Ad Tech and Martech
ExchangeWire | August 01, 2023
For the past ten years, DanAds has been at the forefront of self-serve ad automation technology, revolutionising the programmatic advertising space with cutting-edge solutions for an ever-changing marketplace.
Through a customer-centric approach and a shared vision, DanAds has continuously pushed boundaries and remained a global leader in innovation. In a rapidly evolving advertising industry, brands, and publishers have consistently sought the most efficient and cost-effective ways to reach their target audiences. Online advertising provided broader reach, but it also brought challenges such as longer timelines, higher costs, and reduced transparency.
DanAds founders, Istvan Beres and Peo Persson, recognised the need for a better solution and founded DanAds in 2013, aiming to reshape how publishers and brands sell their inventory to advertisers. The early days were met with scepticism as Beres and Persson urged prospective clients to embrace a future-forward approach. Despite the initial resistance, DanAds secured financing in 2016 and signed clients such as Bloomberg, Philips, and Truecaller, setting the stage for their self-serve revolution.
In subsequent years, DanAds continued to thrive, acquiring Backbone in 2018 and expanding its client base with companies like TripAdvisor. In 2019, DanAds established subsidiaries in the UK and the US, signalling their global aspirations. Then, in 2020, amidst the challenges of the pandemic, DanAds managed to achieve a net revenue of 24m SEK, (£1.8m) showcasing their resilience and adaptability. The momentum continued in 2021, with DanAds completing an equity financing round of 121m SEK (£8.9m) and securing an additional 100m SEK (£7.4m) in debt financing from the EIB and Nordea. The company launched its core self-serve platform, experienced significant growth to 45m SEK (£3.3m), and appointed a new board of directors led by chairman Anders Borg.
However, 2022 presented unforeseen challenges, including inflation, a halting global economy, and geopolitical conflicts. DanAds prioritised its team's well-being by relocating developers from Ukraine to western parts of the country and other European locations. Despite these obstacles, DanAds achieved remarkable growth, generating 131m SEK (£9.7m) in net revenue with a net retention rate of 136% going into 2022. They also hosted the world's first self-serve and Advertising Automation Summit.
In 2023, DanAds celebrated its 10th anniversary with a focus on expanding its US team to 10 people and securing 13 contracts in Q1 alone, a significant increase compared to the previous year. The company now operates in two divisions, automation services, and self-serve, and has expanded into new marketplaces, solidifying its position as a true ad tech industry leader. DanAds' success has not gone unnoticed, with several prestigious awards and recognitions in 2023, including the "Product of the Year" award at the NAB show and a spot on the AdExchanger Power Player List. G2 also recognised them as a high performer during the spring and summer.
So why do publishers believe in self-serve so much? The answer lies in the power and control it gives them. DanAds' self-serve technology and ad automation are adaptable and used by international portfolios of clients across various industries. Publishers gain control over their advertising lifecycle, increasing transparency and trust in their processes. As DanAds looks to the future, its founders' belief in self-serve's potential has been validated. With a robust account management team, a strong US presence, and a growing pipeline of high-quality clients, DanAds is poised for a bright and successful future in the ad tech industry.
About DanAds
DanAds is the leading provider of self-serve advertising technology, connecting ad sellers (publishers) directly with advertisers of any size through a fully automated ad sales platform. DanAds provides publishers with their own branded platform, allowing them to dramatically reduce manual administration and monetize their valuable user data. With the help of DanAds, all ad buyers can get access to premium advertising space independent of brand and budget, without expensive middlemen. Clients include Bloomberg Media, Tripadvisor, The Washington Post, Hearst Magazines, Roku and SoundCloud. Learn more on www.DanAds.com.
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Ad Networks, Ad Tech and Martech
Business Wire | July 19, 2023
AdAdapted, an advertising technology solution that gets brands onto shopping lists and into carts, today announced that TPN, a creative commerce agency specializing in CPG and shopper marketing, has selected the adtech solution provider to drive conversions for its CPG clients in the food and household cleaning categories.
TPN, which works with consumer goods brands such as Hershey, Sara Lee and Espolon Tequila, chose AdAdapted to improve how its clients reach consumers during the pre-shop planning phase. The AdAdapted platform delivers uniquely targeted ads and shoppable content on shopping apps and digital touchpoints that drive products onto consumer shopping lists and into carts. AdAdapted’s AI-powered platform targets shoppers based on previous purchase history, retargeted keywords found on shopping lists and additional data points.
Through AdAdapted’s technology, TPN clients can effectively reach and engage shoppers with personalized and targeted ads. AdAdapted uses over a petabyte of individual and aggregated list-building data to precisely target shoppers based on their specific needs and preferences. AdAdapted ensures that brands deliver personalized advertising messages at the right moment in the customer journey.
TPN validates campaign outcomes through third-party solutions and AdAdapted supports this with results that consistently outperform industry benchmarks. AdAdapted's patented technology includes its innovative Add-It™ solution that streamlines the consumer journey by shortening the path to conversion. The frictionless shoppable ads generate a near 2% click-through rate for brands, which is 11 times higher than the industry standard.
"Consumers are fickle today,” said Molly McFarland, co-founder and CRO, AdAdapted, “We are excited to collaborate with TPN and its CPG clients to deliver relevant and timely content directly to consumers to grow engagement and sales. We help brands achieve their marketing objectives and deliver a superior shopping experience by retargeting keywords found on shopping lists and providing a frictionless path to conversion."
AdAdapted enables shoppers to add products directly from ads and shoppable content by seamlessly integrating with retailer-owned carts and shopping lists, reducing click-friction, and enhancing the overall shopping experience.
“Working with AdAdapted gives our clients direct access to meaningful pre-shop engagement that drives additional revenue and profit,” said Joe Scartz, chief digital officer, TPN. “In the age of omnichannel, reaching consumers before they shop with personalized, unique content that builds brand awareness and, ultimately, online shopping cart conversions is paramount. The technology perfectly aligns with the goals of our clients and comes with measurable results to match.”
As the two companies continue to grow their partnership, AdAdapted and TPN will look to expand beyond the food and household cleaning categories to discover new ways for brands to connect with shoppers during the pre-shop phase.
About AdAdapted
AdAdapted is an advertising technology solution that increases purchase intent of shoppers by reaching the right consumers at the right time to get brands onto shopping lists and into carts. The company’s offerings for CPG brands, agencies and retailers range from managed-service to self-service and SaaS solutions, shopping list to eCommerce, video to display. With more than 110 million U.S. shoppers using mobile devices for their grocery lists, AdAdapted has built a distinct audience and ad offering that uses intent-based targeting, providing the easiest, most efficient way to reach active verified shoppers — exactly when they decide what to buy.
About TPN
TPN is the creative commerce agency that exists to Make the Buy Happen for some of the most iconic retailer, technology and CPG brands in the world. We specialize in all things commerce — leveraging the agency's core practice areas of Digital Commerce, Brand, Retailer and Shopper — to create connected experiences that drive sales and build brand commitment. TPN is a part of Omnicom. The agency has nine offices across the U.S. and in the U.K. and is celebrating more than three decades of delivering creativity and results.
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Ad Tech and Martech
prnewswire | August 21, 2023
Today, Direct Digital Holdings, Inc. a leading advertising and marketing technology platform operating through its companies Colossus Media, LLC ("Colossus SSP"), Huddled Masses LLC ("Huddled Masses") and Orange142, LLC ("Orange142"), announced that it has partnered with Beeswax, a FreeWheel-owned programmatic buying platform.
The ad tech group, which is the ninth Black-owned company on the NASDAQ U.S. stock exchange, will collaborate with Beeswax to expand access to, as well as simplify the path for, buying multicultural – alongside general market – connected TV ad inventory.
The integration works like this: Colossus SSP, a Direct Digital Holdings-owned supply-side platform, works with both multicultural and general market publishers, giving its users access to a more diverse range of CTV ad inventory. As such, marketers and agencies that use FreeWheel's Beeswax to buy CTV ads can now reach a wider array of viewers.
This partnership and its accompanying capabilities are noteworthy as they provide a much needed and timely solve for many of the issues that marketers and agencies are facing today, including a dynamic, complex and fragmented TV ad ecosystem and a consumer landscape that is becoming increasingly more multicultural and diverse.
On a more technical note, this partnership includes integrations on both the buy and sell sides of CTV ad buying. On the buy side, Direct Digital Holdings' two digital marketing companies, Orange142 and Huddled Masses, will work with Beeswax to serve CTV ad placements for marketers. On the sell side, as outlined above, Direct Digital Holdings will work with Beeswax on simplifying and expanding access to both multicultural and general market CTV ad inventory via the group's supply-side platform, Colossus SSP.
"The media and marketing landscape today is very nuanced – from fast-changing innovations to constant industry fragmentation to audiences that are becoming increasingly more diverse and harder to reach, across multiple screens," said Mark Walker, CEO, Direct Digital Holdings. "Taking that into account, we sought a partner who brought a real-time, holistic understanding of the ecosystem, as well as a track record of creating simple and much needed, innovative solutions that remove friction and address and resolve the needs of marketers today. FreeWheel, through its work with Beeswax, exemplifies and understands these key traits and we're excited to be working with them."
"We are humbled and thrilled to team up with a partner who not only understands this space, but also is minority owned," said Tess O'Brien, VP, Head of Revenue, Beeswax. "We look forward to working with Direct Digital Holdings to drive innovation and growth in CTV, while helping to provide Beeswax's clients with an easier pathway to access multicultural content within the programmatic ecosystem."
About Direct Digital Holdings
Direct Digital Holdings (Nasdaq: DRCT), owner of operating companies Colossus SSP, Huddled Masses, and Orange 142, brings state-of-the-art sell- and buy-side advertising platforms together under one umbrella company. Direct Digital Holdings' sell-side platform, Colossus SSP, offers advertisers of all sizes extensive reach within general market and multicultural media properties. The company's subsidiaries Huddled Masses and Orange142 deliver significant ROI for middle market advertisers by providing data-optimized programmatic solutions at scale for businesses in sectors that range from energy to healthcare to travel to financial services. Direct Digital Holdings' sell- and buy-side solutions manage approximately 136,000 clients monthly, generating over 250 billion impressions per month across display, CTV, in-app and other media channels.
About FreeWheel
FreeWheel empowers all segments of The New TV Ecosystem. We are structured to provide the full breadth of solutions the advertising industry needs to achieve their goals. We provide the technology, data enablement and convergent marketplaces required to ensure buyers and sellers can transact across all screens, across all data types, and all sales channels, in order to ensure the ultimate goal – results for marketers. With offices in New York, San Francisco, Chicago, London, Paris, Beijing, and across the globe, FreeWheel, A Comcast Company, stands to advocate for the entire industry through the FreeWheel Council for Premium Video.
About Beeswax
Founded in 2014 by a team of former Google executives, Beeswax is the programmatic buying platform that gives media buyers ownership and total control. Its Bidder-as-a-Service™ platform gives brands, media companies, and advertising technology firms greater control, flexibility, and transparency over their programmatic advertising. Beeswax customers include Uber, DraftKings and Nexstar. Beeswax is headquartered in New York City and has raised $28 million in funding from leading investors including Foundry Group, RRE, You & Mr. Jones, and Amasia.vc.
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