In an uncommon move, an ad tech company, Viant, on Monday launched an ad campaign for itself touting its programmatic platform.
The ads tout customer satisfaction with Viant’s Adelphic platform and the way it is easy for clients to use with commercials, employing the tagline “Programmatic advertising doesn’t have to be that hard.”
Viant has doubled its ad budget for June, adding the TV buy to the digital advertising it has been doing.
This is a pivotal year for Viant, which bought itself from Meredith Corp. Meredith acquired Viant when it bought Time Inc.’s assets. Last year sales were up 50% but the company is aiming to be better known as it competes with larger rivals, said Jon Schulz, CMO at Viant.
“Everybody knows who Google is. Most people in our industry know who The Trade Desk is. Adelphic is a little more niche-y and a little bit more of a challenger brand so we just need to elevate that,” Schulz said, adding that the campaign’s goals were primarily to build awareness and recognition.
The pandemic ruined Viant’s plans to shoot commercials. Instead it used stock footage and animation to tell the story about how its subscription pricing model can save clients money as they increase spending.
And it had video of clients giving testimonials on behalf of Adelphic that it shot at the beginning of March. The footage was supposed to be used as web content. Instead, Viant added a voice over and cut into three commercials emphasizing customer satisfaction.
“Our subscription pricing and strong customer satisfaction are two of the key reasons why we’re winning business and growing,” he said.
Being unable to shoot a commercial might have prevented Viant from overthinking the campaign, Schulz said. “When you see the ads, they're pretty straightforward, they're pretty on the mark and I think the core message will be communicated very effectively.”
Viant is looking to reach marketing and media executives in general and media buyers and programmatic traders in particular.
The commercials will run on Bloomberg during its evening technology show, on CNBC and Fox business in Atlanta, Birmingham, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, Minneapolis and Seattle. They will also appear on local cable and broadcast via WideOrbit.
As an ad tech company, Viant is not only running ads but tracking them to see where they’re running, if its target households are exposed to the campaign and if viewers initiate searches or go to the company’s website to find out as a result.
Schulz said the ads are the first phase of the company's plans for the balance of the year.
