Sales houses form the backbone of the German advertising industry and their role in the market is evidenced by the huge amount of Dmexco real estate they occupy each year. While in some respects they act as middlemen, they’re often owned by publishers and broadcasters and represent the most premium of digital and TV inventory. One of the most powerful sales houses in the market is IP Deutschland, which is a subsidiary of RTL Television, part of the RTL Group. Here Matthias Dang, Managing Director of IP Deutschland explains what IP Deutschland does, what his company looks for in an ad tech provider, the SpotXchange acquisition, and how sales houses are likely to adapt to a programmatic world.
Could you explain what IP Deutschland does and how it operates?
IP Deutschland sells ad time on Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland’s free TV channels RTL, VOX, SUPER RTL, n-tv and RTL NITRO. As a multiscreen sales house we also sell space on all of the group’s online, mobile and smart TV offers. A few years ago we took external websites, mobile and smart TV offers on board – if they had a quality online video focus. Our sales force deals with media agencies and advertisers alike.
Your company recently switched over to Videoplaza. What type of things do you have to consider when choosing an ad tech provider?
Video is at the heart of our strategy – and so is FOURSCREEN. We needed an ad server provider who could help us do what we do in the best possible way. We chose Videoplaza because they guaranteed a free development with enough resources for our specific and complex requirements. Also we wanted device oriented delivery as a basic feature for effective commercialisation of smart TV advertising. This too, was provided by Videoplaza.
RTL recently acquired SpotXchange, a programmatic marketplace. Will you also be using their technology to monetise your inventory?
We will definitely be using SpotXchange at some point. Currently, we are looking at the possibilities of integrating SpotXchange as a more intelligent way to optimise yield. Please understand that, as RTL Group only acquired a share in SpotXchange a few weeks ago we cannot name a date.
In other markets we’ve seen many traditional ad networks decline as programmatic technologies have taken over. Are the German sales houses at risk of suffering a similar fate or will they evolve?
We strongly believe in the quality of content of all our media. As a large sales house with multiscreen offers we see more growth potential than risk in our business – provided we work with the best in the field.
