Programmatic ad-buying technologies, which are all the rage, can be a revelation for advertisers – but their use must go hand-in-hand with conventional advertising practices, according to one marketing advisor.

“You may have the best targeting or programmatic technology, but if you’re not very good at engaging with your clients from a planning point of view, if your people skills are weak, then you’re not going to understand what they’re trying to do with their campaign,” said Digital Labs founder Eamon Tuhami at Beet.TV’s recent London Video Ad Strategy Summit.

“Programmatic is extremely strong once a campaign has momentum behind it, but when you start a campaign, how do you know what the right data sets are to use? That is where humans come in to play. Until robots design creative, it’s important to liaise w the creative side of advertising.”