BrightTag’s name reflects its origins as a provider of tag-management technology, a tool that allows businesses to collect information within a Web browser. The issue today, of course, is that the flow of data transcends browsers, flooding across mobile handsets, tablets and increasingly connected devices like gaming consoles and smart TVs. This puts standalone tag-management […]
Beginning about a decade ago, Seattle-based Marchex made a flurry of acquisitions in several digital marketing categories, and then floundered. The company was diversified but undifferentiated, as President Peter Christothoulou describes it. It ran side businesses selling domains, driving leads and publishing a tech vertical through the 2005 acquisition of Industry Brains (recently sold to […]
Although marketing industry deal activity was flat in 2013, the sector saw some eye-popping deal sizes, according to boutique investment bank Jordan, Edmiston Group Inc.’s (JEGI) annual review of mergers and acquisitions. In 2012, many of the biggest deals in 2012 tracked by JEGI involved consumer brands (Yahoo, Kayak), with only two marketing industry mergers coming in […]
“Marketer’s Note” is a weekly column informing marketers about the rapidly evolving, digital marketing technology ecosystem. It is written by Joanna O’Connell, Director of Research, AdExchanger Research. I read the recent news about Yahoo!’s opening up guaranteed inventory to Demand-Side Platforms (DSPs), including MediaMath, Doubleclick Bid Manager and The Trade Desk, with enormous interest, but […]
Ever more companies on the buy side want to partner directly with publishers. Sell-side platforms (SSPs), ad networks, agencies, demand-side platforms (DSPs), retargeting networks and others have over the last year increased their efforts to gain visibility and direct inventory access. In a recent telling example, WPP Group’s Xaxis programmatic platform absorbed 24/7 Media to […]
It’s that time of year. To get a sense of what’s coming in 2014, we reached out to some senior marketers with a single, open-ended question about the coming year. “What new consumer or technology trend do you expect to see in 2014 that will change your marketing strategy?” The below response is from Scott […]
It’s that time of year. To get a sense of what’s coming in 2014, we asked some senior marketers to answer a single, open-ended question about the coming year: “What new consumer or technology trend do you expect to see in 2014 that will change your marketing strategy?” The below response is from Tamara Gruzbarg, […]
A Wednesday hearing held by the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation about the operations of so-called “data brokers” highlighted the disconnect between data marketers and consumer advocates. The hearing followed the release of a report detailing the findings of a yearlong investigation into data marketers. The core disagreement revolves around the extent to which businesses […]
Beijing-based BlueFocus Communications has bought a majority stake in We Are Social, strengthening its Western presence and gaining a global social marketing capability. Under the deal terms, BlueFocus paid an initial $30 million for an 82.8 percent position in We Are Social, with additional incentive-based compensation doled out over the next three years. London-based We Are […]
‘Tis the season for predictions, so AdExchanger reached out to members of the venture capital community for their opinions on what’s in store for 2014. Click below to read “the bets” or scroll for more: Jeff Crowe, managing partner, Norwest Venture Partners Seth Levine, co-founder and managing director, Foundry Group Roger Ehrenberg, founder and managing […]
It took the better part of a year, but Facebook has overcome its internal angst about “motion” in the News Feed with the debut of cross-channel, auto-play video ads. The offering (officially in beta) instantly creates the largest digital video buy ever, with potential daily reach covering nearly half the U.S. population. Mindshare purchased the […]
“Marketer’s Note” is a weekly column informing marketers about the rapidly evolving, digital marketing technology ecosystem. It is written by Joanna O’Connell, Director of Research, AdExchanger Research. As I was interviewing a senior level marketer in the beverage industry the other day for my customer lifecycle management research (which I’ll be presenting at the Industry […]
WPP Group’s digital and direct marketing agency Wunderman and its media-buying agency MEC have launched a joint venture called CHOREOGRAPH to address converging client demands in paid, earned and owned media. The proliferation of cross-channel marketing campaigns and the subsequent need to marry transactional, customer and demographic data with audience-level information drove CHOREOGRAPH’s creation. “Over […]
Last January, T-Mobile declared itself the “Uncarrier.” It was part of a massive brand revamp, one that involved a new network, new devices (including iPhones) and new phone plans (and the carrier might be in line for yet another overhaul, if rumors about a possible acquisition by rival carrier Sprint bear fruit). T-Mobile’s “Uncarrier” messaging […]
Late last year, we asked a handful of senior execs at platform companies to answer the question, “What will happen next year in marketing and advertising that hasn’t happened before?” This year we invited some of those same contributors to evaluate their earlier forecasts and update them for 2014. The below is from Mark Grether, chief […]
As the programmatic and real-time bidding (RTB) market in the Asia-Pacific region heats up, local inventory is starting to prove its worth and attract interest from advertisers. Demand-side platform (DSP) Brandscreen released its second Real Time Media Insights Report Monday, highlighting the battle between global and local inventories. “The trends that continued from the previous […]
As enterprise technology companies race to make their respective suites the digital marketer’s platform of choice, building or acquiring to fill product portfolio holes becomes near protocol. Global German software giant SAP, which recorded $5.4 billion in revenue last quarter, is no different – the company’s been active on the commerce (Hybris) and advanced analytics […]
Last year we asked a handful of senior execs at platform companies to answer the question, “What will happen next year in marketing and advertising that hasn’t happened before?” This year we invited some of those contributors to evaluate their earlier forecasts and update them for 2014. The below is from Michael Lazerow, chief marketing […]
The belief that cookies don’t work on handhelds or tablets, requiring an alternative tracking mechanism, oversimplifies the complex problem of mobile tracking. While advertisers cannot use third-party cookies to track mobile users the same way they would a desktop user, cookies can indeed be applied to an extent in a mobile environment. And while many […]
The retail industry, unlike verticals where data compliance is a major issue, appear more in the thought-leadership phase of advanced data analysis than actual execution, despite isolated gains by some their progressive counterparts in building their own marketing-tech stacks. Eighty-three percent of retailers profiled in EKN Research’s “Big Data in Retail” study said they are […]
Both agencies and ad partners draw comparisons between Twitter’s launch on Thursday of retargeting product Tailored Audiences and Facebook Exchange (FBX). Just how technically similar they are remains to be seen, but the industry is buzzing about the ad product’s cross-channel targeting potential. We asked some Tailored Audience partners, media agencies and a beta tester to […]
Omnicom Media Group’s trading desk, Accuen, has expanded its reach in the BRIC countries over the past year, and Jun Yuan, head of Accuen China, is navigating the unique challenges of the market. “As an agency, we started our RTB business in China last year, in April,” Yuan told AdExchanger, noting that the team is […]
Although Amazon has kept fairly quiet about its ad-services pitch to media buyers, analysts believe that marketing services will be a driving force in what sustains and propels the ecommerce giant in the years to come. “Amazon has to push into new areas,” writes David Farnoush, a media analyst for Harmelin Media, in a blog […]
One must forgive Scott Howe, CEO of big data solutions provider Acxiom, for gushing a little. “I’m kinda preaching here but I feel passionate about this, because I’m an agency guy, but I think the days of the silver bullet are done,” he told AdExchanger. He’s referring to advertising and marketing messages that adhere to […]
Mobile advertising exchange Nexage has become one of the largest independent mobile ad exchanges following Twitter’s decision to snap up its competitor, MoPub. As competition in the mobile ad space continues to heat up, it remains to be seen what Nexage’s next steps will be. AdExchanger spoke with Nexage CEO Ernie Cormier about the company’s […]
Back in August, San Francisco-based LiveRamp released GetOnboard, a CRM “data onboarding” software system designed to bridge the gap between marketers’ customer data and their online marketing efforts. By prepping massive amounts of data for every possible marketing service and destination, and by doing it quickly, GetOnboard has been selected by more than 200 customers […]
In 2007, that WPP Group made big waves with its acquisition of display media technology firm 24/7 Media, worth $649 million. By bringing a publisher-facing ad server and network in-house, the holding company had staked out a tech ownership strategy that continues today. Today that premise lives on at WPP, but the 24/7 Media brand does […]
Consulting businesses are popping from the foliage like so many munchkins in Oz, eager to guide bewildered marketers – lost, perhaps dealing with head trauma – through a fragmented and hallucinatory media landscape to the yellow-brick…well, you get it. Last month, Starcom MediaVest Group took the wraps off a new advisory business called Zero Dot. The […]
While most marketers today understand why they need to establish data-driven marketing strategies, the big question for most is how exactly to do it. Not only must they worry over technical implementation details, but data-driven marketing practices also depend on the effective leadership of people and processes to deliver value. As a career marketing leader […]
With mobile accounting for more than 39.7% of all online traffic this Thanksgiving weekend – a 34% increase from Black Friday 2012, according to IBM’s Digital Analytics Benchmark – marketer investment naturally followed that growth curve. The mobile momentum continued Cyber Monday with IBM reporting that smartphones and tablets drove 30% of all online traffic […]
