Top manufacturing brands are trying out a pilot program created on a distributed ledger technology platform targeted at creating greater efficiencies within the digital ad ecosystem.
As digital advertising spends have gone up, the number of stakeholders in the industry, namely, platforms, agencies, resellers, and publishers, have highlighted the issue of transparency as a common pain point. The trade bodies – Association of Online Publishers, Internet Advertising Bureau, Institute of Practitioners in Advertising, have come together to start the pilot program to incorporate Blockchain technology to enhance advertising transparency.
Nestlé, Virgin Media and McDonald’s have joined in to be part of a pilot program by Joint Industry Committee for Web Standards (JICWEBS), aimed to test the accurate delivery capabilities of the Blockchain technology generating end-to-end supply chain transparency on digital ad spend. The digital ad industry has suffered from a lack of transparency since its inception. From programmatic brand safety and ad fraud issues, programmatic ad buyers have been questioning the functioning of ad tech vendors and platforms due to limited oversight and tracking issues. JISWEBS aims to solve this rampant challenge by implementing a Blockchain system with Distributed Ledger Technology (DTS), which puts forward a genuinely transparent picture of investment across the digital supply chain.
This pilot program also has support from brand agencies like Zenith, OMD UK and Manning Gottlieb OMD. JICWEBS confirmed that with the development of this project, the supply chain mapping would be complete with more beta users, including publishers and technology vendors joining in. JICWEBS has joined hands with the London-based tech brand, FIDUCIA to help implement the Blockchain solution. This Blockchain pilot initiative is spearheaded by the Joint Industry Committee for Web Standards with the vision of increasing the trust and transparency between all the inter-dependent players of the digital ad agency.
Earlier this year, this cross-industry trade body issued a call for firms to participate in the pilot to estimate the effectiveness of this Blockchain solution across industries. JICWEBS confirmed that it would use the first round of tests to measure the impact of Blockchain solutions to improve transparency. Working on the reports generated post the first round, the improvements can be incorporated based on company feedback. The further stages of this trial will focus on the optimization of the supply chain to enhance operational efficiencies.
The Blockchain marketing landscape has exploded up to 16-fold growth since 2017. Along with retailers like Walmart, top FMCG brands like Nestlé that are already experimenting with weaving Blockchain into its business, have come together to form a consortium dedicated to getting better insights about the processes. If successful, JICWEBS will discuss how best to roll out its adoption across industries in 2020 to elevate the levels of trust and transparency in digital advertising. With platform partners such as Facebook, YouTube and other agencies such as Havas, GroupM, and IPG Media brands, the initiative of JICWEBS is expected to deliver transparency as revenues in this industry multiplies in developed and emerging markets.
