PHOENIX — The ad world is ablaze with people keen to deliver ads in video formats.
But, whilst the push toward connected TV is exciting, some advertisers may be leaving attention on the table. That’s according to one demand-side platform CEO.
“On the buy side, there’s a lot of excitement around connected TV, the idea of reaching that consumer in the living room with that sight, sound and motion, doing it through programmatic is really exciting,” says Ari Paparo, CEO of Beeswax.
“I think people are taking that maybe a little bit too far. I made a joke on Twitter that ‘a lot of people skipped mobile’… (they) went from desktop video, which has some pluses and minuses, to connected TV and, meanwhile, there’s a whole generation of consumers who are experiencing video advertising in-game, in-application, in-mobile and many brands forgot about that. So I think that’s a missing opportunity for people to extend their reach.”
For Beeswax, the opportunity changed in January, when it raised a $15 million Series B investment round.
The company is four years in to offering its “Bidder-as-a-Service” technology, which allows ad buyers to bring their own algorithms in to trading for added customisability.
Why was the next round needed? Paparo says Beeswax will be spending on product, engineering and sales staff.
“We’re also looking to expand more in our European presence where we have five people in London currently, as well as looking into Asia Pacific as a region we can put some people on the ground,” he adds.
This segment is part of Beet.TV’s coverage of the IAB Annual Leadership Meeting 2019, Phoenix. This series is sponsored by Telaria. Please find additional videos from the series on this page.
