Adslot signs media buying deal with Water Cooler Group’s Media Storm

Adslot (ASX: ADJ) has announced a master services agreement (MSA) with the Media Storm division of Water Cooler Group, which is the second largest independent media agency in the US.

The agreement allows California-based Media Storm to use the Adslot Media global trading platform for forward-guaranteed display advertising across Adslot’s catalogue of premium publishers in the US market.

Initial trading is expected to commence in the current quarter.

Media Storm is part of US-based integrated marketing services company Water Cooler Group, which has offices in New York, Los Angeles and Connecticut.

Adslot said it continues to make significant progress in commercial and contractual negotiations with a number of large US agency holding companies.

The company expects to provide a further update on discussions before month end.

Pilot validation

Adslot’s standalone media trading platform is an automated tool which enables media buyers such as brands and agencies to purchase display ads directly on premium publisher websites on a forward-guaranteed basis.

In the 2019 financial year, Adslot achieved pilot validation with large agencies in the US and UK markets, with the value of media traded via Adslot Media experiencing a bumper 295% growth to $15.4 million, from $3.9 million the previous year.

It was also a record year for the number of transactions logged via Adslot Media, which grew 396% from 143 to 709 campaign bookings.

The platform’s ecosystem strengthened in number and quality of demand and supply participants and as a result, trading fees were up 104% for the year compared to the previous period.

Corporate growth

Adslot’s growth strategy has seen a focus on securing MSAs with the six largest global media agency holding companies in the US.

During 2019, the company announced the first of these agreements with Cadreon, the programmatic trading division of the Interpublic Group of Companies.

It has since announced that two additional agency holding companies have voiced their intention to execute an MSA.

Platform technology

In an increasingly competitive world, media agencies are looking for ways of bringing greater efficiency and effectiveness to their operations.

Platforms automate many of the manual processes associated with media buying including the interactions between buyers and sellers.

This reduction in manual process allows for a reduction in employee numbers or a re-focus of resources to activities providing greater value to clients.

“Platforms can also be used to apply greater standardisation and process to an agency’s workflow including the creation of data assets by virtue of the consistent manner in which buying activity is classified and recorded,” Adslot said.

“When applied across an organisation, the collective benefits of “platforming” the media buying process can be substantial and transformative for agencies.”

At mid-afternoon, shares in Adslot were trading 7.41% higher at $0.029.