16:9 Podcast

Advertising is hard – and a lot of companies, from startups to majors, have found out the expensive way that creating and running a screen network that’s funded through booked ad spots is no walk in the park.

There are lots of programmatic advertising options out there to make access to brand advertising easier for network operators, but a start-up called Screenverse is going down a different path – basically saying to a lot of companies that have screens: “You focus on what you’re truly good at, and we’ll take over the ad sales and management of your network.”

So in the same way that some solutions providers are the outsourced digital signage operating units for companies like QSR chains, Screenverse is doing the sales and related work for companies that happen to have a screen network as part of much larger businesses. A great example would be TouchTunes, which has 1,000s of digital jukeboxes in bars, with screens on them that support booked advertising. Screenverse now runs and sells the ad display side of the business, so TouchTunes can focus on what it is super-good at – music content curation, licensing and overall ops.

The company was started by a couple of guys I have known for a long time in this industry – David Weinfeld and Adam Malone. While less than two years old, started just in time for a pandemic and nuclear winter for out of home advertising, Screenverse is making money and recently announced a quasi acquisition deal to bring on the sales experience and business ties of The Danaher Group, a boutique media sales run by Sue Danaher, who many industry people will know from her days running the DPAA.

David and I go back to the days when we were consulting partners on The Preset Group. It was terrific to catch up, and get a better understanding of how his company fills what is a pretty obvious need in the market for companies that want to monetize the screens in their network, but struggle (or would struggle) trying to run ad sales and media operations within the walls of a company that otherwise knows very little about advertising.

The OOH Insider Show

On this episode of OOH Insider, Adam Malone, Co-Founder & President of Screenverse, shares his knowledge of programmatic digital out-of-home.

Screenverse is a specialized provider of ad management and monetization for digital screen owners. They maximize revenue through direct, programmatic, and systematic direct sales channels.

Takeaways:
• Media owners should utilize direct sales through the existing channels and programmatic tools to sell their inventory.
• Make your inventory available during the open exchange and then read the data to see who is putting a bid.
• Use programmatic tactics to communicate and strategize with companies while they are still at the top of the funnel.
• OOH impressions can be difficult to calculate because there is no set way to measure them.
• The industry needs to work on pinpointing data for targeting, addressability, and contextual relevancy.
• In order to grow as an industry, we need to be more honest and establish goodwill with advertisers, especially during the current buying climate.

The OOH Insider Show

On this episode of OOH Insider, Adam Malone, Co-Founder & President of Screenverse, shares his knowledge on industry disruption and building a startup.

Screenverse is a specialized provider of ad management and monetization for digital screen owners. They maximize revenue through direct, programmatic, and systematic direct sales channels.

Takeaways:

• Talk to the industry and ask questions before putting the time and money into developing a tool or system.
• Is the vision for the tool or system meeting the end-user need?
• The industry cannot be defined as one thing; it is comprised of many different personalities and stories.
• Try testing out a few tools, based on market feedback, with the community and build from there.
• Respect the industry. If there is an opportunity to disrupt within any industry, come in with the mindset of growth on top of the existing groundwork rather than a bug in the foundation.
• Timing can be the make or break for startups.
• “Everybody needs to understand what their north star is in their career and in their life.” ~Adam Malone