This guide introduces how Connected-Stories fits in the advertising ecosystem into how to configure it to seamlessly interact with Demand-Side Platforms (DSPs) and Supply-Side Platforms (SSPs). It presents an overview of the Connected-Stories conceptual architecture as well as a few implementation examples. This page goes into depth on:
- How Connected-Stories fits in the advertising ecosystem
- Integrating Connected-Stories and distributing stories onto publisher's properties
- Connecting Stories
- Optimizing media buying
- Automatic tag distribution
- Integrating real-time signals from external platforms
How Connected-Stories fits in the advertising ecosystem
HyperTV's Connected-Stories is an integrated environment to create, distribute, measure and optimize, cross-media and personalized advertising content sequences (stories).
The cloud-based system includes:
- Authoring tools: enhance existing assets by adding synchronized interactive widgets (i.e. companion content, CTAs, interactive video overlays and much more)
- Decision-tree engine: define content sequences at campaign and touchpoint levels
- Gamification engine: interactively create contests to incentivize users' interactions
- Real-Time Analytics and Machine Learning: measure and optimize campaigns' KPIs; analyze interactions throughout the overall user experience to determine cross-media attribution
- Ad tag generator: creates JavaScript for trafficking the enhanced creatives.
Publisher Implementation Scenario
In the typical distribution scenario, the Connected-Stories cloud interacts with Publisher Digital Properties and Supply Side Platform:
Integrating Connected-Stories and distributing stories on publisher's properties
In the advertising ecosystem, Connected-Stories acts as third-party ad server so it can be easily integrated in the standard distribution workflow. Connected-Stories uses the most-common standards to reach a high compatibility level with the most-used ad distribution mechanisms. In fact, Connected-Stories uses technology such as HTML5–instead of old SWF files that are no longer compatible especially in the mobile environment–or pure JavaScript tag. Connected-Stories is also committed to remaining compliant with all standards and best practices developed by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB). This means that with Connected-Stories you can distribute standard creative formats such as masthead, leaderboard, half-page, along with video formats such as VAST and VPAID, and mobile-centric formats like MRAID.
Stories are published by trafficking their respective Ad Tags. An Ad Tag is automatically generated in Ad Export tab in the Story Manager section of the Connected-Stories administration panel. The generated code can then be downloaded from the Connected-Stories cloud and then uploaded onto publisher's distribution system (generic ad server, DFP, AppNexus, etc.). A Connected-Stories Ad Unit must appear in an area of the publisher page designed to host the creatives.
Connected-Stories creatives can be hosted in:
- Standard Placement:
- Standard iAB display placements (billboard, half-page, etc.)
- Video (VAST, VPAID)
- Native Placement: to match the form and function of the platform upon which the Ad Unit appears, the creatives must be designed with look and feel of the publisher's properties. A tag must be set up in a designated area to simulate native content.
To serve a Connected-Stories Ad Unit you can export Ad Tag as:
- HTML5: a Zip package that contains an HTML file and minimal assets useful to display the Ad Unit
- JavaScript: a JavaScript code that loads the Ad Unit.
- VAST/VPAID XML: a url that represents the XML used to interpreter the VAST or VPAID standards.
See also:
Sequencing personalized stories
Connected-Stories has the unique capability to use different advertising placements as if they were a virtual canvas, carefully preserving narratives conceived to be a sequence. The platform makes this possible because it is able to:
- Recognize the same user across different digital touch-points, across media and across devices
- Infer the user's current status within the campaign-specific customer journey.
No specific work is requested to implement those features, because the system functionalities are based on cookies (available in each service plan) and probabilistic building of user device graphs (activated in top customer plan). The information collected are anonymous and compliant with the major industry standards.
Optimizing media buying
One key advantage of using Connected-Stories to boost the ad serving effectiveness is its ability to bundle placements which implements the overall content experience as designed by creatives, thereby reaching the campaign objectives. The platform is intuitive, meaning it can help advertisers optimize their media spending by selecting the placement sequences more precisely. Enabling this process in every Connected-Stories deployment project is the inclusion of an extension to the ad server tag used by the chosen ad server technology vendor.
The process of optimizing media buying deploys the same Agile methodologies used for developing and improving the core Connected-Stories platform. Agile calls for a rapid, iterative cycle of buying, measuring and applying learning. The Connected-Stories platform collects extensive metrics on placements using the ad server tag extension. The platform then analyzes campaign performance and effectiveness against our knowledge base of aggregated past campaigns as well as objectives set for the current campaign. This leads to interim outcomes from each Agile iteration, or "sprint", that can be immediately applied to buying decisions and parameters. Each sprint then builds on previous rounds of decisions to reach an optimal buying profile within a short period of time, that also remains adaptable to changes in user behavior that might vary in the course of a campaign.
Automatic Tag Distribution
Connected-Stories Ad Tags can be easily copied and pasted into the appropriate section of the ad server's administration panel. However, in the case of large media outlets, the simple task could require many iterations, leading to potential errors and misconfiguration. Users AppNexus, DFP, and DSP can use their respective tag management systems to organize and simplify the task.
Integrating Real-Time signals
Connected-Stories' cognitive engine provides several parameters that can be used for adapting the storytelling to the user's journey status. The system supports information arriving from mobile devices when its SDK is linked with publishers' apps. More signals can be imported from external platforms (social media