Engage:BDR welcomes new advisory council as programmatic growth continues

Two days on from announcing a slew of new partnerships, programmatic ad company engage:BDR (ASX: EN1) has unveiled a specialised advisory council with the aim of adding more lucrative clients.

In a statement to the market, engage:BDR said it created the council to gain access to key incremental clients, publishers, strategic partners and technologies “through the influence, relationships and access of well-known and respected ad tech industry leaders”.

Founding members of the council include Warren Zenna, Sean Clayton, James Hritz and Jonathan Slavin, who will work directly with engage:BDR’s executive team on a daily basis, and more specifically, will advise on “tactical execution” of the company’s overarching strategy.

The advisory council’s first task is to focus on opportunities with immediate revenue impact – an intention that has already resulted in recent client on-boarding and revenue contribution.

Growing integrations

On Monday, engage:BDR reported the signing of five additional “large-scale programmatic partnerships” including  kiip, Advangelists, PulsePoint and RhythmOne.

Engage:BDR managing director Ted Dhanik said each partnership is expected to provide strong revenue for the company’s programmatic exchange and will directly assist in its climb towards greater profitability.

According to the programmatic ad company, all five integrations are now live and undergoing test phases with expectations of “significant revenue contribution”, given the new demand is expected to be unique and does not overlap with existing business.

Furthermore, engage:BDR reported its AdCel business on-boarded Criteo, a large global programmatic buyer.

In terms of new publishers, the company is also busy on-boarding a new large-scale app publisher called MocoSpace, currently the largest mobile gaming community in North America.

In total, its latest additions mean engage:BDR has now on-boarded seven new programmatic integrations in the first quarter of this year, exceeding its self-imposed target of five and taking its total base of programmatic integrations to 225.

Welcoming good advice

Market positioning, strategic alliances and technology will be headed by Warren Zenna, a digital marketing veteran who began his career before the advent of Google in 1995.

Over the past 30 years, Mr Zenna has worked within the entire marketing services industry from start-ups to large holding companies, as well as small boutique firms including Zeta Global, iCrossing, Publicis Groupe, Havas Media and Location Sciences.

Most recently, Mr Zenna served as president of Location Sciences, a UK-based ad tech company that developed a platform verifying the accuracy and veracity of location data used in online advertising.

Mr Zenna is also a frequent industry speaker and contributor to marketing and technology publications including Forbes, Media Post, Digiday, AdWeek and AdExchanger.

Another addition to engage:BDR’s advisory council is Sean Clayton, who will be responsible for brand, agency and programmatic demand.

Mr Clayton has worked in digital marketing for more than 15 years and has amassed an extensive background in developing comprehensive digital marketing solutions, using “data and human psychology to power holistic and hyper-targeted omnichannel client solutions”, according to engage:BDR.

Mr Clayton led initiatives for various Fortune 500 brands as well as major distributors in the entertainment industry. He currently serves as chief strategy officer and president of the entertainment division at SITO Mobile, an insights-driven consumer behaviour and location sciences company.

Also joining the team is former Newscorp vice president James Hritz with responsibilities relating to publisher development, mobile and CTV apps.

In his most recent role of head of advertising for dating app Grindr, Mr Hritz oversaw a 400% ad revenue increase including the launch of Grindr’s self-serve advertising marketplace and implementing the Grindr Exchange.

Over the past 12 months, Mr Hritz was able to realise a successful $90 million buyout of Max Advertising by mobile marketing platform Applovin.

The fourth and final member of engage:BDR’s advisory council is Jonathan Slavin, responsible for CTV and programmatic demand.

Mr Slavin wields more than two decades of experience in sales, strategy and business development leadership across the digital media space and is expected to help develop and improve business performance for both demand and supply-side players, as well as for advertising technology providers.

As chief revenue officer at global digital media company CPXi, Mr Slavin oversaw revenue growth of more than 500% during his tenure and was a founder of its programmatic division bRealTime. Under his guidance, bRealTime grew annual revenue by $125 million in under three years.

Mr Slavin currently runs JTG Ventures, a consultancy delivering “white glove” business development solutions for growth-focused clients across multiple spectrums of the digital media landscape including over-the-top media (streaming services), video and mobile.