In a release last week, IPG’s Mediabrands announced that Brendan Moorcroft had been appointed CEO for Cadreon, Mediabrands online media buying platform which services Universal McCann (UM), Initiative, Mediabrands Ventures and their clients.”Read the release.
Moorcroft discussed Cadreon’s development and his views on the competitive landscape.
AdExchanger.com: When does Cadreon become available to all media agencies at IPG and what are some of the key milestones you’re looking for in the interim?
BM: Cadreon is available to all media agencies within IPG. The Cadreon force started working with both Mediabrands and non-Mediabrands business units this year.
With display’s ability to target audience well-established, where do you see the next digital silos which will make sense for audience targeting?
Cadreon is excited by a few places, first, online video seems will most likely be the next scalable channel, however the automation of Addressable TV, Digital Out-of-home and Mobile are on our radar. Cadreon is currently activating experiments in each of those areas. Also, anything with a digital serving system will be incorporated in the Cadreon ecosystem at some point.
Do you think agency buying platforms, and Cadreon in particular, can innovate and compete with buying platforms created via the VC-backed community? For example, some might say, the incentive structure for acquiring skilled employees is much more powerful in the startup world.
Yes. Cadreon represents true demand. Outside VC backed platforms still do not represent true demand, they are a proxy. This allows us to work with best of breed technology partners to help craft technology agnostic solutions.
As a key stakeholder, what impresses you the most about this move toward audience buying in digital advertising?
It’s delivering on what Digital always promised to do: to use technology to help reduce waste in the eco-system. The really exciting part is the velocity of change.
And, after listening to UM/Mediabrands’ clients over the past few years, what’s the biggest pain point for them with an agency audience buying platform strategy?
Cadreon is focusing on educating clients about the benefits to buying audiences vs. buying through the traditional model. Most clients understand the theory, but it is Cadreon’s responsibility to providing demonstrative proof that it works.
In terms of working with ad agencies, do you see a role for ad networks in the future? Are agency buying platforms trying to remove ad networks from the value chain?
Yes. Some ad networks have been great partners to us and provide excellent inventory and offer great technology point solutions. Those ad networks that simply aggregate insertion orders and fill them through either daisy chaining or exchange based buying will have a limited run.
By John Ebbert
