‘Full transparency is necessary’: Spotify’s new recruit Dan Robins on the digital industry’s challenges
Spotify’s latest hire Dan Robins opens up on digital industry issues around programmatic and viewability, brand safety, how some publishers haven’t done enough for advertisers, and the need for full transparency.
Since arriving in Australia at the start of 2013 to head up search for media agency OMD, Dan Robins has forged a reputation as a straight shooter in the digital landscape.
The affable Englishman, who was quickly promoted to be head of digital, was the go-to for many in the industry – including some at the IAB – looking for a no-nonsense explanation of the latest trends and issues in the industry.
Robins has built a strong reputation in the market in the last three years
So it raised some eyebrows in April when it was announced he was leaving OMD to head to Spotify’s local arm to head up the audio streaming giant’s push into programmatic trading, a relatively new addition to its sales armoury which was first trialled in Australia at the end of last year.
Spotify is the world’s largest and most successful music streaming service of its kind globally. Find out more about our commitment to transparency here.
HAVOC type models will often reduce the quality of viewership and be miss-leading in the true value to advertisers. All this does is encourage ad formats that FORCE people to watch to the end as consumers rarely really want to watch an ad to the end. Choice based units such as skippable and click-to-play are far higher quality views and more valuable to a brand but won’t perform well under this HAVOC model. But i guess marketers need to educate themselves on how all video units work
Whilst I agree there is a need for better transparency on the publisher side…it is clear that low CPM and CPA rates paid by media agencies for ad units of any shape and size is driving down the quality of journalism which has a knock on effect on the quality of audience being targeted. As an example since Fairfax offshore all its sub editing their are daily headline and article grammar mistakes that are quite simply appalling. The retrenchment of a further 125 journalists means as a publisher fair will not have the resources to produce quality investigative journalism – which are the stories which drive higher engagement and audience outcomes then typical clickbait headlines like The Daily Mail et al. Advertisers really need to determine whether they are prepared to go down the path of essentially driving the slow death of quality media due to inadequate payment rates. Quality journalism which ensures better engaged audiences and therefore more conversions for brands costs more than advertisers are willing to pay and so perhaps their needs to be a meeting in the middle… just a few thoughts!
“As an example since Fairfax offshore all its sub editing their are daily headline and article grammar mistakes that are quite simply appalling”