As a staff reporter at AdExchanger, Alison covers advertising agencies and the digital audio landscape. Previously a copywriter at MarketSmiths, she has written digital marketing copy and produced campaigns across multiple verticals. Prior to that Alison worked in editorial at award-winning travel journalism site Fathom. She has a B.A. in International Studies and Spanish from the University of Michigan.
This is the latest installment in “PII,” a series featuring the talent that makes the wheels turn in our data-driven advertising world. Read previous interviews with talent from Mindshare, Mediavest | Spark, Razorfish, Essence, INNOCEAN, Clear Channel Outdoor and Placed. Patricio Jaramillo is in a serious relationship with data. “My relationship with my wife is first, and then with data,” the […]
AdsWizz has a hand in all things programmatic audio. The company started out in 2010 as an ad server for the digital streams from Cox, iHeartMedia, Spotify and TuneIn Radio. As programmatic audio inventory grew, AdsWizz launched AdWave, a marketplace with more than 2 billion monthly impressions from 39 markets. AdWave hooks into major demand-side […]
Despite predictions that winter is coming to ad tech, deal activity for the ad tech, mar tech and digital media sectors was tentatively healthy in 2016, according to reports released this week by investment banks LUMA Partners, JEGI and Petsky Prunier. Deal activity rose to the $100-to-$200 billion range. JEGI reported deal activity at roughly […]
Print is dying. TV is changing. But in the face of digital competition, advertising spend on good old AM/FM radio remains strong. As the no. 1 reach medium in the US, radio reaches 93% of the population, according to Nielsen. When looking at the division of daily time spent with audio for the composite listener, […]
Quick-serve restaurants don’t involve much purchase consideration. You’re either hungry for a burger, or you’re not. “For us, it’s about reaching the right person at the time they’re thinking about making a decision,” said Brandon Rhoten, VP, head of advertising, media and digital marketing at Wendy’s. That’s why, to draw attention to its Double Stack […]
For the big six holding companies, 2016 was a year of acquisitions, restructures, reviews and leadership shakeups, centering expertise around data and digital. But they also engaged in strategies at odds with best practices and client interests. Faced with shrinking margins and rising technology costs, holding companies found new ways to eke revenue – methods […]
This is the latest installment in “PII,” a series featuring the talent that makes the wheels turn in our data-driven advertising world. Read previous interviews with talent from Mindshare, Mediavest | Spark, Razorfish, Essence, INNOCEAN and Clear Channel Outdoor. Former Brightroll and Amazon exec Craig Whitmer recently joined location data company Placed as VP of programmatic. Placed “measures what people do […]
After being acquired by Epsilon, Conversant had two big challenges. First, continue combining its own disparate technologies into a single stack. Second, get the whole caboodle working smoothly with Epsilon. Conversant claims it has accomplished the former, as it’s rolled its CRM assets into CORE (Conversant One-to-One Relationship Engine). “CORE takes advantage of our match, […]
Pandora is increasing its bet on ad tech. The streaming music platform will bring on Eric Picard as VP of ad product management to continue building out display and video products and lead its dive into programmatic audio. Picard is a longtime ad tech executive. In 1997, he launched Bluestreak, one of the first companies […]
Agencies live in a dog-eat-dog world, fighting for diminishing brand budgets. How can a new agency compete against giants with huge war chests and tons of employees? For Gale Partners, a two-and-a-half-year-old digital agency that began as a systems integrator, the trick is to frame its data and strategy capabilities in a way that solves a specific […]
Agencies are developing skills and business models around advanced TV buying, just as they once did for programmatic buying. GroupM has a dedicated department in Modi Media. IPG Mediabrands’ Cadreon, Dentsu Aegis’ Amplifi, Omnicom and Publicis Groupe also have added expertise. Even independent agencies like Horizon Media are building out advanced TV centers. “Advanced TV” […]
Not all network agencies are beholden to their holding company trading desks. Dentsu-owned 360i, for one, “has never spent a dime with Amnet,” said Chairman Bryan Wiener. Rather, it buys all media – roughly $1.5 billion worth – in-house. And programmatic, he said, should be integrated into 360i’s “overall offering.” 360i originally focused on search […]
Pandora will launch in-stream programmatic audio ads later next year, although no timeline has been specified. “We’re really excited about where programmatic goes in 2017,” Pandora Chief Revenue Officer John Trimble told AdExchanger on Tuesday at a company-hosted event in New York City. “We’ve built a really strong business on the mobile side. We’re looking […]
Both WPP’s GroupM and IPG’s Magna pinpoint 2017 as the year digital ad spend finally surpasses linear TV, according to forecasts each media-buying unit released Monday. Magna noted that digital grew 17% globally this year to $178 billion, contributing $23 billion to the total $26 billion growth in ad spend this year. GroupM predicts that digital will […]
This is the latest installment in “PII,” a series featuring the talent that makes the wheels turn in our data-driven advertising world. Read previous interviews with talent from Mindshare, Mediavest | Spark, Razorfish, Essence and INNOCEAN. Digital native Andy Stevens is SVP of research and insights at Clear Channel Outdoor. He works on the Radar initiative, which uses mobile location […]
Programmatic ad spend will grow faster globally than all other buying methods in 2017, according to Zenith’s Programmatic Marketing Forecast, released Monday. Zenith also reported that premium buying models like private marketplaces (PMPs) are taking off as RTB tapers off. Globally, programmatic will account for 64% of digital display spend by 2018, or $64.1 billion. “We […]
As the CMO role has evolved, so too has Epsilon’s selling strategy. “We were trying to sell everything to every customer,” said Stacey Hawes, president of Epsilon’s data practice. “We want to step back and ask, ‘Where does methodical selling make sense, rather than being everything to everyone?’” In September, Epsilon reorganized into six practices […]
Agencies often select a few “preferred partners” instead of dealing with numerous demand-side platforms (DSPs). While agencies, barring a client preference, should choose a DSP that can access the best inventory at the best rates for a given campaign, many buying platforms offer volume-based discounts. And because agencies feel the squeeze on margins, they might […]
Has performance-based pay finally arrived for agencies? Traditionally, marketing services firms were paid on a set scope of billable hours worked by each employee on an account. But a growing number of advertisers are pushing for more tangible, ROI-based remuneration. The biggest recent example is McDonald’s. The quick-serve advertiser’s RFP process specified that agency compensation […]
This is the fifth installment in “PII,” a series featuring the talent that makes the wheels turn in our data-driven advertising world. Read previous interviews with Nazanin Jazayeri, Andrew Klein, Ella Chinitz and Freddie Liversidge. Before Shamsa Jafri joined Los Angeles-based agency Innocean in February, its data and analytics practice was lacking, restricted to activities like report polling and data […]
Publicis Groupe has merged digital agencies SapientNitro and Razorfish, it announced Thursday. The combined agency, SapientRazorfish, will sit under the Publicis.Sapient umbrella, which houses the holding company’s digital and technology assets. SapientNitro CEO Alan Wexler will become CEO of SapientRazorfish and co-CEO of Publicis.Sapient as current CEO Alan Herrick moves to a chairman role. Chip […]
Agencies across WPP’s network will gain access Spotify’s audience insights for better targeting across creative and media. The multiyear partnership between Spotify and WPP’s Data Alliance, announced Tuesday, will grant WPP access to anonymized and aggregated data from Spotify’s 100 million listeners across 60 countries. “The data we have from Spotify will resonate across WPP,” […]
GroupM is refocusing investments around addressable and data-driven media. WPP’s media investment management arm will be split into two pillars, Media Investment and Platform Solutions, the company said Monday. The Media Investment arm will refocus GroupM’s investment strategies around data and platforms, while the new Platform Solutions division will centralize and scale GroupM technology used […]
Facebook will disable targeting based on ethnicity for credit, housing and employment advertisers. ProPublica first reported the development. The move, announced Friday in a blog post by Erin Egan, Facebook’s VP of US public policy and chief privacy officer, follows criticism from policymakers about the legality of “ethnic affinity marketing,” which Facebook introduced two years […]
Pandora launched the Harmonic Audio Network on Thursday, in partnership with streaming platforms TuneIn and AccuRadio, to offer advertisers mass reach on premium inventory across digital audio platforms. The network will sell exclusive in-stream audio inventory from its own as well as partner platforms. Both TuneIn and AccuRadio will commit roughly 95% to 98% of […]
360i – the digital agency recently recognized by the Forrester Wave – prides itself on its ability to adapt to rapid changes in technology. “Marketers need agencies that are adaptable, but still retain the fundamentals,” CEO Sarah Hofstetter said. Forrester singled out 360i’s strong data chops, its ability to facilitate collaboration rather than competition between […]
Despite being one of the world’s largest commercial real estate firms, CBRE has a low profile in digital media. Until 2014, all of the 110-year-old company’s marketing was executed through traditional media. Then it hired Paul Suchman as chief marketing officer. An agency vet with a history at Young & Rubicam, OgilvyOne and BBDO, Suchman […]
For ad tech vendors, chances for exit are still slim and getting slimmer, according to a panel of investors at ad:tech New York at the Javits Center on Thursday. Warren Lee, a partner at venture capital firm Canaan Investors, an early investor in DoubleClick and Tremor Video, put it bluntly: Those who want to succeed […]
This is the fourth installment in “PII,” a series featuring the talent that makes the wheels turn in our data-driven advertising world. Read previous interviews with Nazanin Jazayeri, Andrew Klein and Ella Chinitz. When Freddie Liversidge joined Essence in 2013, the agency’s programmatic practice he was tasked with building out had just three people. Now it has […]
When Publicis Groupe shed its trading desk model, the holding company had to train employees across its media and digital agencies to execute programmatic campaigns. The transition was led by Carol Sinko, VP of global learning strategy at Publicis Media, and Rick Ransome, associate director of global learning strategy. On Wednesday, they told attendees at […]
