Ad company Visible Measures is launching a new ad-buying platform called Fabric, which it says is “the first of its kind to focus on native experiences” and other ads that consumers “opt in” to.
Fabric is a demand-side platform, which basically means that it allows advertisers to manage their data and buying on ad exchanges. Founder and CEO Brian Shin said it builds on a previous Visible Measures product, Contagion, a planning tool for earned media. It ties a number of Visible Measures’ capabilities together, including its campaign data, its ad inventory, and its campaign projections.
Put another way, Fabric is a set of tools to promote video and other content that advertisers are hoping consumers will embrace, i.e., content marketing. Shin argued that there are “no truly viral video campaigns,” because before content becomes viral, it needs a little advertising push.
Visible Measures worked with VivaKi, the tech innovation arm of ad holding company Publicis Groupe, to develop both Contagion and Fabric. Sean Kegelman, executive vice president for product and commercial strategy at VivaKi Audience On Demand, said that Fabric includes a number of important features that allow it to move “from a planning tool to an activation tool”; it gives advertisers “granular” control of targeting and where ads actually show up, as well as the ability to optimize their campaigns to improve the performance as they run.
Shin said the other big advantage is the fact that it’s self-serve, which should make it available to a broader range of advertisers than Visible Measures has previously worked with. The company, he said, has “a good reputation in the market,” but at the same time, “not much is known about us.” He’s hoping to change that.
“We’ve been a little closed, and now we’re opening up.”