AD TECH AND MARTECH
Smartly.io | March 17, 2023
Smartly.io, one of the world’s largest SaaS digital advertising platforms, today announces significant company advancements, stemming from months of strategic moves—including two acquisitions, a new platform release and strategic hires to senior leadership—under the guidance and vision of industry veteran Laura Desmond. The company, which holds certified partnerships with media leaders Meta, TikTok and Google, among others, brings dynamic integrations to the digital and social space, successfully “redefining social and creativity,” according to Nikhil Lai, Senior Analyst at Forrester.
Desmond, the former Global CEO of Starcom Mediavest Group and senior executive of Publicis Groupe, has a seasoned track record for creating symbiotic relationships between advertising and technology—influencing opportunities that reshape entire industry categories. As was the case in 2021, where Desmond, a member of DoubleVerify’s Board of Directors and operating partner at Providence Equity, played an integral role in leading its IPO—one of the most successful in the media and technology sector that year.
“When Providence acquired Smartly in 2019 and I became Chair of The Board, the company’s potential was clear from the start. Smartly is uniquely solving real problems that brands and marketers need to have solved: agile creative and media management at the same time; rapid intelligence around performance—what's working and what's not; the ability to execute personalization at scale. The steady updates we’ve been making are unlocking a depth and breadth to the technology that’s affording brands the ability to move across channels as fluidly as the consumers they aim to engage do,” commented Desmond. “Coupled with the additions of Brett Wein as Chief Sales Officer, and Oli Marlow-Thomas as Chief Innovation Officer, I am confident that our vision for Smartly.io will effectively redefine the future of digital advertising for brands and marketers alike.”
Smartly.io’s continuous releases to Workspaces has created a unique full-funnel, multi-channel approach to social advertising, integrating creative, media buying and intelligence at scale, in one platform. Specifically, the company’s creative-focused adtech enables marketers to:
Reach Smartly: Automate campaign workflows across all major platforms, reaching audiences quickly, easily and cost effectively.
Engage Smartly: Create beautiful, cohesive, and effective creative across the funnel that drives action.
Learn Smartly: Extract consolidated actionable insights to respond to audience behaviors in real-time to maximize return on investment (ROI).
"The depth of knowledge [Smartly.io] brings across verticals is really impressive,” said Merry Morud, Lead, Global Creative Optimization for Consumer Products at Uber. “On top of that, they have a fantastic creative team, which is very mobile-first, which is what we, as digital marketers, in a mobile space and mobile-first world look for.” Uber, a longtime client of Smartly.io, has used the company’s platform to execute iterative creative approaches at scale as part of their global media buying practice.
Smartly.io, now managing upwards of $5B in media spend, is unlocking the ability for true multi-platform brand building that exceeds both customer expectations and drives engagement across platforms, at scale. As a result, platform partners like Meta have leveraged Smartly’s Advantage+ Shopping solution to deliver upwards of 150 creative variations across all creative placements, expanding consistent brand reach and personalization in a privacy-safe way.
“Reinvention tends not to come from large scale companies, so we are using our nimble size and strong influence to create real movement in the industry,” said Oli Marlow-Thomas, Chief Innovation Officer, Smartly.io.
ABOUT YOU, one of Europe’s fastest growing fashion platforms, leverages Smartly’s TikTok Shopping Ads across markets. Since implementation, it's seen a near 30% uplift in ROAS for catalog sales, compared to the business-as-usual catalog sales campaigns, and greater than 100% uplift for "add to cart” actions compared to TikTok’s data.
“The Smartly Digital Advertising Platform is the result of years of collaborations, acquisitions and continuous innovation that’s allowing us the ability to really push the limits of what’s been possible, up until now that is. We’re working on some exciting new builds with partners that will hit the market in the coming months, that will take dynamic creative and media optimization to new heights,” continued Marlow-Thomas.
To learn more about the Smartly Digital Advertising Platform and how it’s revolutionizing the industry, please go to https://www.smartly.io.
About Smartly.io
Smartly.io is one of the world’s largest SaaS digital advertising platforms, managing nearly $5B in ad spend with 700+ brands worldwide. Our leading end-to-end technology and outstanding customer service help brands such as Walmart, FanDuel, L’Oreal, Warner Bros. Discovery, Nestle, and Disney/ESPN to better reach audiences, engage creatives and learn what performs best—consistently driving scale for brand and performance across the largest media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Snap, Pinterest, TikTok, and Google. Visit Smartly.io to learn more.
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DISPLAY ADVERTISING
Sharethrough | March 15, 2023
On March 14, 2023, Sharethrough, a global independent ad exchange, is organizing the Green Media Summit 2023 in New York City on April 13. The event will highlight the impact of environmental awareness in media and the digital advertising industry's role in building a sustainable media ecosystem.
The conference will feature keynotes, panels, and fireside chats from ad tech leaders, industry decision-makers, and sustainability experts. The event will talk about the latest trends and solutions in sustainable media practices. These will include strategies for reducing carbon emissions in production and distribution, new technologies, and the role of the media in driving social and actionable environmental change.
Luc Marsolais, Chief Operations Officer at Sharethrough, said, "As businesses increasingly prioritize sustainability, it's become clear that industries across the board need to take steps to reduce its environmental impact." He also said, "The inaugural Green Media Summit is an essential opportunity to come together to address one of the most pressing issues of our time. At this conference and beyond, we can find ways to reduce our carbon footprint, minimize waste, and build a more sustainable future."
(Source - CISION PR Newswire)
The conference is completely carbon-neutral and features speakers from global brands, agencies, and publishers. Attendees can network with like-minded professionals and learn about best practices for creating environmentally conscious campaigns. The conference aims to inspire and empower the industry to take action towards a more sustainable future.
About Sharethrough
Sharethrough is an independent omnichannel ad exchange that believes in a human-centric approach to advertising and monetization. Advertisers and publishers use its technology to render higher-performing ads that fit any placement on any site. Sharethrough's publisher partners benefit from directly-sourced demand, scale, and quality, prioritizing their monetization efforts and elevating performance. It has headquarters in Montreal and offices across North America, including San Francisco and New York City.
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ADVERTISER CAMPAIGN MANAGEMENT
KERV Interactive | March 14, 2023
KERV Interactive (KERV), an AI-powered digital advertising platform, has recently released Dynamic Destination, an expansion to KERV TV. Audi of America (Audi) used its Dynamic Destination for OTT ad campaign in partnership with PHD Media and both attracted enormous viewers' attention.
KERV’s Dynamic Destination connects advertisers to direct users from different places based on the demographics like location or time of the day when the users scan the QR code of the CTV/OTT ads. Both the companies directed consumers to the relevant landing pages with KERV’s solution. It added value to each QR scan or snap to increase possibility of customer’s consideration and conversion. Leveraging KERV’s technology, they converted a single video into personalized user experiences based on their locations.
CRO of KERV Interactive, Jay Wolff said, “Brands like Audi understand the importance of removing friction for users, especially in video.” He added, “We are thrilled to partner with the teams at Audi and PHD Media to streamline, automate, and measure the way they connect with audiences through OTT to make an impact for both the brand and consumer.”
(Source – Business Wire)
Media Manager at Audi of America, Kayleen Oblack said, “We are always looking for innovative solutions that elevate the consumer experience.” She added, “Working with KERV and PHD Media allowed us to quickly and efficiently localize our interactive OTT experiences and guarantee consumers have a more personalized, relevant experience with the Audi brand.”
(Source – Business Wire)
About KERV Interactive
Headquartered in Austin, Texas, KERV Interactive, an advertising services provider, offers solutions for video advertising, interactive video, ad-tech, marketing, online media, video marketing, and interactive technology.
It has been utilizing artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques for its patented interactive video platform since 2017. These techniques convert any video content into interactive and trackable ad experience. It identifies individual objects in any video stream through their pixel edges. It recognizes the video's depth, dimension and things as natural eyes can perceive. As a result, it can convert every frame in the video scene to an immersive consumer experience.
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