Insights

Brand Safety’s Central Role at Finecast

  • 4 minutes read
  • Global
  • 28/04/2022

Brand safety headlines have filled the media landscape for as long as we can remember and rightfully so, because brand safety matters. Advertise in the wrong place – alongside unsafe or inappropriate content – and it can cost brands customers, money, and reputation. For example, over half of consumers are less likely to purchase from a brand that advertised alongside fake news.

Finecast UK and US recently received the TAG (Trustworthy Accountability Group) certification as recognition for meeting the highest industry brand safety standards. But what daily considerations, controls, and policies are built into the Finecast offering to uphold brand safety? And why is it important to clients?

A core belief

Brand safety is a core belief at Finecast. We echo the attitude of our parent agency, GroupM, where brand safety is one of the key pillars of our “Responsible Investment” buying framework aimed at making advertising work better for people.

Keeping advertising – and clients – away from harmful content is an important part of achieving that mission. When brands buy advertising inventory, they should be confident that their creative will be placed in the right environment. That means keeping it away from illegal, objectionable, or unsuitable content.

It’s why brand safety is part of every initial discussion Finecast has with a new client, and the regular conversations we have with clients of all sizes and scopes – from global brands to emerging brands taking their first steps in TV advertising through addressable.

No stone left unturned

The Finecast addressable TV offering runs across all devices and our process to ensure brand safety standards are met is identical across them all.

We implement standard GroupM exclusion lists that protect ads from appearing alongside things like adult content, misinformation (including climate), IP infringement and excessive violence and Finecast does not work with any supply partners that show or monetise illegal or dangerous content.

Agreements with clients and suppliers are built into the terms and conditions to give extra backing that ads are never run against unsuitable content and clients are always made aware of the publishers that they run across for Finecast buys.

Our team checks through absolutely every piece of content that we have agreed to be responsible for and everything is thoroughly vetted internally before it goes live. This includes inclusion lists prior to activation to ensure that, if a publisher sends us traffic from outside an agreed domain, we will not buy it.

Having worked with broadcasters since 2010, Finecast’s solutions are extremely robust and well-considered when it comes to brand safety. The exclusion and inclusion list protocol, coupled with the fact we buy from publishers directly, means we know exactly which apps and domains ads are running on at any given time and safeguards are in place to make sure we never stray from agreed domains.

Beyond our own control, Finecast has an open dialogue with the main brand safety partners in the UK and are constantly evaluating their technology with a view to using third-party verification.

Action when needed

As well as implementing appropriate risk mitigation measures and procedures, Finecast’s team is ready and able to step in to address specific instances where advertising content may be deemed inappropriate as circumstances change. We are constantly evaluating our brand safety parameters and adjusting based on current events.

Finecast has agreements in place with supply partners and clients themselves to take down creative on request as soon as possible, seven days of the week. For example, previously, we have responded to requests from a travel brand to pause an ad campaign in the aftermath of a plane crash due to sensitivity concerns.

Instilling confidence

An effective brand safety strategy requires consistent and comprehensive controls in place across every part of the addressable TV advertising process – from the buying stage through to the moment creative goes live, and beyond to cover the entire lifecycle of a campaign.

Adhering to up-to-date terms and conditions, maintaining a thorough vetting process, and remaining agile to adjust to the changing digital advertising landscape means we can provide clients with the confidence to invest in advertising, and benefit from being associated with the right content and domains.

To find out how Finecast can help you safely bring your message to audiences that matter most to you, get in touch.

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