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For the first time, the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) surveyed its members to identify the marketing 'word of the year'. Voting took place online between 24 November and 2 December. In total, 349 members participated. The ANA staff identified a list of finalists for word of the year and then asked members to cast their vote to determine the winner. “Programmatic” received the most votes.

Other top choices in the 2014 marketing word of the year voting were content, millennials, omni-channel, customer-centricity and transparency.

Here is what some ANA members who voted for programmatic as the ANA 2014 marketing word of the year said:

• “This is the year that we woke up to the potential of programmatic, and it became the biggest buzzword in the industry.”
• “It is everywhere and will eventually be the only way media gets bought until the next big advance.”
• “It has been the focus of every meeting and every conference I have attended, even the ones it wasn't the focus of.”
• “It is the least understood but most used word in marketing. Nobody can define it but everyone wants it.”
• “This was the word that has been thrown around the most and has everyone scrambling to understand what it means and how it would impact their business.”
• “Programmatic was one of the most used words in marketing this year, as marketers sought out more efficient and effective ways to purchase digital media.”
• “The programmatic discussion has overtaken nearly every discussion throughout the advertising supply chain, so as to be a pervasive emerging trend.”
• “Everyone is talking about it, trying to see how to measure it, implement and/or define it. But few people get it or do it.”
• “This is an unstoppable sea change for all media, including TV. I predict that, in short order, 80 percent of all media %u2014 not just digital media %u2014 will be traded programmatically.”
• “It is a word that is being used a lot by a lot of people, but it still needs to be understood by most people.”
• “Programmatic has as many positive connotations as it does negative ones. It is clearly the future of strategic and media planning, but there's still a lot of uncertainty in what the present and future holds.”

For more information contact the ANA.

Read here about the guidance published by the WFA on best use of programmatic trading and download the full guide here.


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