Media buyer GroupM said it launched [m]Platform, a technology platform that will help it gather and analyze audience data and reach consumers across all media.
The move comes at a time when media companies are also investing in data science in order to improve the reach of their programming and enhance the value of the advertising they sell.
GroupM named Brian Gleason as CEO of [m]Platform. Gleason had been global CEO of Xaxis, one of GroupM's media agencies.
"Marketers are under tremendous pressure to deliver results from media investments. This flexible platform approach enables us to focus $7 billion worth of investments we've made in data and technology over 10 years to help them realize a marketplace advantage," said Kelly Clark, CEO GroupM Global. "Our agencies will now have deeper consumer insights and the most robust technology in the market."
[m]Platform connects wide-ranging WPP data sources across Kantar and Wunderman; third-party data providers; GroupM's data from unique agreements with global media partners; and clients' own data when they choose, the company said.
Here are some of the elements of the new platform:
- [m]Core is the first full-stack audience intelligence platform combining cross-platform data (display, mobile, video, offline CRM, apps, etc.) for a singular consumer identifier, [m]ID.
- [m]Insights is the largest audience-centric media planning tool with cross-channel planning, creative workflow management, unified audience frequency capping and location-based and in-demo reach management.
- [m]Analytics marries online and offline campaign-level data to [m]ID to enable analytics, attribution and optimization
- [m]Report merges data into a single, intuitive visualization dashboard with actionable intelligence.
"The rise of digital and mobile technologies, media fragmentation and expanding ecommerce create a pivot point in marketing where the scientific application of data to media strategies is essential. Today, marketers have to know their customers in richer detail than ever before, or else they won't reach them. [m]Platform is an audience-centric approach enabling our agencies with individualized consumer insights and technologies to reach audiences without boundaries," said Gleason.
Four regional presidents will report to Gleason. Recently named president of platform services in North America, Phil Cowdell is now president of [m]Platform, NA. Lucas Mentasti is named president of [m]Platform, LATAM. Presidents in EMEA and APAC will be named shortly. Also on the [m]Platform global leadership team are Nicolle Pangis, chief operating officer; Jack Smith, chief strategy officer and Bob Hammond, chief technology officer.
