Why Does It Take So Many Companies to Produce One Digital Ad?

An article in the Wall Street Journal this week asks that very question and focuses on JetBlue, who has used 40 different advertising/technology firms to get its message out over the last year. 40! So who are all these firms and what do they do?

"On the list: firms that specialize in geo-targeting, or helping campaigns focus their ads on specific geographic regions; social-analytics and listening firms, which track and interpret what people are talking about on social-media sites; dynamic-ad-serving companies, which enable an advertiser to customize ad content based on consumers' Web-browsing behavior; demand-side platforms, or firms that allow advertisers to buy ads through multiple ad exchanges; and a mobile-analytics company, which can track user behavior on mobile apps."

This seemingly-chaotic approach is not unique to JetBlue however. As we've learned from the Lumascapes shown in class, it's incredibly hard to keep track of which firms do what, and new firms are popping up daily as others die off. The same can be said for the development of new technologies and platforms. Those factors, coupled with the automation of the ad-buying process, create such a rapid pace of change that it's difficult for any sort of consolidation to take place. This leaves companies like JetBlue struggling to manage all their digital agencies.

A recent JetBlue cross-platform campaign (involving TV ads, social media promotions, and mobile spots), required five-ad technology firms. While this is good for the firms for the time being, it's hard to see how this level of disaggregation can be feasible long-term. Begging the question, how can the process be streamlined, and how can someone capitalize on that need in the market?