Publicis is joining the ranks of media agencies targeting under-represented media and their communities with DIME, standing for Diverse & Inclusive Media Exchange.
The marketplace, created at Publicis Media agency Spark Foundry, offers two main routes to entry: one is a pathway to access inventory curated for underrepresented communities via partnerships with diverse publishers; the other leverages existing publisher partner relationships to ensure access is only provided to media that adheres to a new set of inclusive values developed by Publicis Media (which sounds slightly worrying.)
Many such media don’t figure on the algorithms ruling programmatic or automated media.
Publicis Media UK CEO Sue Frogley says: “We aim to be constantly evolving our tools and solutions to make sure that we are reaching the right people at the right time and not excluding those who may be valuable audiences. With this new marketplace, we are moving away from blocking audiences to delivering more inclusive content for our clients than ever before.”
Which is all fine and good, of course, but there are so many doubts about the impact (or lack of it) of programmatic that DIME will need to be particularly clever to bring more diverse media into the fold.
Imposing Publicis’ “own values” on such media could also be a minefield despite the undoubted PR benefits of DIME.
