A view on the advertising marketplace with Zodiak's Donald Hamilton

Donald Hamilton shares the latest on publishers taking control back from technology companies, ad agencies and trading desks

Social Media Portal (SMP): What is your name and what do you do there at Zodiak Advertising?

Donald Hamilton (DH): I?m Donald Hamilton and I?ve recently been appointed as managing director UK, having previously been a director at our digital content arm, Zodiak Active.  My role is to oversee the sales, business development and revenue generation for the company.  

SMP: Briefly, tell us about Zodiak Active (for those that don?t know), what is it and what does company do?  

DH: Zodiak Active is the digital and branded content division of Zodiak Media, one of the world?s top independent production companies and distributors.  The company creates, produces and manages exceptional engaging content which helps brands to achieve global reach across all platforms.   

SMP: When was the company started and how many people work there?  

DH: Zodiak Active launched in January 2011 and now employs over 200 people.

SMP: How is the company funded and what are the main services the company offers?  

DH: As part of the larger £850m Zodiak Media group, the business is being funded by our TV production activity, but we are expecting to see return on this investment before the end of the year.





SMP: Why has Zodiak Advertising been created and when was it launched?  

DH: As a major content provider itself, Zodiak Active can talk the language of publishers and understands their need to monetise content.  This knowledge, combined with the company?s technological capabilities and the fast growth of the digital advertising market made it clear to the business that we should be operating in this space.  Hence the launch of Zodiak Advertising in May this year.

SMP: What are the low moments of what you have been doing so far?  

DH: There have been no low points so far, just some frustrations.  It?s simply easier and quicker to make decisions as a VC funded start up than as part of a group, but there are also real benefits to being part of a corporate start up too.  The detailed plans required have given us a clear roadmap of how we?re going to achieve the revenue and profit that we need. The other frustration is around publishers? lack of understanding about needing to own their environment.  They have given far too much power to technology companies, ad agencies and trading desks and they need to take it back.

SMP: What are the high moments of what you have been doing so far?  

DH: Those occasions when you can see that it?s really working!  Our approach is to help simplify the publisher?s world and help them to sell more of their inventory, with greater profit.  When they start to see the difference it?s a great feeling all round.

SMP: Who are your target audience and why?

DH: The online advertising marketplace has become extremely complex and publishers are being squeezed on all sides as power has shifted away from them to the networks and increasingly, agencies.  So much so, even though they own the inventory, everyone else seems to be making more money out of it than publishers are!  That?s why we are working hard to bring control back where it should rightfully be ? in the hands of the publishers.  As a world leading publisher and content provider, we understand their needs first hand and so are perfectly placed to represent them in the marketplace and create optimum value from their inventories.

SMP: What are the main channels agencies and brands are using to reach audiences, why and which are the most effective for them?

DH: The ones that are working best are those where there are significant amounts of data available to ensure high level targeting is possible, while at the same time supplying the reach that advertisers need.  Clearly a social media sites such as Facebook, receiving over 1 billion impressions per year, can segment its data into usable ?pots?, which enable advertisers to reach specific audiences in large volume.  

However, large publisher sites, such as Autotrader, are also collecting significant amounts of data, including postcodes, purchase intent, recency etc., which makes it a powerful route for any relevant advertisers. Agencies have also started to use advertisers? own data (known as 1st party data) to find ?customer lookalikes? on other pools of data.  This includes data from social networking and this has created some interesting results to date ? albeit too small to be significant so far.

SMP: What sort of activity / engagement are they receiving across channels that you use and how do you create / sustain this?  

DH: We are currently trading 5.5 billion impressions a month and are one of the fastest growing independent publisher trading desks globally, so these numbers are increasing at a great pace.  We are doing this by helping publishers to monetise more of their inventory through real time bidding (RTB) technology and enhanced targeting ? which opens up more advertising opportunities for our demand partners to place their campaigns.


SMP: What do you see as your biggest challenges and opportunities in a competitive advertising industry?  

DH: For publishers, the biggest challenge comes from agencies squeezing margins more and more.  However, there are great opportunities for publishers to look beyond creating value for agencies and their clients and to start creating products that will create greater value and profit for themselves.  This may create friction in the industry, but stronger publishers will be good for the industry too as, with more control, they can ensure that inventory is high quality and that they are providing a safe environment for advertisers ? so ultimately this will benefit the advertisers as well.  

SMP: What?s going to be the most interesting aspect regarding digital advertising for the next 12 to 18-months and why (and what role may social media play in this)?

DH: What is interesting is that, whereas before publishers were the main content providers, social media channels are now increasingly being seen as competitors in this area.  This means that the challenge for publishers in the coming months is to work harder than ever at generating excellent content within a great environment if they want to retain and grow the digital advertising revenues, while holding of the charge of the social media companies.

SMP: What are your top predictions for digital advertising for the next 12 to 18-months and why?

DH: Multichannel campaigns in 2014 will be the year where we see the first fully multi-channel campaigns with the three screens in our lives all coming together to build one campaign that uses proper digital targeting combined with frequency capping.

• Microsoft: The company will review its position vis a vis digital advertising and will decide whether to continue in this marketplace or focus fully on its technology offering.
  
  
• Viewability: This is starting to become a highly talked about issue.  We are going to start seeing agencies, publishers and technology partners buying and trading online advertising using technology that allows advertisers to know where the ad will appear on the page before the campaign starts.  This will enable them to make buying decisions accordingly and pricing will also be informed by this.
  
  
• Currency: I am hoping that we will see a data giant create a common currency to describe digital audiences, similar to the Acorn classification that was devised for retailers in the 60s and Mosaic classification that was created for financial services in the 80s.  Advertisers need clarity when it comes knowing what audience they are buying but without an agreed taxonomy this is currently difficult to achieve as definitions differ from publisher to publisher.

SMP: What are your top digital advertising / social media tips for brands or agencies?

DH replies with:

• Mobile: Every year seems to be predicted as ?the year of the mobile? but it never seems to happen.  However, there really do seem to be some interesting things happening in the mobile space now so brands need to start experimenting and testing how they can make the most out of mobile to engage with consumers (before their competitors do).
  
  
• Black gold: Everyone is talking about data as the ?new oil?, but no one seems to be acting on it. Companies now need to do more than just talk and actually use data to create scalable, targetable inventory.
  
  
• Collaboration: In their bid to stay ahead of social media sites as the primary destination for digital advertising, publishers need to start collaborating. By pooling their remnant inventory and enhancing it with data they can, together, create a valuable pot of data that will provide advertisers with the targeting and reach they need.
  
  
• Algorithms out: Those in digital advertising need to give less importance to algorithms in programmatic buying.  On their own, these are not enough to bring real relevance to online advertising ? human insight is the essential ingredient that can shift a campaign from good to great.

SMP: Is there anything else we should know, or is there anything that you?d like to share?

DH: At the airport in Amsterdam I was trying to get home following problems with the airline.  When I asked them what I needed to do they told me to look at their Facebook page!  This amazed me.  As useful as social media channels are, primary consumer touchpoints should be owned by the brand, not Facebook or LinkedIn.

SMP: Best way to contact you and Zodiak Active?

DH replies with: donald.hamilton @ zodiakactive.com, telephone +44 (0)207 317 2243 and mobile + 44 (0)7710 372 938


SMP: What did you have for breakfast / lunch?  

DH: I don?t ?do? breakfast as it would mean having to leave my bed 5/10 minutes earlier.  However, on the basis I get in trouble for missing it as (yes I know, I know!) it?s the most important meal of the day, I do grab a banana and eat it on my walk to the station.

SMP: What?s the last good thing that you did for someone?  

DH: I am a mentor for several young people as part of a fantastic cause called the Avenues Youth Project.  These are young men, typically aged 23-26, who haven?t had the advantages that many of us have been lucky enough to enjoy.  Some just need someone to talk to, others are looking for help and advice on what to do once they?ve finished their education.  There are also some who simply need a kick up the backside!  But often this is because they simply need their horizons broadened to understand what they can do.  I find this hugely rewarding ? not just because it enables me to give something back, but also I do really enjoy talking to these guys and finding my own perspective on life changing as a result.

SMP: If you weren?t working at Zodiak Active what would you be doing? 

DH: I would be doing something similar, but maybe for a big corporation. It would be interesting to see what it was like playing a political role rather than being an action man!

SMP: What?s the best digital advertising campaign you?ve seen and why (it can?t be one of your own, or anything that you?ve been involved with)?

DH: It would have to be the Cadbury?s gorilla ad.  This was the first ad campaign for a big brand to really go viral and, I think, still one of the best.  A gorilla playing the drums to a Phil Collins record ? what?s not to love!?

SMP: When and where did you go on your last holiday?  

DH: We went for two weeks in August to Mexico.  We had never been before and I actually wanted to go to go somewhere in Europe, but we made the mistake of putting it to a family vote and I lost!  That said, it was a perfect holiday venue.

SMP: What?s the first thing you do when you get into the office of a morning?   

DH: Read my emails while I enjoy my first caffeine hit of the day (Zodiak Advertising is an Italian company after all!).

SMP: If you had a superpower what would it be and why?  

DH: Invisibility.  I don?t like to fight, but I wouldn?t mind stealing Harry Potter?s invisibility cloak!  It would enable me to get out of dangerous situations without injury, help others in need of assistance and, let?s face it - it could be a whole lot of fun too!

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