Hyper-local performance at enterprise scale is easy to promise and hard to execute.

For Butler/Till, that meant delivering local precision for a national health and wellness brand across 18 markets, with CPA as the primary KPI, without adding operational burdens or disrupting existing workflows. Traditional programmatic approaches often force tradeoffs: scale versus control, efficiency versus nuance.

Following the AI-driven approach outlined in Part I, Nick Morticelli, Strategic Partnership Manager at Butler/Till, shares what changed once curated supply became part of day-to-day execution — and how the experience reshaped expectations for SSP partnerships in performance-driven, local-first media strategies.

What was the most valuable advantage of using OpenXSelect in terms of workflow and control?

For us, it was the ability to integrate curated supply directly into a buy-side workflow. OpenXSelect provided transparency and premium inventory access, which gave us greater control over campaign quality and outcomes. This eliminated the need to sift through noisy bid streams and allowed our programmatic leaders to focus on strategic decision-making rather than manual supply vetting.

How did curated deals through OpenXSelect streamline campaign execution compared to traditional methods?

Curated deals simplified execution by pre-selecting high-quality inventory before it reached the DSP. Instead of relying on post-bid optimizations, our teams could activate campaigns with confidence that only vetted, brand-safe supply was included. This reduced the complexity of managing multiple SSPs and domains, shortened setup times, and ensured campaigns launched with cleaner, more efficient bidstreams.

From an agency standpoint, what efficiencies or time savings did you see in campaign setup and optimization?

From our perspective, the shift toward a more curated, streamlined supply path delivered clear operational benefits. In particular, our teams experienced meaningful gains in both speed and efficiency throughout the campaign workflow, from initial setup to ongoing optimization and reporting. Specifically, these efficiencies:

• Less manual optimization: Upstream curation meant fewer wasted impressions and less need for reactive adjustments.
  
• Streamlined reporting: Cleaner supply paths made performance tracking more straightforward, saving time in analysis and optimization cycles.

Overall, this translated into faster campaign launches and more predictable performance outcomes.

Do you see this approach — combining Butler/Till’s expertise, SWYM’s AI, and OpenXSelect’s quality supply — as a repeatable model for other clients?

Yes. The model is highly repeatable because it balances local precision (Butler/Till’s market expertise), AI-driven efficiency (SWYM’s upstream decisioning), and premium supply access (OpenXSelect). Together, these elements create a scalable framework that can be applied across diverse verticals and geographies, ensuring both performance gains and brand safety.

How does this success redefine your expectations of SSPs in programmatic strategy?

This case study proves SSPs are enablers of efficiency and performance, not just intermediaries. Instead of prioritizing scale alone, success in this model underscored the value of working with the supply side to achieve quality-first inventory access, transparency in supply paths, and integration capabilities that support upstream decisioning. 

These outcomes significantly raise the bar for what agencies should expect from their SSP partners. Rather than focusing on volume, the expectation for us going forward is that SSPs deliver curated, brand-safe opportunities that align with our goals.