What you need to know about brand safety
Five key components of a strong brand safety strategy
Learn More About Brand Safety Auditing
What is brand safety?
If an ad is seen next to content that’s damaging for the advertisers’ brand, it can ruin their reputation. Damaging content can include topics like hate speech, terrorism, or anything rated 18+ for example.
‘Brand safety’ therefore refers to the processes and technology that can be applied to minimise the risk of ad misplacement and protect the advertisers’ brand. It’s a must when advertising online and, when done well, it strengthens brand reputation, drives revenue and builds trust.
What’s the difference between brand safety and brand suitability
Brand safety is focussed on preventing ads from appearing next to content that will always be unacceptable to advertisers. It’s a bare minimum level of protection.
Brand suitability goes one step further, by adding more topics and content types which – while not necessarily harmful - aren’t a good fit for the advertisers’ target audience. Brand suitability will be personal to the advertiser, so will differ from brand to brand; a luxury watch brand would look to target content aimed at higher income individuals, avoiding children's content, for example.
5 steps to maximise brand safety
Use industry recognised brand safety/suitability classifications
Using consistent definitions for types of content is key. Businesses can refer to industry agreed frameworks when classifying content as part of their brand safety processes for example the IAB US has a ‘content taxonomy’.
Talk to your clients
Clearly defining what’s appropriate for your advertiser/client from initial conversations will reduce the risk of any nasty surprises once the campaign is live.
Follow industry standards & certifications
Industry standards provide a common language and a set of best practice principles identified by experts in the field. Not only do they provide a roadmap for businesses wishing to optimise their processes, standards also operate as a yardstick for quality.
One of the most trusted ways of proving your adherence to standards is via an independent audit. The Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG) sets standards in areas such as ad fraud and brand safety and, by completing our audit to their standards, you can prove to clients that you’re committed to protecting their budget and their brand.
Find trustworthy partners
Businesses holding industry agreed certifications, especially where they’ve also been independently audited, is a good place to start. You can look up businesses on TAG’s client registry, and see who we’ve independently audited.
Keep brand safety a running conversation
It’s not a one-off, or one-size-fits-all approach. Revisit your brand safety processes regularly to ensure you’re following the most up to date industry guidelines and are meeting your clients’ latest requirements.
By following these 5 steps, you can build trust while protecting your revenue and reputation.
