Hot on the heels of its StrikeAd acquisition, Sizmek has secured a raft of trading relationships with several of the leading programmatic display and video providers, has created a new media hub and appointed a new VP to man the ship.
Its new Media Solutions division will take in its fresh acquisition of mobile DSP StrikeAd business and its Vantage programmatic division – which has just firmed up trading relationships MediaMath, AppNexus, The Trade Desk, TubeMogul, and Turn.
These DSP partners are now fully integrated into the Sizmek MDX platform, allowing advertisers to run programmatic campaigns and monitor their performance - from one destination.
It said its open ad management approach means the company can work with any programmatic provider – and add that “important creative layer needed for campaign success”.
Sizmek believes the programmatic business model is evolving and says that creativity, along with data, is rising to the fore – suggesting programmatic rich media is big thing.
With much industry talk hitting on ad tech clutter and brands increasingly wanting to deal with with less vendors, independent third party ad server Sizmek is claiming its new “full suite” offering of trading services, optimisation skills, viewability, verification, tracking, mobile expertise, and brand safety is what brands want in such a complicated ecosystem.
Formerly GM of StrikeAd Asia-Pacific, and one of the early employees of StrikeAd, Ryan Murray, will lead the Vantage Media Solutions team across APAC, as associate vice-president. He will lead the company’s programmatic professional services team in Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand. The announcement is aimed at meeting advertiser demand for more programmatic expertise in the region.
Last month Sizmek announced the acquisition of StrikeAd, one of the first dedicated mobile DSPs, formed in New York in 2010. After the acquisition, which closed on May 28, Sizmek plans to quickly integrate StrikeAd into its Vantage media solutions business in Asia, in order to help advertisers “add rich media into programmatic buys while connecting critical real-time bidding data to the rest of its customers’ digital efforts”.
“The mobile programmatic market in Asia is growing very quickly as brands discover that they can deliver more creative, engaging experiences for consumers on their most personal device,” said Murray.
“We will therefore continue to actively promote our advanced mobile offering to the region. By merging the mobile expertise of StrikeAd with Sizmek’s full suite of media solutions tools, we aim to make a significant impact.”
Carolyn Bollaci, Sizmek, VP, Global Accounts, Asia, and head of ANZ operations, said mobile holds the biggest opportunity for marketers in the next few years, so the StrikeAd technology will be the core part of its Media Solutions Offering.”
Speaking from Cannes, she said: “One of the main conversation topics here in Cannes this week has been about the collision of creativity and technology. It’s exciting to see that brands and agencies in the Australian market have already begun to leverage software and new technologies to push creative boundaries. I believe this will only continue to grow in the next few months.”
“Another learning from Cannes this week is that advertisers are seeking strong leadership from their creative and technology partners, and in the programmatic world, that means an increased focus on customer insights and brand strategy.”
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