before about community. Uh, I was in Texas this summer to one IPX event in Austin.

Uh, and they were talking more and more about, uh, how users, how people are more loyal to the community right now than the brand, you know? Yeah, of course. Um, so community will be more and more the focus, uh, and uh, yes, it would be very important to build trust to, to users. [00:16:00] So, yeah, I totally agree on that.

And what about Christmas 2026? How do you think programmatic advertising is going to evolve next year? 

Lewis: Yeah, I actually had a conversation with someone about this last week. Um, I think that the thing that I really lent into was this idea that people who are, or brands who are not testing now for new channels.

Will struggle later on. And, and I think the important point, I'm just, I, I really wanted to stress and actually wanna stress now even is that display video native, maybe even audio to a lesser extent, they still form the backbone of programmatic in terms of reach, in terms of performance. Um, and they probably will continue to, to perform the backbone for the next.

10 years, 20, you know, they, they, they are just, it's like search, right? They're just, they are a [00:17:00] fundamental backbone of, uh, of, of programmatic and indeed digital marketing. But those that are going to test with newer channels like programmatical, programmatic, digital, out of home, CTV, even like, you know, um, retail marketplaces.

I know, I know they're sort of more integrated. They're starting to become more and more integrated, but those who test with those. Up and coming channels. Now, some of them are maybe not so much up and coming anymore, but there are still, so there's unlike display that is so advanced in, its in the way data is collected, or, uh, reporting can be, uh, standardized and, um, measured across various different SSPs, DSPs, whatever, CTV.

Digital at home, those things are still quite gray in terms of how you measure those things, how you standardize those things. But those people who test with them now are going to identify measurement gaps now so that when they start investing in those things [00:18:00] next year, they're better set up to mitigate those.

And, and, and bear in mind, this is important for when you are thinking about, um. When these brand, when these channels become better at integrating, at the moment they're quite siloed. You know, CTV, it's, yeah, there's some deterministic tracking, but really it's mostly probabilistic and it's, you're not always able to, to fully bring those into the, in, into the, you know, the analytics suite as, as maybe you would with other display or programmatic channels.

Um, so. Doing that thing, doing those things early helps you measure. Um, I've also found, and I, again, the conversation I was having with this person last week said that they were getting access to cheaper deals with, with these platforms because they just wanted people to start investing in them, using them.

So actually they had the bene, they had the double whammy benefit of getting access to these new channels, getting all this cool insight and information on how to use them [00:19:00] and doing it for cheaper. They want people to start using these channels. Um, and I think the final thing to really say is like, the more people use these as we are doing, you know, we're investing heavily right in, in things like CTV, digital out of home, um, you're gonna get more and more specialists who can just help you become more effective at how to use these things.

So the, the, the earlier you do it. The better set up you are going to be to actually work with people later on, because you already know what those benchmarks are. You already know what good looks like, what bad looks like. Um, so that's a big one I think is, is that just sense of testing, inter maturity, and actually on the top of, on the topic of.

Maturity. I would also say retail marketplaces generally. I think we're gonna see a sort of maturity in them. Um, you know, I think at the moment they've always been, well, in my opinion anyway, they're, they're [00:20:00] mostly lower funnel, um, channels for, you know, you plug, you plug your product placements into these, these walled gardens and you can access great first party data.

But it really is siloed in, in ways in which you wouldn't necessarily want it to be. I, I think there's that we're sort of an inflection point now where a lot of advertisers are saying, well, I don't just want lower funnel activity. I, I need, I need you to provide some kind of full, full funnel, um, option for me.

And so you're seeing more of these retail marketplaces partner with, I think it was Walmart as partnering with Netflix, right? To provide more of a, an upper funnel engagement, um, platform for people who are using that, that marketplace to. To get more value out of it. And I think there's also this need to actually show incrementality, because again, a lot of these marketplaces are quite walled in terms of how you can access the information within [00:21:00] them.

So I think you're gonna see two things really, like, like I've just said, you're gonna see better reporting and you're going to see, um, more full funnel campaigns from marketplaces. And if you don't, then I think we're gonna start to see a decrease in the people using these. Thing. So I think we're at that maturity stage now where it's either do or die for marketplaces.

The sort of excitement is now starting to level off and it's starting to, um, starting to see some people need to start seeing some, um, some improvements and some, um, some innovation. I think the final thing I'll just say now say is the importance of product feeds, um, to, I, I suppose, well the most important thing here is third party cookies are.

Going to become less and less valuable. You know, I, I was, I'd stopped short at saying they're disappearing, but I am a massive skeptic in cookies. You know, I just think they are. At some point Google's just gonna turn around and just decide to get [00:22:00] rid of them. They're gonna find a way to remove them and they're gonna get rid of them.

And we are, you know, people who have not, uh, got ready for that are gonna be in trouble. But the point is by having. I mean, we talk, we might talk about first party data later, but having an effective product feed that has proper labeling, um, is on top of, you know, really, really capable in terms of skews.

Those are the kind of thing, those are the kind of businesses that are going to be able to mitigate the lack of, the lack of cookies, lack of, you know, third party tracking because they'll have really, really good feeds. And the thing that I read. Uh, it was in, in fact this morning, in fact, was that chat, GBT has just released a feature to, I think they partnered with Etsy and I think also, um, was it Shopify?

I'm not quite sure. Um, maybe Stripe, I, I can't quite remember. But you can essentially buy Etsy products [00:23:00] directly within chat, CPT and excuse me, that. Is quite important because firstly, there's no ads, but it also reinforces the fact that product feeds are gonna be quite critical because much like SEO, the value of someone showing is dependent upon the quality of the information.

In this case, it's the feed, the product feed. So, um, I think that's gonna be an important innovation for next year as well, is the importance of, of product feeds. So yeah, testing marketplace maturity, um, and, and feeds I think are gonna be. Key things people need to be watching out for. 

Nelsi: Well, thank you Louis, for all of these insights.

I think we should do another webinar in 12 months and see if your, uh, your, um, 

Lewis: that's a bad idea. 

Nelsi: Yes. If you were right or not. Let's see. 

Lewis: Okay.

Nelsi: So, [00:24:00] um, for those someone looking to invest in, uh, to first invest in Promatic for the first time, um, what advice would you give to them? I mean, you gave to us a lot of insights, but let's see if you can give also advice to people who will invest for in programmatic for the very first time. 

Lewis: Yeah. Um. So what, what you're basically asking is what, what, what should people do if they're thinking of investing in programmatic?

Um, I would say a few, uh, yeah. Okay. The first, the, the most important point is, uh, make sure you use search and paid social data to inform programmatic, my honest opinion is. You should start with those channels before you do. Programmatic search is the most [00:25:00] important channel at the moment for defining intent, so it's really, really useful for businesses wanting to understand what keywords people use to convert for their, their brand, or their, their products, or whatever it might be.

Those things can be directly transferred into things like contextual targeting within a programmatic space. And then paid social. Obviously you get the benefit of things like demographics, which are things that then can be applied to programmatic, but social in particular has, you know, just by its very nature, way, way more information on users, you know, age, gender, interests, those kinds of things that can inform, you know, what, what is converting so.

The first thing I'd probably suggest, even though we are a programmatic agency, is absolutely invest in those two channels first, because it will give you such a better foundation to, um, [00:26:00] get the most out of programmatic channels like CTV, for example, later on. That can be, um, that, that can, uh, that can rely heavily on things like contextual targeting.

Um, I suppose. I'll say it again, but maybe brand vision and, and, um, you know, a clear creative outline. I suppose, you know, Nelson, you'll know this more than anyone as a, as a planner, but creatives fatigue really quickly now, like, really quickly, um, the amount of ads we are exposed to. I dunno what the stat is, but I, I bet you could tell me.

It's like, probably like a thousand ads we see a day on the internet, so. You need variation and, um, not having a clear vision is gonna prevent you from being able to produce more creatives more quickly. I mean, ideally you want to have dynamic creative optimization rules, right? Like creatives that can automatically update based on offers or product, [00:27:00] even product, you know, simple as products.

But, um, I think just having that consistent brand vision. It's gonna allow you to be much quicker in getting creatives built and also just doing cool stuff, right? Testing new cool things like dynamic creatives with video or dynamic creatives with actual dynamic elements within them, like, you know, games you can play or whatever it might be.

Um, but those, those, those things are quite important to. You can have, you can have the best targeting in the world, right? Basically. But if your creative isn't gonna capture attention, then it, it's pointless. Um, and then I suppose the final thing I'd probably say is around first party data. I don't think I've touched on this yet, but just how important it is, you know, for anyone who is trying to get into programmatic, um, you know, you can get away with maybe not having super structured CRM data or super structured data generally.

Um, within your DMP for search, because you're not, it doesn't really [00:28:00] rely on that. You know, you rely more on search intent. Um, and it's the same with social. You can sort of get away with, with the audiences, but programmatic heavily, heavily relies on structured data that you provide for. And again, we've men, we have been talking about this, right, this importance of first party data.

You know, I'm very skeptical of the value of third party data, third party targeting. Um. In the sort of five, five to 10 years time. So being able to capture first party data wherever you can, whether it be a signup, whether we purchase, you know, then clearly labeling those audiences, you know, using, if you don't have a massive amount of data, using clean rooms, using retail marketplaces to access good first party data elsewhere.

And then obviously we've been talking about the feeds, I think is important, but be obsessed with first party data. Be obsessed with. Capturing that to get the most outta programmatic is what I'd say.[00:29:00] 

Nelsi: Yeah. As as you said, I think it's important for a brand that approach programmatic for the first time to start using what they already have. So if they have first party data, if they are doing search campaigns, like everything that, all kind of data that. They already have, I think it is important to use them in programmatic campaigns, you know, because they are not, uh, different clusters, you know?

Yeah. We have to see the channels as different touch points, but of the same journey. So it is important for this data to communicate. Yeah. I think you touch a really important, um, issue, so, um. What do you think about timing? I mean, how important is timing when it comes to planning and launching programmatic campaigns for the holiday season?

Um, and what does a strong [00:30:00] timeline typically look like? This is a very important topic. Uh, 

Lewis: yeah, I'm, um, I'm a, I'm a humble sales person, so I'm not gonna talk too much about. The, I can't, I don't really comment. I don't really wanna comment too much on, um, you know, how best to plan. I think I'll leave that to maybe some, some of the other guests who are coming onto this webinar who are much more specialist in that than I am.

Uh, I think I probably just referenced back to what I said earlier, right? Which is the fact that buying behavior is changing. People are getting more fatigued with ads. So we're seeing more and more people start campaigns earlier in the year. Um. Yeah, not necessarily all the way in summer, but certainly they're picking their moments a bit more tac, you know, tactically, um, maybe around a specific moment for that particular industry, maybe around a specific date that is important to, uh, you know, a country, whatever it [00:31:00] might be.

Uh, I think it's, I, I think. You know this in terms of planning, it's, it's, it's sort of more difficult to say now when, when you start, because I think it, it's not just a case of saying, right start in August because that'll give you plenty of time to get to Christmas. It's, it's, it's a bit more nuanced than that now.

You know, it's about understanding when, when, and you actually gonna be able to differentiate from the Christmas period, and that might mean starting. You know, starting in April, starting to plan in February, you know, maybe, um, so I, I, I don't really wanna get too much of a specific answer about how long it takes to then go from conception through to execution, because again, I'm, I'm, I'm not one of the, uh, I'm not one of the, uh, the managers here and I'll, I'll get my head bitten off by someone like yourself if I say we can go live in three weeks or two weeks, end to end with a campaign.

Um, but I think. I, I, I, I think that's probably my, my answer on that [00:32:00] right? Is that you, uh, you just need to be a, you know, any, any brand needs to just be a bit more aware of the, the, the nuances of where we are and how, and how mature, particularly in the uk the programmatic space is. Like, it's, it's not enough to just start planning in, in Q3 and, and hope for the best in Q4.

It's about being able to differentiate. I think that would be my answer. 

Nelsi: Okay. Thank you Lewis. I can, I think I can summarize you this question with like, the sooner the better, you know? 

Lewis: Yeah, sure. Yeah, exactly. 

Nelsi: So, um, thank you very much Lewis, and thank you also to Alona for both sharing their insights today around the holiday season and programmatic advertising.

Uh, and a big thank you to everyone who joined us today. We hope you are living with practical ideas on how to make your programmatic, uh, Christmas campaign perform better than [00:33:00] ever through advertising, programmatic advertising, and how Tangoo can be your programmatic advertising partner. Uh, just a quick recap.

We explore how to reach the right audience at the right time. Turn data into meaningful clicks and sales and maximize your campaigns across channels, thus this passive season. If you'd like to learn more about how Tangoo can help you to power your programmatic strategy, you can reach out to us directly through our website at Tangoo.com

And if you miss any part of today's session, don't worry because the full event will be available to watch on demand shortly. Uh, we'll also be back in November with another Tangoo online event. So keep an eye, uh, out for more detail soon. Thanks again for joining us and from all of us at Tangoo, we wish you a successful and high performing festive Season ahead. Bye.