Ogilvy and Marmalade Digital launch Demand-Side Platforms in India

While Neo@Ogilvy has just launched its Demand-Side Platform (DSP) partnering with Brandscreen, a leading DSP in the Asia-Pacific region, Marmalade Digital will be officially launched on May 15.

Digital media buying in India might as well look forward to a revolutionary change, with Demand-Side Platforms (DSP) gaining ground in the country. With Neo@Ogilvy, the digital media planning and buying arm of OgilvyOne and Marmalade Digital, a digital media trading technology and services provider, announcing the launch of their DSPs in India; the model that has gained popularity overseas will look to gain acceptance among advertisers here.

Neo@Ogilvy launched its DSP a week ago in partnership with Brandscreen, a leading DSP in the Asia-Pacific region and has already done a couple of pilot campaigns for two of its clients in New Delhi and Mumbai, informs R P Singh, vice-president, Neo@Ogilvy.

Marmalade Digital, a relatively new digital technology company established in 2011, will launch its DSP on May 15.

To put it in a nutshell, DSPs represent advertisers or advertising agencies, unlike ad networks that represent publishers, and use an automated (software/technology) process and helps advertisers to buy digital ad space across various web pages/publishers/blogs on real time basis.

DSPs enable advertisers and brands to buy audiences rather than specific website ad placements through real-time bidding.

"DSPs use behavioural targeting data, collected from cookies and data exchanges, to identify audience segments. The advertiser then uses that targeting data to define the kind of audience it wants to target with its advertising and the amount it is willing to pay per impression. The DSP then bids on the ad impressions using that advertiser's criteria and budget, and serves the ads," explains Hemant Kumar, founder and chief executive officer, Marmalade Digital.

"At Marmalade Digital, we want to focus on control and transparency and provide agencies/advertisers/ad networks with better and refined form of targeting through our DSP. Greater transparency would at least mean full disclosure about inventory sourcing, a basic understanding of the algorithms used to identify targets, and identification of the behavioural data that enhanced performance," says Kumar.

To get access to advertising inventory, DSPs usually tie up or connect with companies (like digital ad exchanges, site representation firms and online ad networks), which represent and have tie ups with publishers. In some cases, a DSP ties up directly with publishers as well.

While Neo@Ogilvy will use Brandscreen's technology in India, Marmalade Digital has tied up with multiple supply side platforms (SSP) such as Rubicon, PubMatic and AdMeld.

Singh tells afaqs! that DSPs have taken time to be established in India, primarily due to the overall low acceptance of digital advertising in the country, as well as the fact that very few have the expertise to use the platform effectively.

He adds that there is little awareness among advertisers and agencies about DSPs. Talking about the pilot campaigns already executed, Singh says that compared to traditional display advertising, the model has allowed to bring down significantly the cost of acquisition for both clients.

Being optimistic about DSPs' future in India, Singh says that constant education is a part of digital media anyway and the agency will continue to do so. The agency is betting on certain advertisers that it sees as being evolved enough and are more accepting than others.

"Consolidation is already happening because of the sheer number of ad networks in the country. In a year's time, I see most ad networks transforming into DSPs, or at least launching their own DSP," Singh says.