Groundbreaking collaboration: RMS Austria, aireal, Virtual Minds and Mediaplus Austria conduct successful programmatic radio test run for C&A

RMS Austria successfully realised a programmatic radio campaign for the fashion company C&A in collaboration with aireal, Virtual Minds and Mediaplus Austria. The advertising blocks were purchased in real time and based on data for FM playout.

RMS Austria has once again set a technological milestone with the programmatic delivery of a campaign for the fashion company C&A, in which linear radio advertising was booked in real time based on data for the first time. Together with Mediaplus Austria and its partners aireal and Virtual Minds and their technology platforms, classic radio advertising slots were purchased by Mediaplus Realtime in a targeted manner and in real time.

For the first time, the FM campaign also utilised the Media Manager (Broadcaster SSP) from Virtual Minds, which is used by Austrian TV stations for programmatic TV, for programmatic advertising on traditional radio in Austria.

The stations radio 88.6 and Radio Arabella were won as partners on the publisher side for the campaign, whose different broadcasting infrastructures were orchestrated via the aireal platform.

The 15-second spot ran from 24 to 30 September and reached over 477,000 contacts in the desired target group.

Programmatic ad slots were integrated directly into the various broadcasting systems for the campaigns so that the programmatic processing from bid request to spot broadcast could be completed in the shortest possible time. Thanks to the reach and target group data from the radio test, the campaign could be precisely aligned to the target group and optimised. This pilot project offers an excellent opportunity to further develop the medium of radio in an innovative way and make it fit for the future, so that it can establish itself as an indispensable player in the programmatic universe.

Joachim Feher, Managing Director of RMS Austria: ‘If radio had not constantly evolved in its 100-year history, it would certainly not be the No. 1 medium for Austrians 100 years later. With this case, we have shown that mass media and programmatic are not mutually exclusive and are working hard to make RMS inventory available programmatically in the near future.’

Bernhard Redl, Managing Partner, Mediaplus Austria adds: ‘The programmatic booking of FM radio advertising is a great new opportunity in Austrian media dialogue. For us as an agency, the focus is less on technological progress alone, but rather on utilising the new possibilities of real-time media on all platforms. This allows us to design and play out hyper-individualised, data-driven campaigns that are precisely tailored to the needs of our customers.’

Markus Adomeit, founding Managing Director of aireal: ‘We are delighted to have realised this pioneering programmatic pilot case together with our partners. Programmatic radio works fully automatically and in real time, even when incorporating a wide variety of broadcasting systems. This means that aireal offers the solution for offering station combinations with a wide variety of infrastructures in line with programmatic standards on the market, both with and without having to access external SSP solutions.’

Dirk von Borstel, Managing Director of Virtual Minds, explains: ‘We are delighted to be taking the next steps in programmatic radio in Austria with our tried-and-tested set-up with RMS and aireal. With the Media Manager, we are opening up the great potential and efficiency benefits of programmatic marketing to classic linear broadcast media, thereby strengthening them in competition with digital players. After cinema, TV and print, radio is also increasing its attractiveness as an advertising medium with programmatic radio in terms of planning experience and control options, innovative media products and high-quality budget and yield optimisation.’

Birgit Steurer, Managing Director of Radio Arabella: ‘It is important to us to reach our listeners on all relevant analogue and digital distribution channels with the Radio Arabella brand programme offerings. Accordingly, we want to make contemporary programmatic campaign planning and delivery quickly possible for our customers.’

Günther Zögernitz, Managing Director of RadioCom Vienna, is delighted: ‘We at Radio 88.6 are proud to be at the forefront of programmatic FM booking. This technical innovation enables us to tailor radio advertising with a wide reach to specific target groups. This allows us to play out advertising messages even more precisely and efficiently and optimally fulfil the diverse wishes of our customers. ‘This successful test shows the enormous potential of programmatic booking for us and our partners. Programmatic booking of FM campaigns is a real step forward in radio advertising.’