Q&A with Brendan Gahan, Partner & Chief Social Officer at Mekanism

Brendan Gahan, Partner & Chief Social Officer at Mekanism, has been at the forefront of social & influencer marketing since 2006, developing social campaigns for brands such as Mountain Dew, Unilever, Amazon, 20th Century Fox, and The Olympics. Brendan was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2012 and his agency was recognized as Digiday’s Digital Video Agency of the year in 2017.

Gahan is a regular contributor to Entrepreneur and has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, The Guardian, Ad Age, and CNBC for his expertise in social media and influencer marketing expertise.

Have a sense of humor. Recognize that advertising is not life or death. We’re selling products and not working on an operating table.



MEDIA 7: What inspired you to get into advertising? Please take us through your journey.
BRENDAN GRAHAN:
As an 80’s kid, I grew up in the era of Air Jordan. To me, those commercials were as cool as the movies or TV shows I was watching at that time (oftentimes even more so). From the outside, it looked exciting and glamorous. Lucky for me, after graduating from college, I got the opportunity to intern at a boutique agency in San Francisco. I remember the first time I walked into that office. It reaffirmed all those ideas I’d had about advertising being a ‘cool’, creative career.

I got started in 2005. Social media was just taking off. Facebook, YouTube, and Myspace started getting real traction. I was really fortunate in that I was tapped to provide insight into this newly emerging landscape. I loved it and I latched onto it. Eventually, I did my first influencer marketing deal in 2006. From there I never looked back.

After my first job, I joined Mekanism. They were at the forefront of digital and social. We were among the first to use influencers. We did a ton of "viral" content and being innovative, continuously breaking new ground.  We were building up an influencer marketing and social media team years before anyone else.

From there I joined the startup in LA before striking it out on my own and starting an influencer marketing agency. I ended up selling that to Mekanism (that’s a whole other story), and have been overseeing the social media team within Mekanism for the last 6 years.

M7: Congratulations on becoming a part of history! Since 2015, Joe Biden has been associated with Mekanism and the logos for his presidential campaigns have been designed by your team. How was the experience like and what were your takeaways from it?
BG:
The Mekanism team did an incredible job on the Biden for President brand identity and logo. I can't take any credit for working on that campaign (unfortunately). But, I’m super proud of the work that the team did.

Mekanism’s relationship with the president dates back to 2015 when we began work on It’s On Us, a campaign to stop sexual assault on college campuses. A project I was fortunate enough to have worked on with then-Vice President Biden and team. Our efforts helped drive over half a million pledges on the site. It was rewarding to work on a project for such a great cause.


YouTube is really the gold standard. There’s a real relationship between viewer and creator that is tough to beat.



M7: You have been at the forefront of social & influencer marketing since 2006, developing social campaigns for brands like Mountain Dew, Unilever, Amazon, 20th Century Fox, and The Olympics. What is your approach to research and ideating these campaigns?
BG:
The future of influencer marketing is going to look more like athlete endorsements. The Nike + Jordan model applied to influencers is the way to go. It helps build credibility (for both the brand and creator). The era of paying for shoutouts and leveraging influencers purely as media outlets are dying.

As a result, our approach is to work with brands that buy into this philosophy. We like to get hands-on immerse creators in the brand. We love it when we can have the influencers go to a brand’s headquarters, meet the team, etc. Where possible we integrate influencers across campaign touchpoints and integrate them into the advertising. Anything to make it more meaningful.

Too often brands give influencers a brief and leave it at that. We do not buy into that approach.

M7: What social channels do you use for effective brand promotion and which ones do you see as the most promising, given your target audience?
BG:
Every campaign is unique. Ultimately, you need to customize your approach based on the audience and objective. However, I personally feel that YouTube is really the gold standard. Audiences tend to be far more rabid there than on other platforms. There’s a real relationship between viewer and creator that is tough to beat. If done well, YouTube is generally the most effective channel.

I think there’s a huge opportunity with any emerging platform. You have the opportunity to be a big fish in a small pond. If you’re early and you build a following, you generally grow at a disproportionate rate of later adopters who are facing more content as competition. At this moment, I’d point to TikTok, Clubhouse, and Dispo as being great places to build audiences. Generally, if you’re early to a platform you can garner a disproportionate amount of value.

For example, on YouTube median views per video in 2006 was 10,262. By 2016 it had declined to 89! That’s a multiple of 115! You look and see the same thing happening on Facebook, Instagram, etc. On Facebook, organic reach has plummeted from 16% in 2012 to low single digits today. Right now is always the time to strike with emerging platforms. There’s a lot of change happening right now and with change comes opportunity.


Right now is always the time to strike with emerging platforms. There’s a lot of change happening right now and with change comes opportunity.



M7: What do you believe are the top three advertising challenges in the post COVID-19 era?
BG:
Covid just accelerated most of what was already happening in the industry. Last year, e-commerce advertising grew 30X faster than the wider online ad market. There was an 11% increase in e-commerce (as a share of total U.S retail sales). Brands spent $58.5bn advertising across e-commerce platforms, omnichannel retailers, and social commerce.

It’s clear the future is social + commerce. The industry has had to adapt to that from a content development/creative perspective, media buying, as well as measurement. All these challenges really intersect. 
At this stage, there’s no going back. A new way of shopping and a foundational shift in content consumption has occurred.

M7: How do you target content to your audience, and what are your best practices to produce effective content?    
BG:
There is no one size fits all answer. Ultimately, the best way to come up with the answer is to start with the solution you want and work backward. Our creative approach at Mekanism is best described as "The Soul and Science of Storytelling": Communicating a brand's purpose with ideas informed by data and rooted in human truths. You leverage the data and insights you have to inform amazing creativity. 

M7: Words of wisdom for advertising professionals?
BG:
I’ve found that those who look for inspiration beyond advertising tend to have more inspiring careers. So, for anyone just starting out, it would really work to develop a perspective and skillset beyond just advertising. Zero in on something in culture or technology that is growing and invest in that (in addition to advertising) this helps differentiate yourself.

Also, have a sense of humor. Recognize that advertising is not life or death. We’re selling products and not working on an operating table.

ABOUT MEKANISM

Mekanism is an award-winning, independent, full-service advertising agency made up of creative entrepreneurs. With offices in San Francisco, New York, Chicago and Seattle, we serve as collaborative business partners to some of the world’s greatest brands, including Ben & Jerry’s, Peloton, Jose Cuervo, OkCupid, Charles Schwab and Alaska Airlines.

In 2020, The Effie Index named Mekanism as the #6 Most Effective Independent Agency in the United States. Mekanism has also been named to Ad Age’s Agency A List and twice to their Best Places to Work. Our work hasalso  been profiled by The New York Times, Fast Company and ABC’s Nightline and studied by Harvard Business School.

More C-Suite on deck

Q&A with Jessica Hawthorne-Castro, CEO of Hawthorne Advertising

Media 7 | September 9, 2021

Jessica Hawthorne-Castro, CEO of Hawthorne Advertising, fosters long-standing client relationships with the company's expansive base of Fortune 500 brands to develop highly strategic and measurable advertising campaigns, designed to ignite immediate consumer response. From strategy, creative and production to media and analytics, Jessica is committed to premium quality and innovation throughout all agency disciplines. Jessica is a contributor for various industry publications and speaks on panels offering insights on key industry trends. She has published hundreds of articles with Forbes, AdAge, AdWeek, The Wall Street Journal, The Huffington Post, and many more. She has received many awards for her career accomplishments including the Ernst & Young “Entrepreneur Of The Year” in the Transformational Leader category, and Los Angeles Times B2B Publishing “CEO Leadership Award” Winner. Prior to joining Hawthorne Advertising, Hawthorne-Castro was a successful TV literary agent with William Morris Endeavor (formerly Endeavor), one of Hollywood's top, full-service talent agencies representing writers, directors and producers for television. Jessica is the Chapter Chair for YPO Los Angeles and on the YPO Pacific U.S Regional Executive Board and YPO Global Editorial Advisory Board. In addition, Jessica is on the Board of the ANA/Association of National Advertisers ECHO Awards, the L.A. Chamber of Commerce’s CEO Council and social justice Boards including Dignity Moves Homelessness Board and is a Climate Change Reality Ambassador.

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Q&A with Brian R Johnson, Chief Innovation Officer and Co-Founder at Canopy Management

Media 7 | February 15, 2021

Brian R. Johnson, Chief Innovation Officer and Co-Founder at Canopy Management, has served as a leader in online advertising and conversion rate strategy for nearly two decades. A trusted partner to thousands of brands across the globe, Brian’s work has earned him a reputation as a disruptive force in a world brimming with new and interesting challenges. Through his advertising agency Canopy Management, Brian has helped over 20,000 brands improve their e-commerce revenue and profitability by leveraging the latest advertising practices and strategies in new and exciting ways. The results his products and services deliver continue to put him in high demand with companies both large and small around the world.

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Q&A with Itamar Benedy, Co-Founder & CEO at Anzu.io

Media 7 | August 5, 2021

Itamar Benedy, CEO and Co-founder of Anzu.io, was previously the CEO of Glispa, a Berlin-based advertising firm with €100M in annual revenues, a team of 250 people, and 9 international offices. Itamar led the acquisitions of JustAd, a playable ads start-up, and Relevantech, a Telecom monetization platform. Previously, Itamar served as the VP of Marketing at Sport.com and Yoga.com, leading the user acquisition, monetization, and analytics teams. He guided Sport.com to become a market-leading fitness firm and transformed mHealth into a business with over 40 million downloads across 30 apps. With a decade of experience in mobile and marketing, Itamar is a member of the Mobile Steering Group Board of IAB, and the Young President Organization (YPO). He was also nominated for Forbes Israel 30 under 30 in 2016.

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Q&A with Jessica Hawthorne-Castro, CEO of Hawthorne Advertising

Media 7 | September 9, 2021

Jessica Hawthorne-Castro, CEO of Hawthorne Advertising, fosters long-standing client relationships with the company's expansive base of Fortune 500 brands to develop highly strategic and measurable advertising campaigns, designed to ignite immediate consumer response. From strategy, creative and production to media and analytics, Jessica is committed to premium quality and innovation throughout all agency disciplines. Jessica is a contributor for various industry publications and speaks on panels offering insights on key industry trends. She has published hundreds of articles with Forbes, AdAge, AdWeek, The Wall Street Journal, The Huffington Post, and many more. She has received many awards for her career accomplishments including the Ernst & Young “Entrepreneur Of The Year” in the Transformational Leader category, and Los Angeles Times B2B Publishing “CEO Leadership Award” Winner. Prior to joining Hawthorne Advertising, Hawthorne-Castro was a successful TV literary agent with William Morris Endeavor (formerly Endeavor), one of Hollywood's top, full-service talent agencies representing writers, directors and producers for television. Jessica is the Chapter Chair for YPO Los Angeles and on the YPO Pacific U.S Regional Executive Board and YPO Global Editorial Advisory Board. In addition, Jessica is on the Board of the ANA/Association of National Advertisers ECHO Awards, the L.A. Chamber of Commerce’s CEO Council and social justice Boards including Dignity Moves Homelessness Board and is a Climate Change Reality Ambassador.

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Q&A with Brian R Johnson, Chief Innovation Officer and Co-Founder at Canopy Management

Media 7 | February 15, 2021

Brian R. Johnson, Chief Innovation Officer and Co-Founder at Canopy Management, has served as a leader in online advertising and conversion rate strategy for nearly two decades. A trusted partner to thousands of brands across the globe, Brian’s work has earned him a reputation as a disruptive force in a world brimming with new and interesting challenges. Through his advertising agency Canopy Management, Brian has helped over 20,000 brands improve their e-commerce revenue and profitability by leveraging the latest advertising practices and strategies in new and exciting ways. The results his products and services deliver continue to put him in high demand with companies both large and small around the world.

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Q&A with Itamar Benedy, Co-Founder & CEO at Anzu.io

Media 7 | August 5, 2021

Itamar Benedy, CEO and Co-founder of Anzu.io, was previously the CEO of Glispa, a Berlin-based advertising firm with €100M in annual revenues, a team of 250 people, and 9 international offices. Itamar led the acquisitions of JustAd, a playable ads start-up, and Relevantech, a Telecom monetization platform. Previously, Itamar served as the VP of Marketing at Sport.com and Yoga.com, leading the user acquisition, monetization, and analytics teams. He guided Sport.com to become a market-leading fitness firm and transformed mHealth into a business with over 40 million downloads across 30 apps. With a decade of experience in mobile and marketing, Itamar is a member of the Mobile Steering Group Board of IAB, and the Young President Organization (YPO). He was also nominated for Forbes Israel 30 under 30 in 2016.

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Social Media Advertising

Attain and Experian Collaborate to Help Unlock Cross-Device Outcomes for Advertisers

PR Newswire | January 08, 2024

Attain, a leading permissioned commerce data platform that powers real-time purchase measurement and outcome signals for brands, is pleased to announce a strategic collaboration with Experian, the world's leading global information services company. By leveraging Experian's identity graph, this collaboration will unlock cross-device outcomes for advertisers in a cookieless environment. With the growing number of devices and platforms used by consumers, the need for precise audience targeting and refined marketing strategies has become increasingly important. Through this collaboration, Attain will integrate the Experian identity graph into its system, expanding the reach and addressability of its active user base of more than six million consumers. "We are continuously impressed by the caliber of Attain's customer base and our ability to fortify it with additional identity markers," said Greg Koerner, Vice President of Digital Advertising Sales, at Experian. "By harnessing the power of Attain's extensive outcome data and the Experian identity graph, we can easily offer marketers new avenues for reaching their target audience across multiple devices and channels." This integration will enable Attain to seamlessly connect with consumers across multiple devices, including mobile and CTV (connected television), offering innovative solutions to advertisers in an ever-changing digital landscape. With over 126M households, 250M individuals, nearly 500M MAIDs (mobile ad IDs), and 200M CTV IDs in Experian's identity graph, this integration will unlock vast opportunities for marketers to reach their target audience and measure campaign performance accurately. It will also allow Attain to align advertiser data and showcase significant correlations across various media channels, making their marketing tools more powerful than ever. "We're taking a major leap forward in enhancing our advertising capabilities by incorporating Experian identity graph into the Attain platform," Brian Mandelbaum, CEO of Attain, said. "With this integration, we can seamlessly align advertiser data and demonstrate outcomes' true impact and correlation across different media channels. This not only provides our customers with a more comprehensive view, but it also enhances the effectiveness of their advertising strategies." This collaboration will enable Attain to offer advertisers a more holistic reporting approach and provide them with a more comprehensive understanding of cross-device outcomes. Those utilizing the Experian identity graph through Attain's services can resolve to a single consumer profile, combining IPs and Universal IDs with CTV IDs and MAIDs. About Attain Attain's mission is to empower marketers to drive better outcomes by providing access to first-party permissioned commerce data. Powered by a portfolio of apps, retail loyalty account linking, receipt capture, and survey results, Attain is uniquely positioned to provide deeper insights into how, what, when and where consumers spend their money. For more information on Attain, visit attaindata.io. About Experian Experian is the world's leading global information services company. During life's big moments – from buying a home or a car, to sending a child to college, to growing a business by connecting with new customers – we empower consumers and our clients to manage their data with confidence. We help individuals take financial control and access financial services, businesses make smarter decisions and thrive, lenders lend more responsibly, and organizations prevent identity fraud and crime. We have 22,000 people operating across 32 countries, and every day, we're investing in new technologies, talented people, and innovation to help all our clients maximize every opportunity. With corporate headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, we are listed on the London Stock Exchange (EXPN) and are a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. Learn more at www.experianplc.com or visit our global content hub at our global news blog for the latest news and insights from the Group.

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Programmatic Advertising

TripleLift and Reset Digital Forge Partnership to Help Advertisers Meet Diverse Spending Goals All The Way Through The Programmatic Ecosystem

PR Newswire | January 05, 2024

TripleLift, the ad tech platform elevating digital advertising across every screen, and Reset Digital, a first-of-its-kind platform that gives brands and publishers broader and deeper audience reach across all communities, today announced a partnership to significantly expand diverse spend and representation across the programmatic ecosystem. Together, the companies are offering advertisers multiple pathways to ensure a greater portion of their digital budgets can be directed toward diverse-owned media companies. The partnership allows advertisers to buy quality inventory from minority-owned businesses throughout the programmatic ecosystem: TripleLift (a SSP) and Reset Digital (a DSP), and TripleLift's UNREP (Underrepresented Voices) deal package of impressions directing dollars straight to minority-owned media publishers. This way of buying media is available immediately across display, online video, and CTV and will be launched with Native this year. In 2023, an ANA survey of certified diverse suppliers found that while a majority say that interest from the media and advertising community in supporting diverse suppliers has increased in the past year, there is still a gap between intent to spend and actual spend. TripleLift and Reset Digital are helping all stakeholders bridge the gap quickly by making it easy for them to access diverse-owned media at scale. "This partnership allows advertisers to achieve their diverse spend goals with an end-to-end solution that is more aligned with their corporate supplier diversity reporting requirements," said Thomas Brandon, VP of Agency Strategy and Economic Inclusion at TripleLift. "Importantly, it allows them to use their media spend to impact the economic growth of the diverse communities they serve." Over the last 12 years, TripleLift has cultivated a vast inventory of publishers that includes access to 220 billion monthly impression avails across diverse-owned sites as part of its UNREP curated packages. These packages include inventory among publishers owned by Women, LGBTQ+, Blacks, Latinx, and Asian American Pacific Islanders (AAPI) and can be accessed as a whole or individually depending on client goals. "TripleLift has been on our radar for a partnership for some time," said Charles Cantu, founder and CEO of Reset Digital. "Specifically, our marketplace combined with their offerings like UNREP now provides a single pathway to diverse spending across the programmatic ecosystem – a solution we are excited to finally have in the market together." Reset Digital, the industry's only verified, black-owned and operated DSP, has been long recognized for its neuroprogrammatic capabilities, which allow advertisers to engage audiences based on what they desire versus what they look like, its ability to help connect brands and multicultural audiences around the world and its partnerships with brands like P&G, GM and Verizon, as well as the leading global media and creative agencies. In 2023, Reset Digital launched a new programmatic marketplace for the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), a trade organization that represents more than 200 Black-owned newspapers in the U.S. along with the NABOB (National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters); these entities created a path to connect large advertisers with publications that previously did not have the capabilities to run national programmatic advertising campaigns. This partnership stands to benefit any of the buy-side clients working with these companies. "TripleLift and Reset Digital have both been great partners to Horizon Media for many years," said Karina Dobarro, EVP, Multicultural at Horizon Media. "We've long worked with DSPs and SSPs to better direct investment to diverse-owned media, but partnerships like this one make it a much more seamless endeavor." TripleLift works with 80%+ of comScore 200 ad-supported publishers and delivers over 2 trillion monthly global impressions across North America, EMEA, LATAM, APAC, and MENA. To learn more about this partnership, please visit www.triplelift.com. About TripleLift We're TripleLift, an advertising platform on a mission to elevate digital advertising through beautiful creative, quality publishers, actionable data, and smart targeting. Through over 1 trillion monthly ad transactions, we help publishers and platforms monetize their businesses. Our technology is where the world's leading brands find audiences across online video, connected television, display, and native ads. Brand and enterprise customers choose us because of our innovative solutions, premium formats, and supportive experts dedicated to maximizing their performance. We are part of the Vista Equity Partners portfolio. As an NMSDC certified minority-owned business, we qualify for diverse spending goals and are committed to economic inclusion. Find out how TripleLift raises up the programmatic ecosystem at triplelift.com. About Reset Digital Reset Digital's Neuroprogrammatic™ advertising platform is a first-of-its-kind programmatic platform that allows brands to engage omnichannel audiences based on what motivates them as people versus targets and gives brands and publishers much broader and deeper audience reach across all communities, including underrepresented audiences they could not reach in the past. The results are radically better outcomes. Reset Digital's partners include the world's top brands, agencies, and publishers, including P&G, GM, Verizon, Dentsu, IPG, Publicis, GroupM, NABOB, Newsweek, NNPA, and others.

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Ad Networks, Brand Marketing

From Connection to Collaboration: MyTradeZone.com Revolutionizes Business Networking with AI-Driven B2B Social Platform

MyTradeZone | January 10, 2024

Innovative platform bridges current gaps, combining robust business tools for enhanced B2B engagement and collaboration Las Vegas, Nev., Jan. 10, 2024– Shattering barriers in B2B communication, MyTradeZone.com recently revealed its unique social networking platform dedicated solely for businesses. MyTradeZone serves as a central hub for businesses to find, connect with, and engage potential clients, partners, and vendors worldwide – allowing companies to post products and services, request quotes, create and join networking groups, and much more. MyTradeZone was founded by CEO, Bachir Kassir, a serial entrepreneur with over 20 years’ experience in the software and B2B industry who has recently successfully sold his B2B Ecommerce platform venture, WebJaguar, to QAD – a Thoma Bravo portfolio company. “MyTradeZone offers a specialized platform designed to innovate B2B interactions,” said Kassir. “We know that 40% of B2B marketing budgets are spent on trade shows and that over 95% of marketers use social media content in their campaigns. So why is there no social network specifically dedicated to B2B trade? Well, now there is one.” MyTradeZone: Platform Highlights On MyTradeZone, each business can both market its products/services and source what it needs, all within the same platform. MyTradeZone facilitates the entire process, presenting a thriving ecosystem for businesses, professionals, organizations, groups, and creators who can now spend time networking, while also fostering the connections that increase their reach, influence, and overall profits. MyTradeZone is a perfect lead generation and highly targeted advertising venue since advertisers can pinpoint exact audiences, making highly specific advertisements that are cost efficient. Major platform features include: Tailored B2B Search Capabilities: Facilitates a seamless discovery of businesses, products, RFQs, groups, and more. Advanced Networking Tools: From permanent company profiles to real-time video chat, the platform caters to a variety of business needs. Peer-to-Peer Payment Options: Ensuring smooth transactions with payments powered by Stripe. Innovative Ad Space: Sponsored and displayed ads provide businesses with a medium to amplify their brand presence. Tradeshow and Networking Events: Organizers can amplify the benefits for attendees, exhibitors, and sponsors – providing a secure networking group to connect beyond the actual event. Expanding Horizons: MyTradeZone Powers Community and Monetization Beyond businesses, MyTradeZone extends its utility to trade associations, networking groups, and event organizers by allowing them to build, manage, and monetize their online communities. Professionals and creators can actively grow their networks and monetize their skills through peer-to-peer payments. “Our platform is more than just a supplementary tool. It revolutionizes the traditional event experience by enhancing networking, engagement, and business growth opportunities in both a broad and narrow sense. Instead of merely relying on physical connections, MyTradeZone transforms singular events into sustained, ever-evolving networking connections.” To celebrate the official launch, MyTradeZone seeks to partner with trade shows, event and networking groups organizers, and trade associations – offering their members exclusive offers to premium membership via the platform. MyTradeZone’s basic edition is always free and signing up is quick, taking only few minutes to join. Inquire further at: contact@mytradezone.com And for news on future platform updates and promotions, follow MyTradeZone on LinkedIn or on the B2B social network: https://mytradezone.com/profile/mytradezone About MyTradeZone.com MyTradeZone is led by a highly skilled and talented team of employees and advisors who are working on the next thing to disrupt business networking. MyTradeZone is a forward-thinking B2B technology company reshaping how businesses connect and engage online through its advanced social networking platform in an industry-specific ecosystem for business collaboration, knowledge sharing, and growth. Learn more at: www.MyTradeZone.com. Media Contact: Bachir Kassir, Founder 1-949-813-7791 contact@mytradezone.com

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Social Media Advertising

Attain and Experian Collaborate to Help Unlock Cross-Device Outcomes for Advertisers

PR Newswire | January 08, 2024

Attain, a leading permissioned commerce data platform that powers real-time purchase measurement and outcome signals for brands, is pleased to announce a strategic collaboration with Experian, the world's leading global information services company. By leveraging Experian's identity graph, this collaboration will unlock cross-device outcomes for advertisers in a cookieless environment. With the growing number of devices and platforms used by consumers, the need for precise audience targeting and refined marketing strategies has become increasingly important. Through this collaboration, Attain will integrate the Experian identity graph into its system, expanding the reach and addressability of its active user base of more than six million consumers. "We are continuously impressed by the caliber of Attain's customer base and our ability to fortify it with additional identity markers," said Greg Koerner, Vice President of Digital Advertising Sales, at Experian. "By harnessing the power of Attain's extensive outcome data and the Experian identity graph, we can easily offer marketers new avenues for reaching their target audience across multiple devices and channels." This integration will enable Attain to seamlessly connect with consumers across multiple devices, including mobile and CTV (connected television), offering innovative solutions to advertisers in an ever-changing digital landscape. With over 126M households, 250M individuals, nearly 500M MAIDs (mobile ad IDs), and 200M CTV IDs in Experian's identity graph, this integration will unlock vast opportunities for marketers to reach their target audience and measure campaign performance accurately. It will also allow Attain to align advertiser data and showcase significant correlations across various media channels, making their marketing tools more powerful than ever. "We're taking a major leap forward in enhancing our advertising capabilities by incorporating Experian identity graph into the Attain platform," Brian Mandelbaum, CEO of Attain, said. "With this integration, we can seamlessly align advertiser data and demonstrate outcomes' true impact and correlation across different media channels. This not only provides our customers with a more comprehensive view, but it also enhances the effectiveness of their advertising strategies." This collaboration will enable Attain to offer advertisers a more holistic reporting approach and provide them with a more comprehensive understanding of cross-device outcomes. Those utilizing the Experian identity graph through Attain's services can resolve to a single consumer profile, combining IPs and Universal IDs with CTV IDs and MAIDs. About Attain Attain's mission is to empower marketers to drive better outcomes by providing access to first-party permissioned commerce data. Powered by a portfolio of apps, retail loyalty account linking, receipt capture, and survey results, Attain is uniquely positioned to provide deeper insights into how, what, when and where consumers spend their money. For more information on Attain, visit attaindata.io. About Experian Experian is the world's leading global information services company. During life's big moments – from buying a home or a car, to sending a child to college, to growing a business by connecting with new customers – we empower consumers and our clients to manage their data with confidence. We help individuals take financial control and access financial services, businesses make smarter decisions and thrive, lenders lend more responsibly, and organizations prevent identity fraud and crime. We have 22,000 people operating across 32 countries, and every day, we're investing in new technologies, talented people, and innovation to help all our clients maximize every opportunity. With corporate headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, we are listed on the London Stock Exchange (EXPN) and are a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. Learn more at www.experianplc.com or visit our global content hub at our global news blog for the latest news and insights from the Group.

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Programmatic Advertising

TripleLift and Reset Digital Forge Partnership to Help Advertisers Meet Diverse Spending Goals All The Way Through The Programmatic Ecosystem

PR Newswire | January 05, 2024

TripleLift, the ad tech platform elevating digital advertising across every screen, and Reset Digital, a first-of-its-kind platform that gives brands and publishers broader and deeper audience reach across all communities, today announced a partnership to significantly expand diverse spend and representation across the programmatic ecosystem. Together, the companies are offering advertisers multiple pathways to ensure a greater portion of their digital budgets can be directed toward diverse-owned media companies. The partnership allows advertisers to buy quality inventory from minority-owned businesses throughout the programmatic ecosystem: TripleLift (a SSP) and Reset Digital (a DSP), and TripleLift's UNREP (Underrepresented Voices) deal package of impressions directing dollars straight to minority-owned media publishers. This way of buying media is available immediately across display, online video, and CTV and will be launched with Native this year. In 2023, an ANA survey of certified diverse suppliers found that while a majority say that interest from the media and advertising community in supporting diverse suppliers has increased in the past year, there is still a gap between intent to spend and actual spend. TripleLift and Reset Digital are helping all stakeholders bridge the gap quickly by making it easy for them to access diverse-owned media at scale. "This partnership allows advertisers to achieve their diverse spend goals with an end-to-end solution that is more aligned with their corporate supplier diversity reporting requirements," said Thomas Brandon, VP of Agency Strategy and Economic Inclusion at TripleLift. "Importantly, it allows them to use their media spend to impact the economic growth of the diverse communities they serve." Over the last 12 years, TripleLift has cultivated a vast inventory of publishers that includes access to 220 billion monthly impression avails across diverse-owned sites as part of its UNREP curated packages. These packages include inventory among publishers owned by Women, LGBTQ+, Blacks, Latinx, and Asian American Pacific Islanders (AAPI) and can be accessed as a whole or individually depending on client goals. "TripleLift has been on our radar for a partnership for some time," said Charles Cantu, founder and CEO of Reset Digital. "Specifically, our marketplace combined with their offerings like UNREP now provides a single pathway to diverse spending across the programmatic ecosystem – a solution we are excited to finally have in the market together." Reset Digital, the industry's only verified, black-owned and operated DSP, has been long recognized for its neuroprogrammatic capabilities, which allow advertisers to engage audiences based on what they desire versus what they look like, its ability to help connect brands and multicultural audiences around the world and its partnerships with brands like P&G, GM and Verizon, as well as the leading global media and creative agencies. In 2023, Reset Digital launched a new programmatic marketplace for the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), a trade organization that represents more than 200 Black-owned newspapers in the U.S. along with the NABOB (National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters); these entities created a path to connect large advertisers with publications that previously did not have the capabilities to run national programmatic advertising campaigns. This partnership stands to benefit any of the buy-side clients working with these companies. "TripleLift and Reset Digital have both been great partners to Horizon Media for many years," said Karina Dobarro, EVP, Multicultural at Horizon Media. "We've long worked with DSPs and SSPs to better direct investment to diverse-owned media, but partnerships like this one make it a much more seamless endeavor." TripleLift works with 80%+ of comScore 200 ad-supported publishers and delivers over 2 trillion monthly global impressions across North America, EMEA, LATAM, APAC, and MENA. To learn more about this partnership, please visit www.triplelift.com. About TripleLift We're TripleLift, an advertising platform on a mission to elevate digital advertising through beautiful creative, quality publishers, actionable data, and smart targeting. Through over 1 trillion monthly ad transactions, we help publishers and platforms monetize their businesses. Our technology is where the world's leading brands find audiences across online video, connected television, display, and native ads. Brand and enterprise customers choose us because of our innovative solutions, premium formats, and supportive experts dedicated to maximizing their performance. We are part of the Vista Equity Partners portfolio. As an NMSDC certified minority-owned business, we qualify for diverse spending goals and are committed to economic inclusion. Find out how TripleLift raises up the programmatic ecosystem at triplelift.com. About Reset Digital Reset Digital's Neuroprogrammatic™ advertising platform is a first-of-its-kind programmatic platform that allows brands to engage omnichannel audiences based on what motivates them as people versus targets and gives brands and publishers much broader and deeper audience reach across all communities, including underrepresented audiences they could not reach in the past. The results are radically better outcomes. Reset Digital's partners include the world's top brands, agencies, and publishers, including P&G, GM, Verizon, Dentsu, IPG, Publicis, GroupM, NABOB, Newsweek, NNPA, and others.

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Ad Networks, Brand Marketing

From Connection to Collaboration: MyTradeZone.com Revolutionizes Business Networking with AI-Driven B2B Social Platform

MyTradeZone | January 10, 2024

Innovative platform bridges current gaps, combining robust business tools for enhanced B2B engagement and collaboration Las Vegas, Nev., Jan. 10, 2024– Shattering barriers in B2B communication, MyTradeZone.com recently revealed its unique social networking platform dedicated solely for businesses. MyTradeZone serves as a central hub for businesses to find, connect with, and engage potential clients, partners, and vendors worldwide – allowing companies to post products and services, request quotes, create and join networking groups, and much more. MyTradeZone was founded by CEO, Bachir Kassir, a serial entrepreneur with over 20 years’ experience in the software and B2B industry who has recently successfully sold his B2B Ecommerce platform venture, WebJaguar, to QAD – a Thoma Bravo portfolio company. “MyTradeZone offers a specialized platform designed to innovate B2B interactions,” said Kassir. “We know that 40% of B2B marketing budgets are spent on trade shows and that over 95% of marketers use social media content in their campaigns. So why is there no social network specifically dedicated to B2B trade? Well, now there is one.” MyTradeZone: Platform Highlights On MyTradeZone, each business can both market its products/services and source what it needs, all within the same platform. MyTradeZone facilitates the entire process, presenting a thriving ecosystem for businesses, professionals, organizations, groups, and creators who can now spend time networking, while also fostering the connections that increase their reach, influence, and overall profits. MyTradeZone is a perfect lead generation and highly targeted advertising venue since advertisers can pinpoint exact audiences, making highly specific advertisements that are cost efficient. Major platform features include: Tailored B2B Search Capabilities: Facilitates a seamless discovery of businesses, products, RFQs, groups, and more. Advanced Networking Tools: From permanent company profiles to real-time video chat, the platform caters to a variety of business needs. Peer-to-Peer Payment Options: Ensuring smooth transactions with payments powered by Stripe. Innovative Ad Space: Sponsored and displayed ads provide businesses with a medium to amplify their brand presence. Tradeshow and Networking Events: Organizers can amplify the benefits for attendees, exhibitors, and sponsors – providing a secure networking group to connect beyond the actual event. Expanding Horizons: MyTradeZone Powers Community and Monetization Beyond businesses, MyTradeZone extends its utility to trade associations, networking groups, and event organizers by allowing them to build, manage, and monetize their online communities. Professionals and creators can actively grow their networks and monetize their skills through peer-to-peer payments. “Our platform is more than just a supplementary tool. It revolutionizes the traditional event experience by enhancing networking, engagement, and business growth opportunities in both a broad and narrow sense. Instead of merely relying on physical connections, MyTradeZone transforms singular events into sustained, ever-evolving networking connections.” To celebrate the official launch, MyTradeZone seeks to partner with trade shows, event and networking groups organizers, and trade associations – offering their members exclusive offers to premium membership via the platform. MyTradeZone’s basic edition is always free and signing up is quick, taking only few minutes to join. Inquire further at: contact@mytradezone.com And for news on future platform updates and promotions, follow MyTradeZone on LinkedIn or on the B2B social network: https://mytradezone.com/profile/mytradezone About MyTradeZone.com MyTradeZone is led by a highly skilled and talented team of employees and advisors who are working on the next thing to disrupt business networking. MyTradeZone is a forward-thinking B2B technology company reshaping how businesses connect and engage online through its advanced social networking platform in an industry-specific ecosystem for business collaboration, knowledge sharing, and growth. Learn more at: www.MyTradeZone.com. Media Contact: Bachir Kassir, Founder 1-949-813-7791 contact@mytradezone.com

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Mekanism

Mekanism

Mekanism is an award-winning, independent, full-service advertising agency made up of creative entrepreneurs. With offices in San Francisco, New York, Chicago and Seattle, we serve as collaborative business partners to some of the world’s greatest brands, including Ben & Jerry’s, Peloton, Jose Cuerv...

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