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8.18 Automate Campaign Bookings with a centralized server (OBS integration)

8.18 Automate Campaign Bookings with a centralized server (OBS integration)

1. Purpose & Background

This page provides a general overview of the Online Booking System (OBS) and the purpose of our integration with it.

OBS is a German third-party system that provides a standardized communication channel for booking advertising campaigns between agencies and publishers. It is primarily used in the print media sector (e.g., magazines).

2. The Core Concept: How OBS Works

The OBS system standardizes the booking process through a defined sequence of messages. The workflow is always initiated by the agency and the publisher responds. This exchange consists of three main transaction types:

  1. New Booking:

    • Agency sends an Order.

    • Publisher responds with an Order Confirmation.

  2. Modification:

    • Agency sends a Change Request to an existing booking (e.g., to change a publication date).

    • Publisher responds with a Change Confirmation.

  3. Cancellation:

    • Agency sends a Cancellation.

    • Publisher responds with a Cancellation Confirmation.

3. Overview: The ADvendio Integration Workflow

Our integration connects ADvendio to the publisher's OBS client, integrating the exchange of these messages into ADvendio.

Step 1: Receiving a Request from an Agency

  1. Our Gateway periodically checks the publisher's OBS client for new incoming messages (e.g., an Order).

  2. When a new message is detected together with the PDF related, the Gateway retrieves it and creates a new message record in ADvendio.

  3. The system creates a Media Campaign Draft in ADvendio.

    • Note: Instead of automatically creating a full campaign, which proved too complex due to mapping challenges, the system creates a minimal draft with only essential information.

  4. A human-readable PDF version of the request is automatically attached to this draft.

Step 2: Processing the Request in ADvendio

  1. A sales representative (the ADvendio user) opens the Media Campaign Draft.

  2. Using the attached PDF as a reference, the sales rep manually configures the full campaign details, adds the campaign items, and verifies availability. This includes details like pricing with discounts and commitments, publication dates, ad formats, and "copy shipping" addresses (contacts who receive a physical copy of the magazine as proof of publication).

Step 3: Sending a Confirmation Back to the Agency

  1. Once the sales rep confirms the campaign in ADvendio, the system triggers the message to be sent back.

  2. This message is sent to the publisher's OBS client, which then forwards it to the agency, completing the transaction.

This same fundamental process applies to Change and Cancellation requests, with the key difference being that those requests will be linked to existing Media Campaigns in ADvendio.

4. Additional Notes

Extension Package

Default and Customizable mapping

Automation

  • It might be that many values needed for OBS are values that should be set in the background or based on other information filled in. For this you can leverage the great automation possibilities you gain by working on the Salesforce platform: specifically Flows to update values based on changes.

  • We are also working on standard flows to predefine certain automation rules already.