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9 winning programmatic advertising examples (+ why they work)

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So you’re trying to get a better understanding of programmatic advertising and you’d like to see some examples? As a marketer, it’s important to know how other brands are succeeding online with automated ads. That’s why we’ve put together a master list of examples that will inspire your next big idea. Go ahead and skip to the programmatic advertising examples that leap out at you as you browse. There are a lot of moving parts when it comes to running an extraordinary programmatic ad campaign. Think of this post as the spark that will set your idea generation machine on fire! It’s great if you’re prepping for a meeting on your programmatic creative, or you’re searching for interesting ways to better convert your customers and optimize your ad spend. From new innovations with social media advertising, to getting the most out of your in-stream ads – this post walks you through the programmatic ad concepts that are getting the most traction online. Here are some of the most genius ad campaigns that have been run over the last few years. Grab a pen or take mental notes, you’ll want to remember these big ideas. Editor’s Note: You may find these following articles useful: What is Programmatic Advertising? How Does Programmatic Advertising Work? Pros & Cons of Programmatic Ad Buying What is Programmatic Video Advertising? What is Programmatic Display Advertising? In this blog, you’ll learn: How Auto Trader Achieved a 90% Reduction in CPA How John Lewis Achieved a 346% Higher ROI on Black Friday How Lacoste Generated 19,749,380 Impressions and 2,290 Sales with Programmatic Display Ads How IHG Hotels Used Programmatic Ads to Disrupt the Metasearch Industry How Unilever’s Axe Romeo Reboot Tells a Story 100,000 Different Ways How O2 Created a 128% Better CTR with Creative Programmatic How Amanda Foundation Finds People for Shelter Animals How Missing People Found 20% More Kids Using Programmatic How The Economist Got 3.6 Million People to Take Action Conclusion TL;DR – What Have We Learned Photo by Saumya Rastogi on Unsplash How Auto Trader Achieved a 90% Reduction in CPA At the top of our list of great programmatic advertising examples is Auto Trader – the giant digital automotive marketplace that has over 450,000 listings every single day. They were a big winner in the Programmatic and Performance Marketing Category at the Marketing Week Masters Awards in 2018. Buying and selling cars online is an incredibly competitive niche. Even though Auto Trader attracted 55 million cross-platform visits every month, their click results weren’t what they should be. The company had its own in-house programmatic trading team, but targeted digital campaigns were still intensive to run – and optimizing ad spend was an increasing concern. So, they pivoted and partnered with a new Demand Side Platform (DSP) which allowed them to precisely select the high-value audiences they wanted to reach. Campaign goals in hand, the new machine learning algorithms worked to make their limited ad investment smarter. Automating their campaign meant only having to pay for customers who were most likely to click on their ads! Plus, the in-house team had more time to manually test and tweak the strategy. Finding the right DSP led Auto Trader to an incredible 90% reduction in their cost-per-acquisition (CPA), over a 6 month period. With an additional 3 hours saved each day, Auto Trader can now focus on their programmatic creative to extend their brand reach.   Key Takeaways: In-house teams can quickly be overwhelmed with work Partner with the right Demand Side Platform (DSP) Highly competitive markets require agency assistance Finding the right audience is an effective way to reduce Cost-per-Acquisition (CPA) It’s really neat to see peers in the car industry, like an automotive software company develop cutting-edge technology innovations to enhance vehicle performance, safety, and connectivity! How John Lewis Achieved a 346% Higher ROI on Black Friday John Lewis is a UK-based department store known for its high-end merchandise. Like many retailers impacted by the Millennial market, John Lewis has reported that their profits had dropped over the last few years. In an attempt to turn things around, the brand partnered with a DSP and set out to buy programmatic ad inventory over the notorious Black Friday weekend, and in the lead up to key days. Using historical data, the team theorized that people did a lot of research leading up to Black Friday. To reduce inventory and higher bidding costs, John Lewis set up private marketplace deals with premium sites leading up to the bigger days. Their DSP created an innovative strategy called ‘programmatic guaranteed’ which made it possible for the company to secure significant cut-through for millions of ads during Black Friday. They partnered with The Telegraph during Black Friday weekend itself. This programmatic direct deal was highly targeted and efficiently optimized. The strategy helped John Lewis avoid the oversubscribed and significantly increased costs of digital ad inventory available on the programmatic marketplace over this time period. There is always a huge demand for prime ad space over Black Friday. By partnering with a reliable DSP, the struggling company managed to reach high-value customers at the right time, without the inflated marketplace costs. This resulted in a Return On Investment (ROI) that was 346% higher than their proposed target! The strategies created a record-breaking Black Friday income for the brand. Key Takeaways: On big event days, innovative programmatic strategies can amplify ad ROI Reduce inflated marketplace costs with programmatic direct and private deals Optimize private deals using programmatic for highly optimized ad outcomes How Lacoste Generated 19,749,380 Impressions and 2,290 Sales with Programmatic Display Ads One of our favorite programmatic advertising examples is from Lacoste – a well-known French designer brand, with a green crocodile logo. The fashion industry is particularly competitive online. But it’s not always the most creative or innovative who wins. Sometimes, it’s about getting the basics right. During the summer sale period, Lacoste planned to amplify sales in three key markets – France, the UK, and Germany. It would be an omni-channel marketing campaign that used programmatic display advertising to personalize

Programmatic direct vs RTB (real-time bidding) ads explained

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Programmatic Direct is nowhere near the same as Real-Time Bidding. A lot of marketing jargon can be confusing. What you need is a point by point breakdown of how each of these programmatic elements is different. Something you could clearly explain at a meeting. Let’s comb through what makes each of these terms special in the programmatic advertising space. Here’s the outline of what we’ll cover: Programmatic Direct vs Real-Time Bidding (RTB) Definition The Biggest Difference Between Programmatic Direct & Real-Time Bidding How Programatic Private Marketplace Advertising Fits In Rules of Programmatic Direct Types of Programmatic Direct Elements of Real-Time Bidding 2 Types of Real-Time Bidding 4 Types of Programmatic Ad Deals TL;DR – What Have We Learned Programmatic Direct vs Real-Time Bidding (RTB) Definition What is Programmatic Direct? Programmatic Direct is a term used to describe the process of automating a direct sale of guaranteed advertising between an advertiser and a publisher. What is Real-Time Bidding (RTB)? Real-Time Bidding is a term used to describe the buying and selling of online ad inventory that happens through automated auctions in real-time. What about programmatic private marketplace advertising? What about programmatic direct vs. private marketplaces? Private Marketplace (PMP) advertising gives the power to the advertiser, and you decide whether or not you want to choose specific inventory. RTB and programmatic direct vs private marketplace programmatic advertising Known as a private-auction or ‘invitation-only,’ PMP includes unreserved inventory among select buyers, chosen via a Whitelist/Blocklist. The biggest thing with private marketplace deals is transparency – publishers can choose to reveal specific pieces of information on inventory, and which sites ads will run on – in addition to the Deal ID’s issued. Deal ID: the unique identifier that represents the deal made between publisher and advertiser within the auction environment, allowing the advertiser to reach premium placements, on-demand, through your DSP platform. The best part? You can apply your first-party data to any and all placements made. Basically, all the success you’ve achieved in open exchanges can be applied here, across premium placements. PMP is premium access at the lowest price, without any time or money wasted. It’s efficient, transparent, and the tech can even replace the need for a direct sales team. The Biggest Difference Between Programmatic Direct & Real-Time Bidding Both of these functions operate in the programmatic advertising space, using modern technology to buy and sell ad inventory. However, the major difference is that RTB advertising uses an auction model, while Programmatic Direct uses a non-auction model. That’s why you should always ask – is advertising inventory being auctioned? Let’s break down the differences even more! Rules of Programmatic Direct For advertising to fall into this category, it needs to follow three basic rules. #1: The Process Must Be Automated A direct sale using programmatic technology is automated and uses transactional and delivery automation to be highly effective. Direct sales were made using old school telephone conversations, spreadsheets, and mails to negotiate the deal in the past. Programmatic Direct completely automates this process. Find out how programmatic advertising works here. #2: The Sale Must Be Direct The direct sale involves a transaction between the buyer and the seller that has been previously negotiated and put in place. Business is conducted directly and things like insertion orders and paperwork are thrown into the sea where they belong. In some cases, additional measures like credit card age verification are used to ensure compliance and security during direct transactions. #3: The Advertising Must Be Guaranteed When handling Programmatic Direct deals, ask yourself if the inventory is guaranteed or not. This will help you determine which type of deal it is. Types of Programmatic Direct Type 1: Programmatic Guaranteed The advertising inventory can be guaranteed (reserved), which is called programmatic guaranteed – a type of direct deal. It means positions, quantities, dates, impressions, and prices are set in stone according to the deal made.   Type 2: Preferred Deal The advertising inventory can also be non-guaranteed, which is called a preferred deal. This is also a type of direct deal, but the ad inventory is unreserved. It means the inventory price is set, but the amount is not guaranteed. This is quite similar to how a private marketplace works, and advertisers get access to first looks before an agreement is struck. Elements of Real-Time Bidding Real-Time Bidding is made up of three simple parts.   #1: The Advertisers Ad buyers use a Demand Side Platform (DSP) to automate their ad placement and buy ad space. In other words, they use software to find the best places for their adverts online. These advertisers create buying parameters for each ad campaign. #2: The Publishers Ad publishers have a lot of ad space, or inventory, which they make available to the advertisers through the Real-Time Bidding process. A Supply Side Platform (SSP) is used to manage and sell their inventory to the buyers, and parameters are also set here. #3: The Ad Exchange An ad exchange connects the DSPs (advertisers) and SSPs (publishers) with each other. Real-time auctions are run as people visit websites all over the net. Auctions take place in milliseconds, matching the right ad with the right ad space, based on preset parameters. The advertiser gets the best possible space within their ad budget. The publisher gets the highest possible bid on offer from the range of advertisers in that moment. Everyone wins! 2 Types of Real-Time Bidding There are two types of Real-Time Bidding – open exchange and private marketplace.   #1: Open Exchange An open exchange RTB is a public marketplace where publishers auction ad impressions to eligible advertising buyers. This is an equal opportunity exchange. #2: Private Marketplace A private marketplace or PMP as it’s called, is an exclusive marketplace where publishers offer premium ad inventory to select advertisers. 4 Types of Programmatic Ad Deals So you see, both RTB advertising and Programmatic Direct make up the four different deals you can strike when launching a programmatic advertising campaign. #1: Programmatic Guaranteed A Programmatic Direct deal that

Managed programmatic advertising vs self-service in 2025

So, you’ve found yourself at the crossroads of advertising. First of all, congratulations! Your digital strategy has become more intricate as your business grows, and you’re ready for the next step in scaling your advertising. If your brand runs ad campaigns across various platforms, you must be juggling between dashboards, budgets, and data reporting systems. That’s why consolidating it all and utilizing a programmatic platform is the solution to scale. Check out our blog for the 14 best programmatic advertising platforms! Okay, the dilemma you’re facing is: do I need a self-service or managed programmatic advertising platform? Do you agree with the following statements: I want more control over my digital advertising. I want to be able to make quick changes to my ad campaigns. I have different promotions throughout the year and need the flexibility to launch and pause ads whenever I please. I want to have transparency in my digital ads and have an overview of my budget and ad spend progress etc. I want to get more insights on which of my keywords and ad creatives are performing the best and which ones are underperforming. I want to understand my consumers better and evaluate how effective my strategy is. Sounds about right? That’s great – this is the blog for you! We’ll do a quick overview of the benefits of both and what types of businesses each is most suitable for. Be sure to read on, evaluate and make an informed decision! Self-Service Self-service programmatic advertising platforms are exactly what they sound like—you sign up to access the platform and have 100% control over your ad buys. These programmatic advertising platforms tend to be Demand Side Platforms and grant you access to ad channels, publishers etc. Examples are Taboola and AdRoll. With direct access, you can keep track of your campaign (beginning to end) in real-time and make any adjustments you see fit, like a keyword or creative change, etc. You control the ad setup, strategy, bidding, scheduling of the ads across all the channels, optimizing them, and evaluating your ad’s performance. What you need to do in-house is strategy, execution, and analysis. You’ll be doing everything on your own and have total control, which can be a cost-effective option! Benefits Total control & transparency No campaign minimum or management fees Freedom Flexibility Concerns Steep learning curve Requires full-time, in-house dedication You should consider self-service programmatic advertising if: Your team has at least a minimum of one person who is familiar with Demand Side Platforms, setting up advanced audience targeting and conversion tracking, data layering, and budget configuration. That person or another individual should be able to dedicate full-time to managing the campaign, interpreting data, and making optimizations. If your team is capable of this, a self-serve platform would be a great tool! Managed Service Managed programmatic ad services mean a third party, like an agency, will manage and operate your programmatic campaigns. They act as an extension of your team. You choose this option because you want their deep knowledge and expertise of programmatic and peace of mind. You’re still in charge of your branding, creatives, and strategy, but you’ll work with the agency to plan a campaign. You tell them your objectives, target audience, budget, and channels you want to run programmatically. Then, the agency will build a plan for you to approve (eg. an Insertion Order: a certain amount of clicks or impressions at a set budget and price), and they take over the day-to-day operations of your digital ads. They will set up tracking, so your data speaks across channels; execute on launching your campaigns and reporting on the ad performance. You don’t have to worry about making bidding adjustments, engagement monitoring, optimizations, and data analysis in-house. They are the experts and will keep you informed of the entire process. They work in programmatic 24/7 and are industry experts. They’re on top of all the trends and have solutions for upcoming algorithm changes etc. Their role is to supercharge your digital ad efforts. We’ll use ourselves here at War Room as an example. We are a programmatic ad agency, and we handle all the tasks of the Demand Side Platform (in our case, we built our own from scratch, and it’s called, Kedet). We assign a dedicated team to each of our clients, consisting of: An Account Manager who is your friendly Point of Contact and manages the entire campaign from start to finish A Project Manager which oversees the entire project and ensures all parties are on pace Campaign Manager who works on the campaign on the programmatic platform A Digital Analyst who reports and deciphers the data collected throughout the ad campaign Our clients have control over budget and creative changes. They let us know, and we make it happen while providing expert recommendations. If a change is not optimal for your campaign, we will advise you before proceeding. Communication is key, and we implement everything with a documented paper trail throughout the process, so you’ll know the optimizations we’ve made.  For transparency, our Digital Analyst builds customized dashboards for your ad performance. You can see exactly which ads and keywords are performing, a detailed breakdown of your audience, and more. Agencies like us who provide managed programmatic advertising services are invested in your success. As your strategic partner, it is our responsibility to navigate the programmatic landscape on your brand’s behalf and provide valuable, expert suggestions to improve your overall marketing strategy in the short and long run. Benefits Strategic recommendations and data reports Access to exclusive inventory No learning curve (saves time and energy!) Expertise & insights: traffic patterns, benchmarks, creative best practices Concerns Management fee on top of ad budget Need to go through the agency for adjustments Service providers’ management fees may vary, so do your homework and compare! Here’s a handy resource (free to download) to figure out if an agency is right for you: You should consider managed programmatic advertising if: You are looking for complete campaign configuration: setup, execution, and analytics. Now

7 key programmatic advertising metrics to measure (and why)

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Your programmatic ads are performing well – or are they? The only way to really know is to look at your analytics, and the key ad metrics that help you make better strategic campaign decisions. There may be a lot of metrics to measure, but some are more valuable than others. Too often advertisers focus on the wrong metrics that lead them astray! That’s why today’s post is about 7 extremely important and relevant metrics that will help you make clearer, stronger and better decisions for your next big programmatic campaign. Here is the list of ad metrics we will cover today: Impressions Clicks Conversions Cost Revenue Reach Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) How to measure programmatic ads effectively Here’s the thing about programmatic advertising metrics—there are dozens you could track, but most will just overwhelm you with data that doesn’t move the needle. We’ve narrowed it down to seven essential metrics that give you real insight into campaign performance. These aren’t vanity numbers designed to make your reports look impressive. They’re the metrics that help you make smarter budget decisions, optimize campaigns in real time, and prove actual ROI. Each metric serves a specific purpose: Performance metrics show you what’s working Financial metrics keep you profitable Brand metrics build long-term value   Let’s break down the seven metrics that separate successful programmatic campaigns from expensive learning experiences.   1. Impressions Impressions are an important baseline metric, because they help you understand how many times your ad media was displayed in your inventory. They answer the question: How many times has my programmatic creative been displayed? Impressions are not about who has seen your ad. Instead, they‘re about the potential that your ad has to be seen. So you can’t really assign a reliable, quantitative weight to these metrics. This metric isn’t based on an action, but instead acts as a valuable part of calculating other critical metrics that will lead to better campaign performance. The two types of ad impression are: #1: Served – when served content is transmitted it counts as an impression#2: Viewable – when more data is used to understand if a user saw the ad content or not Served impressions are unreliable, while viewable impressions are more accurate. The most vital of the two are viewable impressions because they provide data analysts with actionable performance data for campaign improvement. 2. Clicks & click-through rate (CTR) Clicks are a performance metric. They answer the question: How many times has my programmatic ad creative been clicked? With programmatic ads, clicks are among the most telling metrics you can measure. It’s not accurate to assume all clicks are intentional, and they certainly don’t all lead to a conversion. But when you combine click and impression metrics, you can calculate actionable percentages that help you make better campaign budget decisions and improve your ad ROI. In Display Advertising, calculating your Click-Through Rate means determining the percentage of people who saw and clicked on your ad. Here is how you can calculate Click-Through Rate: If 3 people saw your ad every 100 impressions, you have a 3% CTR for example. Clicks help you understand ad success when combined with other metric data! 3. Conversions (and conversion rate) Conversions are a performance metric. They answer the question: How many times have my programmatic display ads converted? Every ad campaign has goals, or actions that advertisers want the consumer to complete because of the ad that has targeted them. Conversions are the ultimate ad metric. You get all sorts of conversions – buy, sign-up, download, comment – these are all measurable actions. The achievement of conversions means the customer is either buying, or has a much higher chance of buying, from your brand in the future. 4. Cost Cost is a financial metric. It answers the question: What did my ad campaign cost? Programmatic ads cost money to run, and the point is to set a budget that secures you the right inventory and target audience. That means measuring cost in relation to many other ad metrics. As you delve into the world of digital advertising, it’s essential to incorporate financial planning and budget tracking tools into your strategy, ensuring that every advertising dollar is spent wisely and aligns with your business’s financial goals. You can measure cost-per-mille, cost-per-click, cost-per-engagement, cost-per-view, cost-per-conversion and a host of other financial metrics you’ll need to understand campaign success. Cost metrics directly influence how you will invest in your next ad campaign. Sometimes you’ll want to target better quality inventory, because your budget parameters didn’t allow you the right inventory in your previous campaign. Your goal is to keep testing to find the right cost levels. These will help you determine your overall Return On Investment. As you delve into the world of digital advertising, it’s essential to incorporate financial planning for SMBs into your strategy, ensuring that every advertising dollar is spent wisely and aligns with your business’s financial goals. 5. Revenue Revenue is a financial metric. It answers the question: What revenue did my programmatic ads generate? With this ad metric, you need to know everything from gross revenue to net revenue. Coupled with your cost metrics you can calculate and refine media, data, agency, tech and other fees – and even streamline your profit margins over time. The most important of these are the overall revenue generated from your campaign, revenue created per visit and revenue created per page (RPM). 6. Reach Reach is a brand metric. It answers the question: How many unique users did my ad campaign reach? Reach is a critical ad metric for understanding how many people your campaign actually reached. Unlike impressions, reach is calculated per person, not per potential view. Reach can be compared with other vital metrics, like CTR, frequency and impressions to better understand ad success. Paid reach often increases viral and organic reach of your unpaid content. Estimating reach can also help control the parameters of a new ad campaign. 7. Return On Ad Spend (ROAS) ROAS is a performance metric. It answers the question: What was the profit created from my current advertising campaign? ROAS, or Return On Ad

2024 Holiday Advertising Tips to Drive Better Results

It’s November 2024, which means Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas” is back on loop in every supermarket and mall. If it feels like the holiday shopping season is starting earlier every year… that’s because it is! According to Google’s recent Think Retail event, 34% of US shoppers had already started their holiday shopping as early as July 2024—up from 27% last year. But this year’s timeline comes with a twist: there’s five fewer shopping days between Thanksgiving and New Year’s! Brands will need to pack in more impact in a shorter time period. It’s more important than ever to engage your target audience more efficiently! In this blog, we’ll introduce Google’s four holiday “shopper mindsets” and some additional holiday ad tips so you can drive more sales for the 2024 holidays! 4 Types of Holiday Shoppers At the Think Retail conference, Google identified four distinct mindsets that drive consumer behavior during the holiday season. Each one has unique needs and expectations, which would in turn impact their shopping decisions. The Deliberate Shopper These shoppers are all about planning, researching, and taking their time. They typically do their shopping in October and November. They want to feel confident in their purchase decisions and appreciate ads that guide them to the best choices. Tips: Utilize Performance Max ads to target them. Personalized ads and landing page content that resonate with their needs, such as “What’s the best gift for an outdoor enthusiast”, or “Best holiday gifts for elderly grandparent” etc. Include keywords like “holiday bests”, “top pick”, or “reviews” in your Search ads! The Deal-Seekers Deal-seekers live for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. However, this year (2024), the short holiday season means these shoppers will also be hunting for deals beyond the peak days. Tips: Optimize your website and/or landing page for speed and create a streamlined shopping experience. In your ads, try to emphasize on the sense of urgency, utilize words like “last chance”, “biggest blowout”, “limited time” to give them an extra budget to convert. If you want to drive more in-store traffic, consider even geo-targeting closer vicinity and utilize Klick & Mortar to attribute in-shop purchases to your digital ads! The Determined Shopper December is crunch time for shoppers who held off on buying or need last-minute gifts. Now they’re laser-focused. With fewer days to shop, they’re looking for convenience, ease, and speed. Eyes on the prize. Tips: Optimize your eCommerce website so users can enjoy a fast loading speed for browsing and checkout! Use Google’s “near me” optimization for in-store availability ads The Devoted Shopper: Loyal Fans Ahh, your repeat customers, aka your loyal fans— those who love your brand and return year after year—are the hidden holiday heroes. Their loyalty can help drive sales well beyond December if you give them reasons to come back. Tips: Segment audience lists of your members and create personalized ads for them to highlight loyalty perks, member discounts, exclusive access etc to make them feel valued! As the holidays roll in, tuning into these shopper mindsets can make all the difference in building connections that convert. Each group has its quirks, and by shaping your campaigns to speak to what matters to them—from deal seekers to loyal fans—you’ll capture their attention and drive results. This season, establish your presence where your audiences are, keep your message sharp, and make every click count! Bonus Tips to Maximize Every Moment of This Holiday Season Plan Around Key Dates With the shortened shopping window, having a flexible, target-focused budget in place can help maximize returns during high-traffic days. Get your ad creatives, offers, and landing pages etc planned and have on hand weeks ahead of time to stay on top of your game! Boost Product Visibility Make sure your Google Merchant Center feed is in top shape by including keywords, high-quality images, and clear product attributes. For example, using descriptors like “color,” “size,” and “style” can help your products appear in more specific searches. Stay Agile with AI Google’s AI-driven ad strategies, like Performance Max and Demand Gen that utilize Dynamic Creative Optimization are designed to adjust to real-time trends. These tools are especially useful when trying to keep up with the rapid pace of holiday shopping behavior. Partner with an Ad Agency The holiday season is packed with potential—make the most of it by teaming up with an ad agency that knows how to maximize your ad dollars. War Room’s programmatic approach ensures your campaigns reach the right audiences across channels, whether they’re browsing on social, watching videos, or searching for holiday deals. Our custom strategies are designed to adapt in real-time, so your ads stay relevant and effective as trends shift throughout the season. Let us handle the complexities of cross-channel advertising and data insights, so you can focus on delivering a seamless holiday experience for your customers. Are You Ready? The holiday season may be shorter this year, but with the right strategies, your brand can still thrive. Focus on connecting with each shopper mindset, use AI-driven insights, and tailor your ads to stand out in a busy market.Ready to elevate your holiday ad game? Reach out to our team at War Room to make every holiday connection count! Want more digital marketing tips? Sign-up for War Room’s newsletter to get digital marketing articles and resources delivered to your inbox! Subscribe Now You might like these: