Programmatic Advertising Examples: 10 Inspiring and Efficient Campaigns

Programmatic advertising has already become a game-changing technology for many companies. It revolutionized creating customer profiles, targeting, setting and monitoring campaign metrics, testing ads, and optimizing ad inventory. Today, a company can achieve much more for the same money – with the help of programmatic media buying.

This article aims to explain the fundamentals of this technology and how it works in practical cases. We’ll discuss programmatic video examples, programmatic display examples, and other types of digital ads. Thus, at the end of the article, you’ll understand how this technology translates from theory to practice and the results it delivers.

What Is Programmatic Advertising?

According to Statista, the value of programmatically sold advertising was $546 billion in 2023 and is expected to reach $779 billion by 2028. These numbers aren’t surprising since this approach to advertising has drastically changed the digital marketing landscape, especially in the last decade.

Simply put, programmatic advertising is an automated method of buying, selling, and optimizing digital ads in real time. You can see such ads on websites, in mobile apps, and across other platforms.

This technology relies on machine learning algorithms and AI, which helps target the desired audience precisely, based on different criteria, not just basic ones, such as demographics, but also behavior, interests, etc. Hence, marketers can achieve better results for their money.

How does it work? Here are some terms crucial for understanding programmatic advertising:

• Real-time bidding. At the dawn of digital marketing, buyers had to communicate with ad space sellers to place their banners there. The programmatic approach allows to automate this process and makes it fast and efficient. Ad seller offers the ad space, and potential buyers place their bids on a virtual auction in real-time (that’s why it’s called real-time bidding), and the highest wins. The algorithm does all the hard work.
• Ad exchange. It’s a transparent marketplace where real-time auctions happen. It’s a medium between different parties in the programmatic ecosystem. Some examples include Google Ad Exchange, OpenX, and AppNexus. Buyers and sellers can use several ad exchanges if they want more exposure. Typically, the auction starts when a relevant user visits a seller’s webpage. The information is sent to the ad exchange, and the highest bidder’s ad is shown to the customer. The process takes a few milliseconds.
• Demand-side platforms (DSP). These platforms help both independent advertisers and ad agencies buy ad space from several ad exchanges conveniently. They provide a single interface to deal with multiple accounts and useful tools to optimize targeting, monitor activity, and improve results.

Sure, programmatic advertising is more complex than this explanation (for instance, it’s possible even without real-time bidding). But now, we’ve drawn a picture with broad brush strokes and can move on.

Benefits of Programmatic Ads

As with any other technology, programmatic advertising has advantages and disadvantages. Still, the former outweighs the latter. Here are some of the most significant benefits:

1. Increased efficiency and cost-efficiency. Buyers and sellers can save time by delegating many processes to programmatic platforms. This approach also helps achieve a better balance between costs and outcomes. For example, you can decide what pricing model you’d like to use (hence, what you’ll be paying for: impressions, clicks, leads, etc.). Moreover, programmatic advertising allows marketers to adjust pricing models based on real-time data, which ensures budget optimization.
2. Better targeting. Programmatic platforms help you deliver the message to the most relevant audience. And it’s not just about demographics and location! It considers browsing behavior and purchasing history, data on devices, and the content viewed. As a result, these platforms allow you to create detailed customer profiles and target your ads to ensure the best audience engagement.
3. Real-time optimization is a standout feature. It allows you to manage your ad campaigns and make instant adjustments, even if you’re not satisfied with current performance. This is made possible by the constant collection of ad performance data. Furthermore, programmatic systems can help you allocate more budget to the best-performing ads (for instance, if you have the data supporting this decision).
4. Simpler personalization. Programmatic platforms grant access to various data, which allows them to show customized ads to all customers simultaneously. For example, a user who has been browsing the e-commerce website or putting items in the shopping cart but has not made a purchase can later see a personalized ad with the viewed products and decide to purchase.
5. Omnichannel integration. No matter what device your customer uses, specialized systems will monitor their activity, collect data, and help you deliver a consistent message. Moreover, programmatic advertising ensures your ads are placed in the best possible channel.
6. Better decisions. Programmatic platforms offer many convenient analytical tools that can help you make marketing decisions. For example, information about customer behavior, audience response to ad campaigns, and other data may contain valuable insights.

This list of programmatic benefits is far from complete, but let's pause here and delve into the practical applications.

Remarkable Examples of Programmatic Advertising

Programmatic advertising can take various forms, from video and display to more ”exotic” marketing examples, such as digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising. Here are several interesting cases of applying the programmatic approach to creating and executing ad campaigns:

Hot Wheels

When Mattel executives noticed the changes in customer behavior, they decided to take action. They knew that video games were on the rise, so they decided to target their audience where it was by creating an in-game programmatic ad campaign. It means that ads were placed in the mobile gaming environment. So, during the game, a player could see them.

Often, ads inside favorite games are annoying because they cover a significant part of the screen, forcefully grab attention, etc. But in the case of Hot Wheels, the ads were placed truly inside the game, for example, on banners around virtual stadiums.

The campaign was a success. It reached a viewability of 90% and an in-view rate of 99.58%, which is 1.5 times more than the industry average.

Unilever's Axe

The Romeo Reboot campaign is one of the attention-worthy programmatic video examples with a focus on personalization. The company created a version of a 1-minute video for every customer, depending on their data, and delivered it with the help of programmatic systems. As a result, every person saw the ad that resonated with them the most, and the campaign’s outcomes exceeded the company’s expectations.

McDonald’s

The world-famous chain launched the “Raise Your Arches” campaign to lure customers to its restaurants. The company used the modern features of programmatic advertising, such as geotargeting and daypart targeting. In other words, a customer saw the relevant ad with an offer when they were in a specific location at a specific time. The campaign had a successful run on 30 markets and led to a 4.5% increase in sales in restaurants.

Lacoste

Once, in the summertime, the fashion brand decided to boost sales in France, Germany, and the UK. To do so, it launched a programmatic advertising campaign for a thoroughly segmented audience. The most remarkable part was A/B testing because Lacoste tested practically every aspect of the campaign, from visuals to banner formats, from channels to daily budget. The goal was to optimize the cost-effectiveness. The outcome was beyond good: almost 20 million brand impressions and 2,290 new sales.

O2

This UK telecom brand presents another one among programmatic video ads examples. The company used customer accounts and activity data to create personalized, helpful videos. For instance, some versions of the ad included advice on upgrading. The campaign showed great results: the click-through rate was 128% more efficient than the TV ads the company used to make.

Aperol

Modern technologies allowed the famous beverage brand to launch an incredible weather-based DOOH campaign. Customers could see the ads only in specific locations (for instance, near major social hubs) and when the air temperature was warm enough (over 19°C). So, the advertising met the audience literally at the right place, at the right time.

New examples of programmatic advertising appear daily since technology is getting stronger and spreading faster and further. And who knows, maybe soon your brand will be among the most prominent campaigns.

Programmatic Display Examples: The Variety of Options

Display ad is the most common type of digital advertising (you may also know it as a banner ad). No wonder most campaigns include them. We collected a set of programmatic display ads examples that will be interesting and helpful for marketers.

The Economist

The famous newspaper utilized the power of programmatic advertising to reach out to a new audience. The company discovered that people perceived their content as highly intellectual, mostly political or financial, whereas it had a much broader range of topics. To overcome this bias, The Economist launched a programmatic marketing campaign called “Raising Eyebrows and Subscriptions”.

The idea was simple: drag new visitors to the website and show them the most relevant content. When they find out that The Economist has a lot to offer, the number of subscriptions will rise. To do so, the ads were tailored to the content a customer was reading. The banners contained provocative headlines and provoked the desire to click on them – and, hence, get hooked.

The strategy worked: in just nine days, The Economist reached half of the target number. The initial goal was to collect 650,00 new prospects, but the actual result was five times bigger: the campaign made 3,617,000 people try the content. Moreover, it brought £12.7 million in revenue (new subscriptions, sales of ad space, etc.).

Intercontinental Hotel Group

Lots of people prefer booking hotels via medium services like Booking.com. It’s considered a common wisdom that this way, you pay less. On the other hand, IHG discovered that it would cost 15-30% less if customers made their bookings directly from hotels’ websites.

To ensure the target audience knows that and increase the traffic to IHG’s own resources, the company launched the display campaign. The customers saw personalized ads with price comparisons – and it worked really well. Later, competitors started doing similar things, but IHG was the first.

Topman

This fashion retailer's decision to run a programmatic campaign was based on its deep understanding of different audiences’ needs. Khaki pants may seem like a basic element of an outfit, so a generic approach to advertising seems logical. However, the company knew its customers better and could identify five key segments — of course, with the help of data.

Then, fashion experts created styles to meet the needs of every client. The company made creatives with pictures of five male models representing five segments (“extreme fashionistas” among them), and the campaign hit the spot!

Bloomberg Media

In 2002, the company decided to boost its subscriptions and views. But instead of creating an ordinary campaign, they conducted an experiment. Together with the media agency Kelpers, they created and tested two versions of ads: a standard ad and a responsive display ad (such an ad resizes automatically to look better). Then, they measured the results and saw a huge difference. It turned out that responsive display ads worked much better: they had 81% lower cost-per-site visit and 8% lower cost-per-action.

As you can see, a display ad is a powerful tool for delivering the marketing message to the right audience. It presents multiple opportunities to target your clients wherever they are and showcase your products or services creatively and convincingly.

How to Buy and Manage Programmatic Ads Effectively

Now that you already have a grasp on programmatic advertising examples, it’s time for some tips on making your media buying cost-effective and productive.

Tip 1. Always start with a goal

What are you trying to achieve with this marketing campaign? Are you aiming to increase brand awareness? Get more leads? Or boost your sales? You won’t be able to achieve all of these at once. Plus, programmatic advertising requires a focus; otherwise, you can’t set KPIs and choose the right pricing model.

Tip 2. Get to know your customers

It sounds obvious, but in programmatic advertising, knowing the audience means not just having a set of demographic indicators. It means creating a detailed profile, including behavior on different devices, etc. Also, you may need to add first-party and third-party data for better targeting.

Tip 3. Do your homework on choosing the right DSP

You need to take into account features you may need, access to inventory, built-in tools, etc. Luckily, most demand-side platforms offer trial access, so you can evaluate their convenience before making a buying decision. Also, pay attention to targeting options and reports — you’ll definitely need these features to run your campaigns effectively.

Tip 4. Choose the right bidding strategy (a pricing model)

There are many options: CPM, CPC, CPA, and others. Depending on your goals and budget, you choose what will work best for you.

Tip 5. Experiment

Programmatic advertising allows A/B testing, and you shouldn’t ignore this opportunity to optimize your marketing efforts. Create several versions of your ad and monitor their performance. You’ll save time and money, engage more customers, and reach your campaign goals faster.

Tip 6. Never stop learning

This advice works for all areas of life, but in this context, it means never stopping to discover and try new features of your programmatic platform. Reviewing ad performance, adjusting your ads, creating reports, and targeting customers — all of it can be done better, faster, and cheaper. You just need to invest some time and mental resources into it.

Any programmatic buying example shows that great results aren’t always a function of your budget size but rather your skills in running and managing campaigns. The good news is that if you’re willing to learn, the sky's the limit.

Conclusion

In this article, we’ve reviewed diverse examples of programmatic advertising. From The Economist's personalized banners to Aperol’s weather-based DOOH campaign, all showcase the efficiency of this approach.

By combining vast amounts of data with cutting-edge technology, programmatic advertising makes real things we could only dream about before. Engage the most relevant audience – done! Adjust ads on the fly – done! Dynamically allocate budget to achieve optimal cost-effectiveness – done! Programmatic advertising is like a genie from the bottle; the only difference is that the number of wishes isn't limited to three.

But jokes aside, this technology is changing the digital marketing landscape. So, if you want to be ahead of the competition, you may consider trying it. For example, Epom Ad Server helps you deliver and manage your ad inventory most efficiently and conveniently.

FAQ

• What is programmatic advertising?

  Programmatic advertising is an automated method of buying, selling, and optimizing digital ads in real time on websites, social media, mobile apps, and other platforms.

• What are the benefits of programmatic ads?

  The most significant benefits of programmatic advertising include increased cost efficiency, better targeting, real-time optimization, ad customization, omnichannel integration, and the opportunity to make better marketing decisions.

• What are the popular programmatic advertising examples?

  The examples are numerous. For instance, Hot Wheels achieved 90% viewability and an in-view rate of 99.58% when implementing a programmatic in-game campaign. McDonald's increased sales in physical restaurants by 4.5% in 30 markets thanks to its "Raise Your Arches" campaign.

• What notable display programmatic examples are there?

  One classic example of successful display programmatic ads is The Economist's campaign "Raising Eyebrows and Subscriptions." The company created personalized banners and achieved half of the target in nine days, bringing The Economist £12.7 million in total revenue.

• How to run effective programmatic ad campaigns?

  First, decide what you are trying to achieve with this marketing campaign. Then, collect data on your customers and choose the best demand-side platform for your needs. Don't forget to experiment with ad creatives, formats, and channels. Also, monitor your ads' performance, optimizing them if necessary.