McDonald’s, Nestlé, and Virgin Media are the first brands that have joined for the blockchain pilot, with the main purpose of increasing trust and transparency in digital marketing.
The Joint Industry Committee builds a blockchain for Web Standards (Juices), a British United digital and trading standards body. The main purpose here is to access the possibility of blockchain in the digital ad supply chain, as reported by news media outlet Campaign on July 16.
Initially introduced in May 2019, Jicwebs blockchain pilot project is now joined by leading industry firms’ respective media agencies, Zenith, OMD UK and Manning Gottlieb OMD, who will estimate the blockchain’s possibilities in the digital ad industry for the rest of 2019, the report says.
Moreover, the media agencies will not only verify blockchain’s potential in increasing trust and transparency in the ad supply chain but also verify if technology can enhance operational efficiency and optimize the supply chain.
Kat Howcroft, who is the senior media and budget manager at McDonald’s, stated:
“This technology offers us the opportunity to see a truly transparent picture of our investment across the digital supply chain. We are also eager to understand the potential impact that this may have on our ROI and efficiency.”
Nestlé, McDonald’s and Virgin Media will be united by their respective media agencies Zenith, OMD UK and Manning Gottlieb OMD in the experiment.
As the project moves ahead and supply chain mapping is finished, more and more participants will be introduced by the Jicwebs, along with publishers and technology vendors.
As per the report, London-based blockchain company Fiducia is supporting Jicwebs trial. Jicweb also stated that they would consult the industry on how to implement blockchain solutions for the digital ad industry if the test achieves successful results.
Apart from big retailers such as Walmart, Nestlé is currently looking forward to incorporating blockchain into the business, having built a consortium dedicated for using the tech to collect proper insights about the origin and condition of food in 2017.
Steven Pollack, head of the media communications at the Nestlé said,
“We’re really excited to be involved in this pilot. Blockchain is a new technology being tested in many diverse industries. It’s great to be one of the first brands to gain insight into its potential in programmatic.”
The blockchain marketing scenario is increasing day-by-day from the last two years, noting 16x growth since 2017. Even though popular brands such as Unilever are investing in the blockchain, reporters have alerted that it’s not a “silver bullet” solution for the problems advertisers face in digital marketing.