It’s more important than ever that brands make the most of their media dollars, but currently, only a portion of every dollar a brand spends on advertising goes directly to working media. Recent studies show only 50% of media spend goes to ad buys, while the rest goes to necessary ad tech fees and agency fees, or is unaccounted for in the supply chain due to inefficiency and a lack of transparency. Kepler is partnering with key supply side platforms (SSPs) to direct a greater proportion of clients’ ad spend to working media and reduce waste while allowing us to maintain optimization best practices. 

Making media dollars work harder

As part of Kepler’s proactive and ongoing work to reduce waste in the media supply chain, we designed agreements with trusted exchanges like PubMatic and OpenX to cap the take rate fees they charge on programmatic transactions, without guaranteeing where spend will be allocated. These partnerships also offer an increased level of transparency, providing the data needed to analyze impact.

"One of the most important roles we play for clients is using our understanding of the digital advertising ecosystem to ensure their dollars are not wasted," says Justin Sous, Vice President and Head of Optimization & Innovation at Kepler. “What has always made Kepler different is our commitment to transparency and doing right by our clients. Kepler has never been in the business of brokering guaranteed deals or agreements that would force a shift in where media dollars should be spent. We are a data-driven agency that will always optimize spend based on real results. We are excited to continue developing closer partnerships on the supply side and adding even more value for our clients.”

The partnership rates are open to current and future Kepler clients, making the cost savings and increase in working media available even to clients with smaller budgets. 

“Kepler is a strategic partner for PubMatic and we have seen great success working closely with their team on supply path optimization initiatives,” says Courtney Caldwell, Senior Director, Advertiser Solutions at PubMatic. “The partnership brings premium demand to our global publisher base while driving greater transparency, efficiency and value for their brand clients.”

"Kepler is a tremendous partner to OpenX,” says Caley Lewis, Senior Director, Buyer Development at OpenX. “By partnering more closely together, we're thrilled to help Kepler and their clients realize higher win rates, improved cost efficiencies and quantifiable increases in working media for each impression they serve through OpenX."

Partnering for better SPO

Maximizing media dollars goes beyond negotiating competitive rates with partners. Kepler also employs other supply path optimization (SPO) strategies, including smart bidding to find the most efficient and direct route to supply and a multi-faceted  approach to ad fraud avoidance.

SPO means using all available tools to find the most efficient ways to buy inventory. These SSP partnerships provide better insight into the economics of the auction, on which Kepler can then capitalize with strategic optimization through demand side platforms.

The Pubmatic and OpenX partnerships have already saved Kepler clients hundreds of thousands of dollars since agreements were finalized in the summer, and savings are projected to grow over the coming months. These savings are passed directly to clients, increasing the proportion of their ad spend applied to media.

In our recent survey of senior marketers, 85% said data optimization, rather than media buying clout, is now the most important criterion determining the performance of their media investment. By seeking innovative ways to make clients’ media dollars work harder, Kepler is helping clients remain competitive in the ever-changing advertising space.