Great. Another task force. Is that what you’re thinking when you receive an invitation from the IAB to be involved, in developing standards for digital advertising? I don’t blame you. I used to work a very corporate job at a very large corporation. Say the word task force and you’d clear a room in the blink of an eye.
But hear me out on this one: When the IAB sends you an invitation to join a standards-focused task force, open your eyes, ears and mind and click “Yes, I’ll attend.” Here’s why.
Save time
After a recent IAB meeting, I chatted with Geoff Petkus of Operative. He spent time working on the publishing side with IAB and Edmunds.com. Operative services publishers, networks and agencies to simplify the advertising business for them. Geoff explained that just getting advertising sold and in place is an incredibly arduous process and much more complicated than traditional advertising such as television. This surprised me, though I’m sure this doesn’t surprise you. You live this reality every day.
What you may not realize is that there is a better way and the road to that better way is paved with standardized open protocols. Imagine how much easier your life would be if every invoice created and processed had exactly the same format. Imagine if you could flip through a product catalog and at a glance could know exactly what you were getting (or selling), the creative specs of each product and the price of each product. Wouldn’t that be nice? With protocols, it’s possible.
Save money
Geoff went on to explain that all of the effort and time put into the logistics of digital advertising consumes a huge percentage of the budget. Your company is asking you to do more with less, right? Every company is, and if they don’t now, they will soon. Budgets are tight and additional headcount is nowhere in sight on any budget. Standardized protocols save money. They are a part of the puzzle that will help you do more with less without costing you your sanity.
Make your work, and the work of others, more interesting
Lady Gaga caught some flack in March because Doritos, a brand that’s part of the giant Frito-Lay empire, gave a donation to her Born This Way Foundation in exchange for branding exposure at her SXSW concert. “Truth is,” she told the crowd, “without sponsorship, without companies coming together, we wouldn’t have these festivals. Record labels don’t have any…money.”
Said another way, advertising is one very powerful way to make creative work by creative people possible. You might not think of your work on this level on a regular basis but you should because it’s the truth. If you can make advertising easier to buy, sell and implement, even in a small way, you are contributing to the greater whole of the creative world.
Geoff elegantly said, “These protocols helps us focus on substance instead of format. That’s really why they matter. Let’s get to the fun stuff. The interesting stuff. The content.”
Expand your view
The everyday grind can beat you down. You’ve got a mountain of paperwork on your desk and another one in your email inbox. These mountains are blocking your view of what’s out there on the horizon: a simpler, less expensive, more exciting world of work. It’s possible if you believe in the downstream long-term effects of open protocols and your own ability to impact change in your industry.
“We can step toward a solution,” said Geoff. “We love this saying on our task force: ‘If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.’ It’s a great mantra of what we’re trying to do here.”
Clear the mountains of paperwork aside for just a moment and let the light in. Have a hand in democratizing the mechanism of communication with your partners. You’ll be rewarded with a widely used process that is clear, concise and consistent. The IAB and these task forces are giving you a chance to take part in the crafting of this brighter future. A little more work now could yield greater freedom later, and that potential payoff is worth a try.