Brand Safety

Raghu Seelamsetty | August 14, 2020

To build a strong, positive image among a brand’s consumer base it is critical to avoid the setbacks of negative brand associations. In digital advertising, despite the upside of sophisticated audience identification and targeting, there is an inherent risk of ads showing up in environments that don’t meet brands’ values and guidelines.  

Yet every brand is different. While an SUV manufacturer might want to avoid appearing alongside content about high gas prices, a hybrid car manufacturer might believe it’s in their best interest to specifically target such content.

Likewise, whereas an automotive client might want to avoid inventory about pollution, emissions, or commuting hassles, a retail client might have completely different concerns and wish to stay away from articles about child labor, associations with eating disorders, or counterfeit designer apparel.

Using semantic safety profiles, each buyer can set up rules to govern what exactly it deems unsafe to its own image. Sizmek by Amazon’s brand safety categories catches common items across various verticals.

Also, there’s no such thing as one size fits all. No matter how many categories we build, advertisers will always have needs particular to their own market, customer base, or the niche environment in which they operate.

For targeting, this might mean refining an existing category with relevant keywords in order to hyper-focus your message.

For brand safety, this might mean avoiding a specific story, scandal, or subject area particularly damaging to your brand.

No matter what your needs, our acclaimed account management team can make you a completely customized category within just a couple of days.

One of the recently built customized categories for one of Sizmek by Amazon’s advertiser is COVID 19.

Marketers need a way to ensure their requirements are implemented consistently and systematically.  It’s all too easy to lose track of brand safety when dealing with multiple agencies, trading desks, and demand-side platforms (DSPs) in a single market, let alone hundreds around the world. 

It is important to regain control by implementing brand safety in your media plans, limiting your exposure to the effects of inappropriate content, and ultimately maximizing the effectiveness of your advertising and investment.

Sizmek by Amazon’s brand safety tool (Verification & Viewability) allows you to establish your own guidelines, taking back control of critical, sensitive matter in a centrally managed place.  Each advertiser or brand’s requirements can be easily layered on top of all programmatic activity, offering you the highest levels of protection and peace of mind.

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