Ampersand and Blockgraph have gotten together to make it easier for media buyers at Interpublic Group agencies to use data from IPG’s Acxiom unit to plan and buy audience driven multiscreen TV campaigns.

The agreement lets advertisers securely match their own data with the viewing data Ampersand has in its And platform about the 80 million households it reaches — 52 million of which are addressable.

Data from Ampersand and Acxiom will be available within a single, always-on interface, with consumers’ privacy preserved.

“This is a game changer,” Ampersand senior VP, data and analytics Justin Rosen told Broadcasting+Cable.

“This integration more directly, more seamlessly connects that Acxiom and IPG first- and third-party dataset directly with Ampersand’s distribution partners,” Rosen said. “It creates the speed of activation, really strong match rates and the ability to take these audiences and distribute them for cross-platform addressable TV.”

Ampersand is owned by cable companies Comcast, Charter Communications and Cox Communications and sells their ad inventory to national and regional advertisers.

The combination will also lower costs as the frequency and scale of campaigns increase, said Jason Manningham, CEO of Blockgraph, the technology company owned by Charter Communications, Comcast NBCUniversal and Paramount that enables targeting and measurement with its Identity Operating System.

“As activations increase, and as measurement increases, you start seeing a lot of economies of scale,” Manningham said. “Our industry is evolving and trying new ways of working together. These huge partnerships bring together the scale for the marketplace and the cost savings will be meaningful for the industry.” ▪️

Initially, IPG agencies will be the first to have direct access to the Acxiom data though the arrangement with Ampersand and Blockgraph, but it will not be exclusive, said Conor Burgess, VP of business development at Acxiom.

“It’s really about solving the unique problem we have with identity supply chains and operational challenges. So the more seamless and frictionless you can make it is going to advantage anyone involved in the process,” Burgess said. “With data, if it’s scalable and match counts are accurate and it’s the audience you want to reach, you’ll use it.”

The demand for better ways of sharing data are increasing.

“I think the macro trends are clear. Brands have their own data. Whether that originates as first-party or third-part, they have their own data they want to use for planning data-driven linear, CTV linear addressable or VOD addressable campaigns,” Manningham said. “Being able to do that quickly with all of the controls that all of the data owner need is really essential.” ■

Acxiom said it made a deal with TransUnion that will make Acxiom’s audiences available for targeting ads on streaming media through TransUnion’s TruAudience Data Marketplace.

The companies said the Acxiom data enabled advertisers to fine-tune their audience strategies in new channels, including CTV, streaming audio and gaming.

Also: Merkle's Merkury Data Platform Using TransUnion Marketplace for CTV Ads

“As the media ecosystem continues to evolve, Acxiom is excited to integrate with the TruAudience Data Marketplace to deliver precision at scale for advertisers,” said Conor Burgess, VP, advanced TV at Acxiom. “The growth­­ of CTV continues to exceed marketplace expectations – and the partnership between Acxiom and the TruAudience Data Marketplace enables unprecedented reach while leveraging best in class data from Acxiom.”

The TruAudience Data Marketplace is a privacy-conscious, end-to-end solution for executing high-fidelity streaming and omnichannel campaigns with consistency and scale. The marketplace is integrated with leading streaming publishers, DSPs and SSPs.

“Our partnership with Acxiom will provide a boost to recognizing and reaching omnichannel audiences across the streaming media ecosystem,” said Michelle Swanston, VP of customer success and data marketplace at TransUnion. “Now available via the TruAudience Data Marketplace, Acxiom’s scaled data will power meaningful reach across tens of millions of smart TVs, smart speakers and gaming consoles.” ■

Cadent said it expanded its relationship with Acxiom, whose advertiser clients will be able to  activate campaigns using Acxiom data on the Cadent Advanced TV Platform.

The arrangement will allow advertisers to buy target audience segments more efficiently and get real time pre-campaign insights across linear networks, addressable TV, CTV and OTT.

“Acxiom is always searching for new and creative ways to connect marketers with their audiences. TV, as one of the most emotionally resonant and effective mediums for marketers, is a natural fit for our abilities as it becomes more data-driven and embraces digital paradigms,” said John Baudino, senior VP, data & identity at Acxiom. “We’re proud to partner with Cadent to better serve marketers as they seek to use data to reach the right customers through techniques such as data-driven linear television.” 

The deal comes as marketers scramble to understand audience identity and activate data quickly across video screens.

Acxiom data  will be integrated with Cadent’s Viewer Intelligence Graph, allowing national advertisers to de-duplicate and map audience segments and maximize reach, the companies said.

“As viewer behavior continues to evolve and audiences fragment, it becomes more important than ever for marketers to get a complete view of their customers before and during campaign activation,” said Tim Jenkins, executive VP, head of audience & identity solutions at Cadent. “We’re excited to announce the expansion of our partnership with Acxiom, bringing our data expertise and technology together for the marketplace.”

SpotX said it has made a deal to integrate Acxiom data into its audience-based buying capabilities.

The integration layers data on the supply side, letting advertisers who are purchasing media programmatically through a demand-side platform to get closer to their target audience.

IPG’s leading addressable media agency Matterkind is using the integration for clients to create additional visibility among key audiences.

“Matterkind’s Addressable Strategy and Activation Teams have seen success and high performance from SpotX setting up private marketplace deals while leveraging Acxiom data,” said Peter Parisi, director, advanced TV at Matterkind. “This has enabled our teams to work with Acxiom as a data partner to identify and efficiently scale strategic audiences within SpotX’s premium video inventories for our advertisers.”

The partnership drives more filtered demand to media owners and enhances their engagement with advertisers.

“Addressable advertising and the personalization of video ads have become increasingly important to upfront negotiations, so we want to ensure that data is made available with the most scale to help our clients reduce wasted ad spend and not only reach a larger audience, but also generate better results,” said Kristen Williams, VP, strategic partnerships at SpotX. “Our integration with Acxiom is an important step for SpotX’s commitment to client success as we guide them to make the smartest decisions by fusing ads with unique data.”

Acxiom client’s data segments will only be used on campaigns for which SpotX is contractually allowed.

“We provide marketers with the ability to unify data across their campaigns and measurement, and our data and technology layer allows us to apply various techniques such as machine learning to optimize those media campaigns,” said John Baudino, senior VP of digital data at Acxiom. 

“By partnering with SpotX, we can now offer our clients additional visibility into where they can reach their audiences, as well as data permissions, protection, and privacy,” added Ben Mittal, partner manager at Acxiom.