The ISA Media Charter summit held on 10 September saw a presentation on brand safety by Archana Agarwal, former media head, Airtel, and Santosh Mishra, general manager, West and North, Wavemaker. 

The session focused on the importance of brand safety and brand suitability in digital advertising, underscoring the need for brands to avoid unsafe environments and ensure that ad placements align with a brand’s values and target audience. The presentation emphasised the case for continuous monitoring and refinement of brand safety strategies.

Industry reports indicate that six to 12% of ads appear in unsafe contexts. The duo cautioned that while the figures may not seem very high, the impact from a financial and consumer trust standpoint is far greater, as it could lead to financial loss and consumer mistrust for the brand. They further noted that while tools like Google and Meta's on-platform filters are essential, third-party tools are necessary for comprehensive monitoring. 

Understanding brand safety

Brand safety refers to the measures and tools used by brands to ensure that their advertisements do not appear in contexts that could harm the brand's reputation or image, explained Agarwal. 

"This involves avoiding content that is inappropriate, controversial, or otherwise harmful, such as hate speech, violence, illegal activities, or explicit content,” she said. She further emphasised that the primary goal of brand safety is to prevent ads from being associated with content that could negatively impact how consumers perceive the brand.

To go about implementing brand safety in a brand’s digital journey and to select the right tools, each advertiser has to look at it from their brand standpoint, because it will change from brand to brand, stated Agarwal. “It is not a ‘one-size-fits-all’, it has to be adapted to each brand,” she added.

On the concept of 'brand suitability', the duo explained that it takes the concept of brand safety a step further by ensuring that advertisements not only avoid harmful content but also align with the brand's values, target audience, and messaging. While brand safety focuses on avoiding negative associations, brand suitability ensures that the content surrounding ads is a good fit for the brand's identity and objectives. 

"This involves placing ads in relevant, targeted environments that resonate with the brand's tone and audience preferences, Agarwal stated.
 
“Brand suitability not only safeguards the brand's reputation but also enhances consumer trust, improves brand perception, and maximizes advertising effectiveness,” she added.

To further drive the relevance of brand suitability, the duo cited the example of an FMCG company that produces malted food drinks (MFDs) targeted at children. 

"The brand would use brand safety to ensure their ads don't appear alongside content related to alcohol, violence, or explicit material. However, even placing the brand’s ad on an online gaming platform dominated by sugary snack ads and promoting sedentary behaviours could contradict the brand's health-focused message, noted Agarwal. This misalignment could dilute the brand's positioning as a provider of nutritious beverages for children, leading to consumer confusion and a reduced impact on brand perception," she added.

Importance of brand safety and suitability tools

The duo also reasoned on the criticality of using tools to monitor brand safety and suitability. This included the proliferation of user-generated content, increasing instances where major brands' ads were displayed alongside controversial or offensive content, growing consumer expectations, and the sheer complexity of the digital advertising ecosystem.

Throwing light on the proliferation of user-generated content today, Agarwal noted that the rise of social media and platforms like YouTube has led to a vast amount of user-generated content, much of which is unmoderated and unpredictable. 

“This environment increases the risk of ads appearing next to inappropriate or harmful content.” 

She cited increasing instances where established brands had to face negative publicity and even boycotts due to inappropriate ad placement, driving the demand for better ad placement control.

The complexity of the digital advertising landscape, especially with automated systems like programmatic advertising, has made it harder for brands to control where their ads appear, the duo emphasised. This has created a need for more sophisticated tools to ensure brand safety and suitability.

Growing consumer expectations as consumers become more socially conscious have also led to a point where they hold brands accountable for where and how they advertise, the duo observed. Brands have begun to recognise that appearing in the wrong context can lead to a loss of consumer trust, they added.

Understanding third-party brand safety partners

Mishra highlighted the importance of third-party brand safety partners and the setting up of brand suitability guidelines with the external partner in the ongoing journey towards brand safety. He further underlined the setting up of ‘inclusion/exclusion lists’ in the process, which refers to curated sets of criteria used in digital advertising to determine where ads should or should not be displayed. “These Iists are designed to control the placement of advertisements by specifying certain parameters that align with the brand's marketing objectives and values,” he said. 

"These lists are essential tools in advertising campaigns as they provide advertisers with control and flexibility over where their ads appear helping them maximise the effectiveness of their campaigns while ensuring brand safety and suitability," he further added.

Regional content safety

The duo also spoke about the challenges of brand safety in a country like India, which is amplified by the country's linguistic and cultural diversity, especially with the growing consumption of regional language content. 

“Over a billion hours of regional content are watched on YouTube each month, with 93% of Indian viewers preferring content in regional languages. As more channels produce regional content, the complexity of maintaining brand safety increases,” said Mishra.

He underscored that this shift necessitates a brand safety strategy that can operate effectively across multiple languages and cultural contexts, adding that traditional models that rely on English-language tags and classifications often fail to capture the nuances of regional content.

Monitoring versus blocking

The duo also touched upon the need to proactively monitor ad placements in real time, ensuring they align with the brand's values and standards. 

They further explained how brands should look to implement measures to block ads from appearing in environments that may compromise integrity, prioritising brand safety while maintaining campaign effectiveness.

For this, it is critical to review the brand’s creative to ensure it's appropriate and sensitive to the current global climate and make adjustments promptly, the duo stressed.

The session also focused on the importance of adopting a stringent approach to programmatic advertising, particularly for open web. The duo discussed the role of programmatic buying in digital advertising, including OTT and YouTube. The importance of using on-platform tools and third-party partners to manage brand safety and suitability in programmatic and OTT advertising was emphasised.

The presentation also highlighted the differences between ‘pre-bid’ and ‘post-bid’ processes, explaining that pre-bid involves evaluating inventory before bidding to avoid unwanted content, while post-bid occurs after bidding and involves blocking ads at the placement stage.

Providing real-world examples, the session showed how third-party tools can significantly improve brand safety and efficiency, reducing block rates from 90% to under 1% and increasing ROI value extraction.

Conclusion 

The key takeaways from the session included the need for continuous monitoring of brand safety metrics and adjustments to optimise third-party brand safety tools. It also emphasised the importance of brands defining their risk tolerance levels, particularly for different content categories. The role of third-party partners in providing additional control and verification was reiterated, with a focus on selecting partners based on their capabilities and certifications.