National outdoor network Cieslok Media has expanded into the mobile media space with a dedicated mobile subsidiary called Engage Mobile. The new business will help marketer and agency clients plan and buy mobile campaigns with programmatic DSP partners.
Mike Blanchard, previously Cieslok’s director of national sales and now director of Engage Mobile, said the company began working with programmatic partners to buy geofenced mobile ads near its outdoor signage roughly two and a half years ago. Based on the success of that business, Cieslok saw an opportunity to create a free-standing mobile media shop. Geofenced ads around outdoor signage will still be available, but it is now just one of the company’s offerings.
In addition to developing mobile strategy and planning campaigns, Engage will conduct audience-targeted buys through more than a dozen DSP partners, collectively accessing two billion impressions monthly. Engage will also provide detailed attribution analysis to help marketers understand which ads and placement were most successful and why.
Blanchard said there are no plans to negotiate any direct buying or build a network of publishers.
“What became more important to me was finding the right person at the right place and the right time. In order to do that, and get the scale that you need across the country, you’re kind of limited when you’re dealing with direct-to-publisher, and only a small number of them,” he said. “The strategy of being location-relevant became more important than direct-to-publisher relationships, and that has proven true in the results of our campaigns.”
He added that although its offering will no longer be focused on outdoor signage, geotargeting is still an essential component of creating effective mobile campaigns.
Cieslok Media will continue to operate as an outdoor media company, with nearly 300 available placements across Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Edmonton.
