MediaLink's Programmatic Consulting; Tim Cook On Data, Again

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Advising On Programmatic

MediaLink has roped in Matt Spiegel to lead its push into programmatic consulting. Spiegel, a former Omnicom and Mediamath exec, struck out on his own back in March with an advisory practice he called Concept Corridor. AdExchanger story. He tells AdAge, “We started using the term programmatic in 2009. Eyes glazed over. Many still don’t know what it means. It has a definition that’s unclear. But say the word and everyone wants to listen and talk about it.” Already, MediaLink is advising 10 clients on automation. The industry hungers for programmatic guidance. More.

Tim Cook Vs. Data

Data seems like a dirty word to Tim Cook. In a lengthy interview with Bloomberg, the Apple CEO declares that Apple Pay will succeed where other mobile payment solutions have failed – or at least failed to gain traction – because others didn’t focus enough on the user experience. “I think most of the other people that ventured into this spent all of their time on the front end thinking about how to create a business model, how to collect data, own the data, sell the data, monetize the data.” Perhaps true. Also true: Apple Watches come complete with NFC. In other words, as Business Insider reports, there will be tracking.

Serving The Publisher

Pinterest has tapped former Google media relations manager Robert Macdonald to deepen the company’s ties to digital and print publications. “We don’t think we’ve invested enough yet to totally capture the opportunity and to help these publishers,” Pinterest’s Joanne Bradford told The New York Times. “They make a lot of quality content that pinners are very passionate about.” Pinterest’s future network? Read on.

Social Migration?

Though Facebook’s ever-changing algorithm tends to irk brands, it’s still king of social media platforms. But according to an unnamed agency that spoke to Adweek, brand clients are migrating away from Facebook in “dramatic numbers,” and are heading to other social channels and micro sites for their marketing needs. “Brands don’t own what happens on Facebook,” commented Forrester analyst Nate Elliott, “and as organic reach has been absolutely eviscerated, they remain aware of that.” Organic or get out? Read it.

Data For All

UK-based ecommerce platform Ometria is on a mission to help online retailers compete with the big dogs… using data. “Better data makes for better decisions and it’s here that tech giants such as Amazon have traditionally had a data-driven advantage over smaller e-commerce businesses,” writes TechCrunch reporter Steve O’Hear, “which is precisely what Ometria is trying to change.” Ometria will use a $500,000 injection to build out predictive modeling and automated consumer communication. More.