Amsterdam-based music channel Xite, with the help of video ad serving platform SpotX, is now offering advertisers the possibility to advertise fully programmatically on the television screen.
In the summer of 2017, Xite was the first to make it possible to purchase online advertising campaigns for television. After a successful pilot of more than six months, IPG Mediabrands’ customers are now the first to benefit from this revolutionary way of buying programmatic TV.
Xite is the first music station in the world to provide personalised music services on linear television via the set-top box. In recent months, SpotX and Xite have worked together to expand this service with programmatic advertising solutions by optimising the data of household viewing behaviour and the advertising process. As a result, advertising campaigns can now be purchased cross-medially, on both TV via the set-top box and the online channels, by means of programmatic and targeted advertising.
Xite founder and CEO Derk Nijssen (pictured): “Advertisers want to reach more specific audiences across all screens and we want to deliver on those targets. What started as a modest step, now seems to be a revolutionary way of purchasing advertising for multiple screens. We’re excited to collaborate with SpotX on empowering media buyers to leverage ads to target viewers based on content consumption, all the while improving the user experience. This step is a true evolution from audience-based planning to audience-based buying across the television ecosystem. I’m proud that together with SpotX we have developed an integrated approach from an audience-first perspective that ensures effective and efficient advertising campaigns.”
Xite users can search for videos, create their own music video channel, watch curated channels, and like and/or skip videos, enabling the product to learn the viewer’s preferences by automatically jumping to the interactive environment on the set-top box and informing algorithms. The algorithms are then used by SpotX to build audience segments for targeted advertising which allows for targeted, personalised ads, measurement of audience engagement, and audience-based buying on linear TV.
In the Netherlands this is mainly possible because the interactive product is available through the linear channel on the Ziggo set-top box. Xite and SpotX are the first in the world to combine music, advertising technology and television in a way that bridges the gap between traditional television viewing and a digital, on-demand, personalised experience.
“With this first in programmatic TV purchasing, IPG Mediabrands is once again the first to offer its customers an innovative platform within the digital landscape, added Thomas Welle, Head of Video IPG Mediabrands.
“With the advanced targeting options this technology offers, we create for our customers an effective scaling-up within a target group that is difficult to reach. By embracing initiatives like this, we strengthen the unique character of local parties and, of course, their growth.”
Elwin Gastelaars (pictured), managing director at SpotX Benelux and Nordics: “Just like Xite, we strive for a personalized future in which the viewer is central. The fact that in a relatively short period of six months we were able to expand the targeting possibilities on the set-top box from only the different music channels and specific periods to full programmatics shows that programmatics advertising is also the future for TV. A future in which consumers and their personal preferences are at the centre.
