It gets really embarrassing for a reputed brand when their ad shows up next to what could be called as questionable content. What should you do to avert this crisis? Here are some smart ways to ensure brand safety.
The background about brand safety
Looking at how brand advertising has evolved over the years, brand safety is now a buzzing topic than it ever was. The concern brands have these days is about what content runs alongside their ads. In advertising, looking at things from the eyes of the consumer is pivotal. So when a consumer sees an ad placed next to another, she or he automatically assumes that one endorses or sponsors the other. That is why when you look at some extremely questionable content placed to something entirely irrelevant, the only conclusion a viewer reaches is that this is being done for ad revenues.
The problem arises here. If your brand appears next to something that isn’t appropriate, then it splashes dirt on your brand reputation also. The consumer automatically starts viewing your brand in a negative light too. This happens due to faulty algorithms that falsely place irrelevant content next to each other.
But then you cannot blame the consumer for it now, can you? They practically have no idea behind the functioning of it all. They do not know how the ad targeting scene works. In the wake of crisis brand safety finds itself in, many brands in the tech industry seem to vulture over this. They have come up with tools that aim to monitor your brand’s presence and its exposure alongside explicit or inappropriate content.
What to do when your brand ad is placed next to questionable content?
Before you rush to pull off your ad immediately, you need to collect information so that you can make a well-thought decision about this. Here we present some outlines as a possible procedure for you to follow when such an issue happens.
The first step is to determine how much exposure your brand managed to receive. Some of these questions may be helpful for this:
- What was the time frame when your ad showed alongside questionable content?
- How many impressions did your ad garner?
- How many clicks were registered?
- Was it a human error or an algorithmic one?
Collecting information from such questions can help you reach the cause of the problem and thereby understand the intensity of the issue.
Once you have identified the cause, you can consider a couple of solutions. First, should you pause the campaign? If the status of your issue is ongoing and there is no immediate way to mend it, pausing your campaign would be the logical step here. Though it may affect your overall mix, pausing the campaign would save your brand from a lot of negative feedback. You would also have to develop an understanding of the exposure of the campaign with your clients. Considering the nature of the issue, there would be a considerable backlash from both traditional and social media.
In conclusion, brand safety is a significant issue, and the more you take it seriously, the better it would be for you or your client.
