A new programmatic buying ecosystem for European TV
The partnership
RTL AdAlliance has partnered with The Trade Desk, a technology company specialising in empowering advertising buyers. The Trade Desk offers a user-friendly, cloud-based platform that allows ad buyers to create, manage and optimise digital advertising campaigns across various ad formats and devices. This platform also features integrations with key data providers and inventory sources, ensuring extensive reach for advertisers.
RTL AdAlliance’s partnership with The Trade Desk aims to offer international advertisers easy and exclusive access to the programmatic buying of addressable linear advertising spots and L-shaped ads within the linear TV programmes throughout Europe. It launches first in Germany, France, Spain and Austria and will expand to other countries such as Italy.
We share the same philosophy and values as RTL AdAlliance in terms of openness and transparency. This is a perfect example of a win-win.
A joint opportunity for both parties
Although more and more consumers are shifting towards streaming TV content, linear TV in Europe continues to generate high viewing, with 68% reach and an average of 3h22 minutes of viewing a day.1 Additionally, an impressive USD 28 billion was spent in 2022 in Western Europe on linear TV. RTL AdAlliances’ collaboration with The Trade Desk can drive these statistics further and generate greater consumer reach through the use of programmatic buying of Addressable TV inventories in the linear TV stream.
It is our duty at RTL AdAlliance to bring initiatives to the market, which can cover the large spectrum of addressable advertising in TV and Online Video as alternatives to what is being proposed in general by global companies.
Why is programmatic buying so important?
Programmatic buying is becoming a crucial aspect of modern marketing strategies, with 25% of marketers putting automation as their top priority, according to a 2022 Comcast survey.
One key advantage of programmatic buying is that it offers a holistic experience from a single platform and entry point, reducing operational friction, and is therefore more efficient. Additionally, it encourages targeted advertisements, addressing the preferences of the audience more accurately. In fact, 37% of Europeans express a desire for better-targeted ads on TV.2
“We can add new inventory to the programmatic addressable advertising system, that targets specific audience via one entry point” – Tim Sims, Chief Revenue Officer, The Trade Desk
A perfect match Unlike the US, where scale in Connected TV can be achieved with streaming platforms alone, the European market is driven by linear TV viewing. This market, however, is very fragmented, and our collaboration aims to address this fragmentation and bring about harmony.
This partnership’s objective is to simplify the access to Addressable TV advertising by providing clients with indispensable technologies to gain access to a wide array of premium inventory across diverse media platforms on a substantial scale. Working with broadcast champions that offer scale in digitally addressable linear TV across Europe, is the key to success for advertisers.
What is different about this partnership is that we are unlocking new inventory tools and making them available programmatically through The Trade Desk.
The Trade Desk provides many benefits for RTL AdAlliance’s clients including its innovation. It is a technology leader with a future-proof solution that can adapt to evolving industry trends. Its objective is to treat all available inventory equally, without bias, serving the interests of the advertisers, in the buy side of marketing.
Likewise, RTL AdAlliance offers a compelling array of key benefits for The Trade Desk clients, making it a valuable partner in the advertising ecosystem. It has a unique Addressable TV reach of 37 million households in Europe. It also has access to premium inventories of professionally produced content in local languages and with a strong image on the 24 linear TV channels covered by the partnership. This Addressable TV inventory is in addition to the vast offering of Broadcast VOD and online video that was already available programmatically to the Trade Desk and other DSP through RTL AdAlliance video marketplace. Lastly, RTL AdAlliance’s international DNA, with 250+ employees in 15 countries, offers clients a global perspective and the ability to navigate diverse markets effectively, making it a strategic partner for The Trade Desk.
Therefore, our collaboration is truly a win-win partnership, allowing addressable linear TV to thrive, as we aim to bring a scalable solution to our clients where they can have addressability across both CTV and linear TV.
“Brands now have a harmonised and standardised Addressable TV and Video platform to use across Europe.”Dr. Oliver Vesper, Chief Digital Officer & Deputy CEO, RTL AdAlliance
Oliver Vesper, Chief Digital Officer & Deputy CEO at RTL AdAlliance