Index Quarterly Report Shows a Significant Surge in CPG Investment

NEW YORK, NEW YORK--(Marketwired - Sept. 16, 2014) - Index Exchange, a division of ad technology leader Casale Media, today released the findings of its Quarterly Report covering Q2 2014 programmatic spending (Download the full report here).

The report reveals continued dominance of programmatic spending among the retail sector, which maintained its top position for the tenth consecutive quarter (19% growth), the largest quarter-over-quarter growth for all sectors. Overall, three sectors (retail, CPG and financial) accounted for more than half (52%) of all spending in Q2.

Spending among CPG brands surged in the second quarter, continuing on their historical high in Q1 and propelling the sector to the second largest market share overall. Key among the growth was spending from food and drink brands, which represented nearly half of CPG spending during the quarter. Primary drivers of the surge included Kellogg's and Mondelez, which were both in the top 10 overall spenders list for the first time.

"We're witnessing a renaissance among CPG brands in the programmatic space," said Andrew Casale, VP of strategy for Casale Media. "Just a year ago, CPG brands weren't even among the top 25 spenders. Today, two of the top 10 spenders are CPG brands. With big players like Mondelez planning to invest nearly half of its marketing budget in programmatic, it is really just a matter of time until we see more CPG brands rise on the list."

Just behind retail and CPG, travel recorded the third largest quarter-over-quarter growth during the Q2 lead up to the summer holiday season. Hilton, Starwood, Disney, Southwest and Carnival all ranked as top spenders within the category. Travel CPMs led the market for the third consecutive quarter, signaling strong seasonal demand for impressions associated with in-market consumers and a rise in programmatic spending by travel marketers.

The top 10 spending brands accounted for 16.5 percent of all market spending (down from 18.2% in Q1), with telecom, retail and CPG brands among the most heavily represented. Verizon posted the largest growth in share of spend over the period - jumping 49 points in Q2 to assume the number one spot and displacing incumbent, AT&T.

Echoing findings from last quarter's Index Report, programmatic spend originating from trading seats owned by brand marketers grew from 11 percent in Q4 2013 to 12 percent in Q2 2014.

Other key findings of the report include:

• Average CPM prices grew by 14 percent relative to Q1
• In Q2 private market impressions (defined as an impression tied to a Deal ID) cleared at an average CPM three times higher than those cleared in the open exchange
• Bid density was up significantly (27.6%) relative to Q1
• The top three demand side platforms (DSPs) held just over half (51%) of the market - up slightly from 47.5 percent in Q1
• 72 percent of all platform impressions were cookie accessible, up from 65 percent in Q1, but down slightly from Q2 the year before (83%).

The full Index Quarterly Report (which can be downloaded here) is generated through analysis of impressions traded each quarter across marketplaces powered by Index Exchange. Data is based on marketplace activity in the United States only, and can also be accessed in real-time at http://indexexchange.com/trends.

About Index Exchange

Index (www.indexexchange.com) is a transparent and fully customizable exchange technology that enables sell side media firms to monetize ad inventories programmatically and in real time. An evolution of online media technology veteran, Casale Media, Index equips enterprise sellers with custom architected solutions, fully transparent sell side management technology, and access to programmatic demand that is organized and certified by humans into a clear and robust taxonomy.