A strong brand can give marketers a competitive advantage, and improve their marketing effectiveness throughout the customer life cycle. But winning customer attention is a challenge, and consumers will ignore marketers that can't create powerful and connected advertising. Marketing leaders are embracing omnichannel advertising to create connected experiences that drive better results. How? By using programmatic technology and approaches to make data-driven media buying decisions. Programmatic is a foundational layer for making omnichannel advertising easier. Forrester defines omnichannel digital media buying as:
 
The practice of sequencing digital advertising across channels so that it is connected, relevant, and consistent with the customer's stage in his or her life cycle.
 
Managing this omnichannel evolution is a growing challenge for marketers, and it probably won't get any easier in the near future. Marketers that we talk to believe that programmatic ad technology is the means for addressing some of this complexity.
 
While differentiation continues to be difficult to evaluate in this constantly evolving ecosystem, Forrester sees authenticated customer data, access to various types of biddable inventory, transparency in machine learning and automation, and new and improved predictive tools, as key areas that vendors still differentiate themselves on.
 
So after 800+ pages of content, 4 months, 18 days, 12 hours, and 10 vendors later, I am happy to announce that the Forrester Wave of Omnichannel Demand Side Platforms, Q2 2017, is published. This was the most technical and thorough evaluation I have ever done of this always evolving space, both as a practitioner and an analyst. I want to thank all the vendor teams for their professionalism, passion, and patience through the process. We recognize how grueling the process can be, and sincerely appreciate the time and effort that you put in. I would also like to extend my gratitude to the Forrester team that made this possible: Melissa Parrish, Samantha Merlivat, Wei-ming Egelman, and Arleen Chien.
 
Forrester clients can read the full report here, but keep in mind that the written report just scratches the surface of the full evaluation. Download the interactive scorecard tool and use it to customize the Forrester Wave model for your organization’s needs. 
 
Also, feel free to set up an inquiry or even advisory, to dive deeper into online customer survey results and custom content that can be pulled from the 800+ pages of insight provided by vendor participants!