smartclip turns the spotlight on ‘Adtech Made in Europe’ at DMEXCO and Videoweek in Cologne

Experts and innovators from the world of advertising and tech gathered in Cologne this September for DMEXCO, a key event in the industry calendar. With DMEXCO showcasing the potential of digital technologies in marketing and communications — as well as Videoweek Cologne looking at the future of video and Connected TV (CTV) advertising the day before — the week offered the perfect opportunity to give attendees a deeper insight into our ‘Adtech Made in Europe’ initiative, the future-focused, Europe-specific collaboration between RTL Deutschland and ProSiebenSat.1.

The convergence of linear and digital TV is a hot topic in the industry, and it is also one of the main drivers behind the ‘Adtech Made in Europe’ initiative. A key aim of bringing together the content and services of each group’s adtech companies — smartclip, Realytics, Yospace, SQL Service, and Virtual Minds — is to lay the foundations for full-stack adtech that combines linear TV advertising with Addressable TV (ATV), CTV, and online video. The collaborative solution is currently being implemented in the DACH region (Germany, Austria, and Switzerland), and the intention is to expand into other European countries, meaning all European players can benefit from a full, standardised video offering that is data-driven, programmatically bookable, optimised in real-time, and holistically measurable – offering a reliable, Europe-focused alternative to adtech offered by the US tech giants.

‘Prompting the Future’ at DMEXCO

On the first day of DMEXCO, where the motto was ‘Prompting the Future’, Thomas Servatius, our Co-CEO and MD Platform & Technology, and Thomas Peruzzi, CTO at Virtual Minds, took to the Future TV stage to discuss ‘CTV & ATV: What’s new, what’s next?’, alongside Andrea Zenner, Managing Partner — Video Consulting & Development at EssenceMediacom; Bernd Hülsmann, Managing Partner at Wavemaker; and Kai Ladwig, CMO at Visoon Video Impact. Bringing executives from the buy side together with two key players of the ‘Adtech Made in Europe’ initiative, the panel — moderated by journalist and presenter Wolfram Kons — was an opportunity to enrich the dialogue around the collaboration and its impact on different industry stakeholders. As the buy side outlined their needs and outlook for the future, we were able to showcase how the initiative addresses the requirements of both advertisers and broadcasters and enables a more efficient, uniform buying process across all video formats and channels. 

One major point discussed is how the initiative aims to eliminate the restrictive silos of ad formats and TV distribution channels, and the resulting fragmentation, offering video inventory that can be uniformly booked, measured, and optimised. With the initiative focusing on finding sustainable solutions that address inefficiencies in TV advertising, Thomas shared more on how the current implementation in Germany will enable programmatic buying across all TV inventory — linear TV, ATV, CTV, and online video — on one DSP. He also highlighted the overarching measurement solutions, from our subsidiary Realytics, that simplify and optimise contact management by providing data across all users and channels, and the integration of the ADEX Data Management Platform as an identity solution that reduces fragmentation by offering a standardised alternative to individually created in-house solutions.

Reinforcing a popular opinion shared by many at DMEXCO, the discussion concluded with a unanimous outlook from all panel participants regarding the future of CTV and ATV — that the terms will continue to blur into one big moving image/video offering on the TV screen, which will include digital, data-driven linear TV.

It’s all video

Later that day, Ad Alliance’s Chief Tech Officer, Martin Hoberg, and Chief Strategy Officer, Stefanie Jäckel, joined Jonas Hofmann, Lead Media Strategy at REWE Group, and Wolfram Kons for ‘BigScreen Advertising — Think it. Do it. Boost it.’ Here, the panel’s participants also discussed a future where linear and digital TV will merge; for the advertiser, as long as it’s video, the only differentiation — if at all — will be whether it’s big or small screen.  

As Martin outlined, the RTL Deutschland and ProSiebenSat.1 pact is an essential step in transforming TV delivery from a tech standpoint in order to meet the needs of this future landscape. The current foundation phase creates an identical technological basis within both broadcasting houses, and the following phase will enable the convergence of linear TV and digital. This will transition linear into an integral part of the broader ‘big screen’ or total video inventory, ultimately enabling a programmatically bookable and holistically measurable convergent video reach. Martin also emphasised how the offering will consider the full inventory of broadcasters, not just CTV like many other emerging initiatives, further highlighting how relevant and attractive ‘Adtech Made in Europe’ will be for the region’s broadcasters and advertisers.

On the second day, Frank Vogel, CSMO at Ad Alliance, representing RTL Deutschland, joined Ricarda Jebsen, Managing Director of Virtual Minds, for the fireside chat ‘Tech Battle Royale: RTL Deutschland and ProSiebenSat.1 challenge US tech titans’, moderated by Vincent Flood, Editor-in-Chief of Videoweek. Sharing more about how the collaboration is responding to the dominance of the US tech giants and aiming to reduce their future influence, Frank and Ricarda discussed how the key advantage of ‘Adtech Made in Europe’ is that it focuses on leveraging local expertise and understanding of European-specific legacy systems, privacy, and brand safety. So while US companies focus on dominance, ‘blackboxed’ tech, and a global approach, the European initiative focuses on cooperation and transparency, offering simplified solutions that address the varied needs and unique setups throughout the European market.

On the Videoweek Cologne agenda

On the day before DMEXCO, ‘Adtech Made in Europe’ was also on the agenda at Videoweek Cologne as Sebastian Busse, Director of Partnership Development at RTL AdAlliance — our platform sales partner — participated in the fireside chat ‘Adtech Innovation in Europe: Converging Linear and Digital Worlds’, joining Marius Leichte, Senior Manager, International Business Development at Virtual Minds, and moderator Hossein Houssaini, CEO & Founder of Ho/Pe Advisory.

During the chat, Sebastian and Marius elaborated on why adtech made in Europe, for Europe, is so important, highlighting the region’s specific characteristics, such as privacy and fragmentation, that tech created locally can better understand and address than tech created by the big global players. By sharing insight on the benefits of this collaborative adtech initiative — maximising standardisation and transparency, reducing complexity, and bringing linear and digital TV together — the discussion showed how ‘Adtech Made in Europe’ will provide a strong offering beyond Germany, delivering solutions built on a foundation of Europe-specific knowledge and expertise.

Key takeaways

A central theme across all sessions is that the traditionally fragmented market of TV advertising is evolving as the lines blur between linear and digital TV. However, with the planning, booking, and measurement processes for both still very different, innovative adtech solutions are needed to smooth the path for broadcasters, advertisers, and agencies operating in this new landscape.

By combining the adtech stack of smartclip, Realytics, Yospace, SQL Service, and Virtual Minds, ‘Adtech Made in Europe’ paves the way to a future-proofed ecosystem where all video inventory can be bundled into one offering, whether it’s linear or digital, live or on-demand, via broadcast or OTT. And while the approach of the US tech giants has been about control and closed systems, our approach focuses on forging collaborative partnerships and offering tailored solutions for efficient, measurable, cross-platform TV campaigns for Europe.
If you would like to find out more about ‘Adtech Made in Europe’, please get in touch.