DMTI ups the programmatic game with new simulated training tool

Technology is rapidly making inroads in the media planning and buying side of the business with the growing use of programmatic media buying. Programmatic buying tools utilise data analysis and real-time bidding to maximise ROI for online display, social media advertising, mobile and video campaigns. It is expected that two-third of the world’s digital display advertising will be traded programmatically by 2019 and advertising sold programmatically will increase at an average rate of 21 per cent a year. 

With this, there is the need for media as well as marketing professionals to upgrade their knowledge regarding using technology to automate and optimise the ad buying process in real-time. 

With this objective in mind, Mumbai-based Digital Marketing Training Institute (DMTI) has introduced a Certificate Program in Programmatic Buying & Planning. The 6-day hands-on program uses a Programmatic Buying Simulator that allows participants to actually create a media plan and implement it end-to-end. The program is slated to commence from May 2018. 

This Certificate Program has been created for media and marketing professionals of all career levels across media buying, media planning, strategy, and analytics. This includes coordinators, managers, directors, and executives. 

Commenting on the Certificate Program, Rashmi Putcha, Co-founder & Director, DMTI, and Co-Founder & Director, LIQVD Asia, said “At DMTI, we have always tried to launch programs that are required by the industry. In the last 3 years programmatic buying has become the key when it comes to media planning and that is why we have decided to launch this program. The 20-hour Certificate Program is spread over 6 days. It is essentially targeted at media planners.” 

Continuing further, she said, “Even with media planners who have a mandate to use programmatic buying, they don’t know how to use it and so they are dependent on the platform to help them set up the campaign. This program, therefore, gives them an understanding of what programmatic buying is all about. It not just tells them what it is and why it should be used, but also talks about Ad Networks and Ad Exchanges.” 

Speaking about the need for such a program, Putcha explained that there are there are no specific training modules available in the digital marketing industry today. People have been learning about it on the job and that’s how they have been buying and planning media. “Few years ago programmatic buying and planning became very popular and a lot of bigger and smaller brands who are trying to optimise media planning and media buying are now moving ahead with programmatic buying, but there is not a single training program that exists in programmatic buying,” she noted. 

The program is not limited to just theoretical knowledge, but provides practical training as well. According to Putcha, what makes the program stand out is that if offers a simulated training module. Once the course is over, the tool can be accessed by the students for about a month. 

Shedding more light on the simulated module, she said, “We have created a platform where people can login and use it to set up an entire campaign, monitor it, buy inventory and even do the bidding and all the strategising that is actually required to run a proper campaign. Thus, the simulation is the main key of this program.” “I believe, training without such platforms would be meaningless,” Putcha affirmed. 

Sunny Nagpal, Founder & MD, httpool APAC, a leading platform for programmatic buying, will be the chief mentor for the Certificate Program in Programmatic Buying & Planning. 

Speaking on the need for such a program, Nagpal explained, “There is a huge knowledge gap between what programmatic is and what programmatic is perceived as. The jargon has been around for a few years now and had picked up quite early in the US, and since we tend to follow the US market, we have been trying to adapt and all agencies have brought in desk their DSPs, but there is a huge deficit of talent to operate those trading desks. We typically call these guys traders, who operate and deal with the biddable media and buy across SSPs and programmatic lead. The attempt would be to get the talent up to the pace and bridge the gap that is there between what programmatic is and what it is perceived as. Programmatic is not just RTB (real time bidding) but it is more than that, it is an entire way of media planning, buying and execution. The cycle is fully automated and so that’s what people need to learn, we need to teach and explain them.” 

Adding further, he said that DMTI had invested in a tech platform which allowed them to know how the system works in real time and how they could do completely automated media planning and media buying campaign. The major relevance is in terms of bridging the knowledge gap into processional evidence and making it more practical understanding. 

On Httpool’s association with such a program, Nagpal said, “DMTI has subscribed to the Htttpool platform. I have been running httpool since 2010 and we have been pioneering the programmatic perfection across all our markets, globally as well as in India. We were one of the two firsts talking about programmatic based of mind back in 2012 and 2013 in India already. Today, we provide solutions which work both on publisher and advertisers side. People do not know how programmatic works, the advertising agencies can actually bring down their cost by 50 per cent of what they are spending. If they learn to do it properly and learn to do all aspects in programmatic, targeting becomes also more relevant which reduces spill over and thus the cost comes down.

Speaking about the module, there is difference in only the user interface and most modules have similarity in terms of functionality. If they learn one system, then they can easily learn any module and so it is important to learn how it functions and there only remains different in the user interface. Different modules will have different interface and different workflow. Our aim is to make them learn all the functionalities that are key to making the campaign successful and adapting to the programmatic ecosystem.”

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