How VaynerMedia is optimizing its supply path optimization practices

Naturally then, as the programmatic marketplace evolves, so do advertisers’ methods of managing that supply chain. 

If the first era of SPO saw advertisers looking at their internal data to get their programmatic houses in order, then its second phase expanded that data to include information from the demand-side platforms they use to automate their ad buys. And the next evolution of SPO – SPO 3.0, if you will – seems dependent on advertisers and agencies having more direct relationships with the supply-side platforms that publishers use to sell their ad slots.

“You’re trying to stack up your source of truths, and you’re trying to aggregate as much data as possible. When you’re looking at [SPO] 3.0 that wasn’t really there from 1.0 is really hammering and working closely with your SSPs and understanding what report can you provide us…. We have to make sure that what we’re getting out of [SSPs] from an inventory and a performance and a data perspective is up to code,” said Anthony Scarola, vp of media and programmatic lead at VaynerMedia, during the Digiday Programmatic Marketing Summit in Nashville, Tenn., on Dec. 3.

To that end, next year VaynerMedia plans to step up its relationships with SSPs. Scarola is looking to better understand how the SSPs are curating inventory as well as what the conversations are that SSPs are having with publishers regarding curation, which has become a hot topic in the programmatic marketplace this year.

Basically, VaynerMedia is on a hunt for more data to inform its SPO practices. Among the data the agency is looking to gather from SSPs are how inventory is classified, in terms of formats, website domains and whether the inventory source is a reseller or not, Scarola said.

“It’s almost like we RFI them to understand how a Magnite is in relation to a PubMatic, which is different than OpenX. You start to then understand that variance and who’s the best and who’s maybe on the lower side,” he said.

So who’s the best of the SSPs?

“Magnite. They bring everything to the table. They bring curated reports. They are so insanely transparent. Their [owned-and-operated inventory] grows by the day in terms of any format you talk about, integrations left and right being built into all the major tech stacks. Customer service, fantastic. Nohing to hide. Really want to be partners. And they do offer that opportunity to think about volume-based discounts or things that can show more effectiveness and efficiencies,” Scarola said.

One reason data granularity is important is that different clients may have different SPO approaches. “Why the hell would someone in CPG care about what someone is doing in pharma [or] what someone is doing in retail that might have very different client objectives and goals that maybe that, yeah, this is clean inventory but does it perform?” he said.

And this SPO process is a not a one-and-done deal. Currently, VaynerMedia checks in with its ad tech firm every couple months or so. “But honestly monthly is going to be what is just the best interest for everyone,” he said. 

In preparation for this more regular upkeep cycle, before the end-of-year holiday break, VaynerMedia plans to do “some cool, fun SPO malarkey” to set itself up for those recurring check-ins in the new year. That process will also include checking in with clients to update them on any SPO actions the agency has taken, such as eliminating SSPs or DSPs from its buying practice for a given client, as well as assessing whether any updates need to be made to an individual client’s SPO approach.

Ideally, these SPO updates can be rolled into the biweekly or monthly individual reports that VaynerMedia provides to clients. Said Scarola, “In this sense, it becomes a page or a slide or a chart that then encapsulates historical variants and upticks with some insights and some callouts as to what’s being done, what’s on the roadmap. That way there’s always that lookahead and not feeling like you’re being reactive.”

Because the SPO work is never actually done.