Ad Tech Insights

Banking On Ads: FMNs

The story: In recent months, the ad industry has seen a surge of interest in financial media networks (FMNs) -- financial institutions leveraging their extensive first-party data to build out their own ad networks. Recent examples include Chase Bank, PayPal, European bank Revolut, and buy now, pay later (BNPL) business Klarna. 

This foray into the ad world largely stems from regulatory pressures and competition, according to Grace Broadbent, eMarketer’s Senior Analyst of Payments. Basically, a combination of competitive and regulatory factors are pushing financial institutions to diversify their revenue streams, and to do so now, before losing steam. 

Although FMNs are an offshoot of retail media networks (RMNs), which have also experienced astronomical growth in recent years, FMNs stand out for their rich datasets from millions of customers. A bank, for instance, has a full picture of their customers’ spending habits and interests across all retailers and industries, not to mention the salaries coming into customers’ accounts. 

The takeaway: FMNs can provide a more complete view of customer spending, and make for a lucrative opportunity to diversify revenue streams and improve ad effectiveness. However, marketers should be mindful of privacy concerns and the importance of ensuring transparency and customer consent in data usage. But as third-party cookies continue to phase out, FMNs present a valuable alternative for privacy-compliant, data-driven marketing. 

READ MORE.

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Extra Industry Insights

The Digiday Programmatic Marketing Summit took place late May in Palm Springs, CA. Anonymous, closed-door town hall discussions highlighted the following: 

• Many agencies struggle with defining and integrating AI, with varying definitions of the tech and its appropriate applications across brands. 
• There are still massive privacy and logistic concerns around AI, from training models to client relationships. One speaker expressed how customers are increasingly hesitant since, “inclusivity is not built into AI.” 
• “People are over it, to be honest.” said one attendee, touching on frustrations about the prolonged process of third-party cookie deprecation. 
• CTV faces big inventory quality issues, with one speaker expressing, “there’s so much result CTV inventory now…don’t be putting trash CTV in the bidstream.” 
• “We’re just playing whack-a-mole with all of the fraud and cheating stuff,” another speaker said of CTV transparency issues. 

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Kevel Catchup

LIVE: Kevel Blog “Ad Attribution: The Definitive Guide” 

A QueryClick survey found that 98% of respondents cite attribution as an important part of their tech stack. Clear ad attribution, equipped with first-party data and customer journey insights, is one of the best ways retailers can demonstrate ROI -- and RMNs must effectively report attribution if they want to surpass other advertising channels.

Read our full guide on ad attribution here to learn how it works, the different attribution models, and how your business can implement it. 

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LIVE: Kevel x ADOTAT 

This episode of The ADOTAT Show joins host Pesach Lattin and Kevel Founder & CEO James Avery as they talk about Kevel's Series C funding, the next wave in retail media, and what’s ahead for ad tech. 

Watch the full interview here or browse the highlights in Lattin’s blog here.

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Keep Learning

WATCH --> This episode of Beet.TV’s leadership series features Instacart Ads’ Dave DeRobbio, Director of API & Off Platform Data Partnerships, as he talks how RMNs offer brands an opportunity to unlock consumer insights that were once reserved for retailers and credit card companies.

READ --> The Trade Desk reassures that minimal authentication can still attract ad dollars, but many publishers remain skeptical of relying on UID 2.0 and ceding control over their data. Find out more in this DIGIDAY article.

LISTEN --> The Marketecture family expands, welcoming AdTechGod and Jeremy Bloom (Listening Time: 40:02)