The open web still moves people.
On measured terms.
Programmatic is where every agency loses discipline: CPM chasing, retargeting bloat, viewability theater. We run it where it belongs - CTV and OLV for reach, retail media for shelf, DOOH where geography earns it, audio for compounding frequency - priced against incrementality, never against last-touch.
The honest read.
Programmatic is the discipline it's easiest to fake. Bought through the right DSP, wrapped in the right dashboards, it produces impressive-looking reports and negligible incremental profit. Most retargeting is credit-stealing. Most open-exchange display is fraud-adjacent. Most viewability metrics measure the wrong thing. That reputation is deserved - and it's why so few agencies run it honestly.
The studio runs programmatic as a specific set of tools for specific jobs. CTV and OLV as measured reach - brand lift and geo-holdouts, not view-through. Retail media as digital shelf, run against the retailer's own conversion feed. DOOH where geography and dwell-time earn it. Audio as compounding frequency for categories where earshare pays back. PMPs and direct deals over open exchange by default. Everything reports against incremental lift, so the channel keeps its budget only when it earns it.
The surfaces.
How we run it.
Pick the job first
Reach, shelf, frequency, or geography - one clear job per line item. No 'programmatic budget' without a role.
PMP-first buying
Private marketplace deals over open exchange by default. Fraud risk down, quality up.
CTV as measured reach
Brand lift + geo-holdouts as the scoreboard. Frequency caps set to move the needle, not to spend the budget.
Retail media discipline
Run against retailer conversion feeds as digital shelf work - SOV, share of category, incrementality against organic.
Kill retargeting bloat
Retargeting scoped to windows and audiences that measurably lift, not to whatever the DSP autofills.
Quarterly reallocation
Every line item earns its next quarter with an incrementality read. Nothing renews on autopilot.
Profit reported, not platform ROAS.
How this channel gets scored inside the engine - the metrics that actually make it into the QBR.
- Brand-lift studies + geo-holdouts for CTV / OLV
- MMM for programmatic share of caused profit
- Footfall studies for DOOH + retail media
- PMP + direct-buy share as a supply-quality KPI
- No line item survives without a quarterly incremental read
Works better with the rest of the portfolio.
YouTube + Google intent capture the demand programmatic reach seeds.
CTV upper-funnel plus Meta mid-funnel - the two most measurable reach + response channels.
Full-funnel triangle: CTV reach, TikTok mid-funnel, retail media at shelf.