ACME adds sweetener to digital buying with AddSuite

Derek Abdinor

Tim Legg

ACME outsourced its ad operations to Add Suite in late 2016 and the potential of collaboration finally became too large to ignore. “Tim Legg and Desere Orrill have built up a multi-faceted media business very quickly, one that includes traditional creative and content strengths with some of the best technologies and demand sources in the market,” says Derek Abdinor, Managing Director of ACME. “Both of our companies are adept at sifting through the noise in the industry and finding players who match quality with integrity.”

As a Google Certified Publishing Partner, AddSuite offers a complete managed service using the Google DoubleClick for Publishers stack (DfP, AdExchange and AdSense) including operations, campaign management and revenue optimisation through programmatic channels (OpenExchange, RTB, premium programmatic campaigns and private marketplace deals). AddSuite’s DelvData division uses the Oracle Bluekai Data Management Platform to manage first-party (publisher), second-party (advertiser) and third-party (external) data sets to optimise performance and underpin all its programmatic media and yield management solutions.

Titles such as DailyMail.co.uk, SkySports.com, SkyNews.com and SA Breaking News will be marketed under the ACME umbrella for direct sales, content marketing and programmatic buying. Audience segments generated from this bouquet overlaid with other unique market information will be made available via Delv and in the BlueKai marketplace. Total number of users represented will be approximately six million monthly users.

The move should add more cohesion to a market that is struggling to match demand and supply with expectations. The grouping is not adverse to working with like-minded partners in creating long term value that will benefit the ecosystem.

ACME rolled out its first campaigns in May 2016 when it was registered as a company. Representing such titles as BizNews, Daily Maverick and ENCA defaulted it into a premium positioning, although its classified and niche lifestyle partners come into their own for campaigns requiring audience segmentation.

Said Tim Legg, managing director of AddSuite, “The true value of linking multiple online and offline data sets in a tradable marketplace that benefits both advertisers and media owners, has not yet been fully explored in South Africa. With AddSuite’s DelvData technology stack and yield management expertise, we can identify, maximise and multiply the value of data for both advertisers and publishers, enabling the ACME Digital network to add impact at multiple levels.”

ACME will also be seeking to extend its representation footprint on the continent, working with AddSuite to create an African Private Market Place that offers qualified, high-impact inventory and access to targeted African audiences – good news for African publishers and advertisers who seek to reach this burgeoning market.