Nordstrom’s in-house programmatic play displaces agency model

Nordstrom, the US department store chain, has reaped benefits by handling programmatic advertising through an in-house function.

Michelle Alfano is charged with managing the in-house programmatic strategy for US department store chain Nordstrom.

Her role entails steering the luxury retailer’s automated ads across digital display, video and social media. One benefit of her team’s work reflects a core assumption associated with programmatic solutions and dispensing with agencies: reducing costs.

“I feel like we've definitely pushed the bounds on efficiency,” Alfano, Nordstrom’s senior manager for programmatic display advertising, told delegates at MediaPost’s 2018 Brand Marketers Insider Summit.

Michelle Alfano, Nordstrom’s senior manager for programmatic display advertising

“There's definitely an efficiency of not paying somebody a 40% markup …...

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