Martini Media Debuts Private Ad Exchange for Reaching Uber-Influencers Online

MartiniLIVE extends real-time bidding to long-tail websites that cater to people who spend and share the most online

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Real-time bidding on open ad exchanges has been the province of websites with the broadest audience. Now a new product from Martini Media, the digital platform for uber-influencers, promises to bring so-called long tail sites—which generate influence over time rather than mass splashes—into the world of self-adjusted campaigns. On MartiniLIVE, selected advertisers will be able to set their price for premium inventory on the kinds of niche sites that attract a disproportionate percentage of the people with the most money and influence online.

“The people with the most buying power and influence can now be engaged in real-time, giving advertisers control over all the dynamics of buying.”

MartiniLIVE introduces four advancements to the real-time bidding model. First, the exchange brings sites that represent priority media for the new uber-influencers into an automated buying platform. Second, whereas most exchanges deal principally in remnant inventory—the opportunities member websites could not sell directly, and so are available at unusually low rates at auction—MartiniLIVE puts a higher percentage of premium inventory up for bid. Third, the exchange allows advertisers to buy contextually—not just demographically—with behavioral and psychographic targeting in specific interest channels, including sports, tech, fashion, finance and travel. Fourth, MartiniLIVE brings rich media to the exchange model, so advertisers can bid on video ads.

"We're putting the most important audience online at advertisers' fingertips," said Adam Chandler, CRO of Martini Media. "The people with the most buying power and influence can now be engaged in real-time, giving advertisers control over all the dynamics of buying."

A June 2011 study by WPP's Added Value, "Beyond Influence," commissioned by Martini, found that a new class of uber-influencers account for 25% of the online population. These "Pollinators" get most of their information, and source the bulk of their sharing, from niche websites that cater to their personal passions, from travel to wine to technology. They spend more, buy more often, and welcome relevant advertising, more than any other group. The study concluded that advertisers on the Martini platform have a 92% chance of engaging Pollinators and their cousins, Influentials, who account for another 40% of Internet users.

On MartiniLIVE, publishers get real-time control over the parameters of bidding. So smaller sites with premier audiences can attract premium brand ads at a fair price from ad agency trading desks.

“We're extremely pleased to partner as a technology provider to Martini Media as it launches MartiniLIVE,” said Michael Rubenstein, President of AppNexus, the real-time ad platform foundation for the new exchange. “We we believe this exciting offering will help bring real-time bidding to a high-caliber audience.”

About Martini Media

Martini Media is the platform for engaging people with the most influence and money online. Martini allows advertisers to build campaigns influence-first by scaling niche sites—the places these people prioritize because they cater to passions—into an audience of more than 120 million. Martini provides a publisher network of 1,000 sites in lifestyle and business with revenue support encompassing Web, video, mobile, email, social and data. For more than 270 premium-advertising clients, Martini combines proprietary audience targeting and tracking with full-service marketing support. Martini Media was founded in 2008, funded by Venrock, Reed Elsevier Ventures and Granite Ventures, along with a number of prominent angel investors. For more information, see www.martinimedianetwork.com.