MarTech Edge Interview with Jess Reilly, Sr. VP of Marketing, Screenverse

Welcome, Jess! What inspired you to take up the marketing career path, and what challenges from your initial years carved you to become the Sr. VP of Marketing at Screenverse?

My journey into the world of marketing has been a quest to harmonize my creative and analytical instincts. It began in college when I studied advertising, a decision that truly opened my eyes to the possibilities within the industry. During the early 2010s, technology was revolutionizing marketing, and the explosive growth of social media and web/app development presented an exciting opportunity to learn and grow. I found the idea of taking part in this transformation of the advertising industry through the introduction of creative new ad units fascinating.

The dynamic agency sector of the marketing industry shaped my early career. Over the years, I delved into various specialties such as SEO, media buying, content development, data science, new business development, and account management. Working with diverse businesses, from small to Fortune 500 companies, I found a common desire among stakeholders: the ability to forecast revenue growth through data.

I discovered that the key to this success lay in conducting meticulous market research and analyzing first-party data to gain a deep understanding of customers and identify the most cost-effective methods for acquisition and retention. This realization coincided with another technological boom – the rise of programmatic advertising.

I took the lead in introducing programmatic buying to several agencies where I held leadership roles, eventually launching my own. The ability to purchase advertising inventory in real-time, precisely targeting the desired audience, was a game-changer for my clients. Programmatic advertising rapidly evolved beyond digital display inventory, encompassing native ads, digital audio, connected TV, and more.

Running omnichannel digital campaigns through a single DSP with full control and transparent data visibility was transformative. However, I recognized the need to expand our capabilities beyond traditional digital and mobile inventory. That’s when I discovered Screenverse.

Screenverse’s digital out-of-home ad network empowered media buyers to connect with their target consumers in the physical world, adding a new dimension to the success of omnichannel campaigns. Just as I had witnessed the boom in the early 2010s and the growth of programmatic advertising, I knew I wanted to be at the forefront of the programmatic digital out-of-home revolution.

So, my inspiration to pursue a marketing career arose from the desire to blend creativity and analytics, and my journey from the agency sector to becoming the Sr. VP of Marketing at Screenverse has been shaped by a relentless pursuit of innovative solutions in an ever-evolving industry.

What most significant marketing functions are you responsible for at Screenverse, and how unconventionally do you approach each of these to accomplish the forecasted results? 

The challenge and inspiration behind our mission at Screenverse lie in our endeavor to revolutionize an industry with deep historical roots. Out-of-home advertising, literally dating back to ancient civilizations, saw its earliest recorded billboard leases in 1867, and digital billboards made their debut in 2005. While the rest of the advertising industry has rapidly evolved, out-of-home advertising largely remains rooted in antiquated direct buying methods.

Our journey is all about disrupting this multi-billion-dollar industry by harnessing the power of programmatic advertising. We take digital screens across the nation and seamlessly integrate them into the programmatic advertising ecosystem. This approach empowers screen owners to access a broader audience of media buyers. It also enables media buyers to execute real-time, large-scale campaigns on inventory that would have been impossible to purchase in one fell swoop otherwise.

In the realm of programmatic digital out-of-home (DOOH), we’re automating the sale and delivery of ad content, much like the online advertising landscape. Buyers set specific conditions for media purchases, and when those conditions align, ads are automatically bought.

As the Senior VP of Marketing at Screenverse, my team and I are dedicated to elevating the Screenverse brand’s visibility among media buyers and screen owners nationwide. Our mission revolves around offering state-of-the-art technology and world-class service, extending the potential of digital and video advertising to countless screens in the physical world.

Our marketing mission is to educate the industry about the advantages of programmatic DOOH buying. Integrating DOOH into any media mix provides media buyers with a fraud-resistant, cookie-less, and unblockable environment that amplifies the reach of other media channels. Concerning marketing functions, my team and I concentrate on crafting marketing assets and strategies to connect with a diverse audience of media buyers, including OOH specialists, marketing strategists, omnichannel media buyers, programmatic traders, and more.

We collaborate closely with our buyers, tailoring media plans to align with their target audiences. We’re proud to offer flexible terms, with no minimum annual guaranteed contracts or spending requirements, and we prioritize revenue opportunity and quality. This is how we are able to stand out as pioneers in delivering innovative, immersive, and interactive DOOH advertising experiences.

The days of working with a managed service and receiving limited data in an Excel sheet weeks after a campaign ends are behind us. Screenverse actively collaborates with buyers to optimize campaigns in the market, offering supply path optimization recommendations marked by radical transparency. Our unwavering focus is on securing the best deals for our buyers to foster enduring partnerships.

From the buyer’s perspective, nothing beats engaging with experts who truly understand the programmatic and ad sales space. At Screenverse, we don’t just talk the talk; we walk the walk.

How do Screenverse’s DOOH solutions deliver better ad outputs and effective measuring than other comparable vendors in this space?

Measurement is a great part of our commitment to transparency with our buyers. We require all of our media owners to have their inventory measured, and we selected Place Exchange’s PerView solution as a measurement standard across its managed DOOH networks.

This groundbreaking measurement solution, developed in accordance with the OAAA OOH Impression Measurement Guidelines, enables Screenverse to deliver accurate and dynamic reach, frequency, and impression measurement for its network partners. Screenverse receives thorough impressions, reach, and frequency measurements from PerView across all of its DOOH networks, with data broken down by various geographies, consumer segments, and timeframes.

We are also happy to coordinate other measurement solutions with our buyers to truly paint a picture of the efficacy of DOOH. We work with a number of different third-party solutions to provide measurement of brand lift, purchase intent, foot traffic, or closed-loop actions like web conversions or point-of-purchase measurement. We build case studies for the teams we work with to let the data tell the story. 

As compared to its effectiveness in B2C, how much does DOOH help B2B brands elevate their reach & engagement? 

Digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising is a versatile tool that extends its effectiveness to both B2C and B2B brands, and at Screenverse, we take pride in offering diverse solutions that cater to the unique needs of each.

On the B2C front, our extensive inventory includes digital billboards, urban panels, retail and grocery store displays, entertainment venues, and restaurant venues, among many others. These locations with premium inventory are strategically chosen to capture the attention of consumers where they live, work, and play, making them ideal for B2C brand engagement.

For B2B brands, we’ve developed tailored solutions that elevate reach and engagement in a professional context. One such network, Screenverse Office, is a specialized office network featuring directory screens strategically positioned in Class A buildings nationwide. These IoT-connected screens, available in various sizes, from small directories to large-format spectaculars, enhance the experience for office building tenants and visitors. When the target audience is business professionals, this network becomes a potent tool for B2B advertisers, enabling them to connect with potential customers right at their workplace.

Our Advana network, part of the Retail365 portfolio, is another compelling resource for B2B engagement. It boasts an extensive presence across a diverse range of venues, including office spaces, manufacturing facilities, Amazon distribution centers, corporate campuses, hospitals, point of care, and coworking spaces. With over 7.5 million monthly active consumers, the Advana network provides brands with a gateway to reach a broad spectrum of working professionals at scale. Brands can effortlessly tap into this vast audience by purchasing Advana DOOH inventory through their preferred DSP via the Screenverse network.

Additionally, our geofencing capabilities offer a targeted approach for B2B brands. Suppose a B2B brand has identified specific companies they want to reach. In that case, we can deploy our billboards, urban panels, and other inventory types strategically by identifying the proximity of our screens to their headquarters or satellite offices. This level of precision ensures that B2B brands can connect with their desired audience in a highly localized and effective manner.

In essence, DOOH is a versatile medium that transcends the B2C-B2B divide. Screenverse’s diverse network and specialized offerings empower both B2C and B2B brands to elevate their reach and engagement, whether they seek to capture the attention of consumers during their daily routines or connect with professionals in the heart of their workplace.

How do you prioritize your marketing objectives when there are budget and/or resource limitations such that the end results remain uncompromised?

Screenverse was built during the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic and was still able to scale to where it is today. In the beginning, both marketing budgets and resources were limited. Growing a start-up always starts with the quality of what you are selling and is maintained by supporting that with premium service. We started doing what we do best - 1:1 conversations with the right people and clearly communicating what it is that we do differently.

Most of all, we realized that in a resource-constrained environment, data becomes your best friend. We use analytics to identify which marketing channels and strategies are delivering the best return on investment. By constantly monitoring performance metrics, we can allocate resources to the most effective initiatives and reallocate or cut back on underperforming ones.

We also allocate a portion of our budget to experimentation. By testing new ideas and strategies on a smaller scale, we can identify what works and what doesn’t without committing substantial resources upfront. Successful experiments can then be scaled up.

What groundbreaking technological shift do you foresee happening in the ad tech niche, and in what ways will it metamorphose advertising?

One of the most significant changes on the horizon is the imperative for marketers to adapt to new targeting methods and forge partnerships with innovative data providers, all in preparation for impending regulatory changes. The digital advertising realm, in particular, faces a formidable challenge with the phasing out of cookie-based tactics. Nevertheless, the industry still needs to maintain its ability to reach precise target audiences.

We’ve already witnessed the programmatic industry expand far beyond traditional display ads, encompassing diverse formats like audio, CTV, podcast advertising, etc. This trend is set to extend into the out-of-home (OOH) advertising sector, heralding an era of unprecedented efficiency for media buyers worldwide.

However, for this transformation to take hold, OOH providers must be ready. Historically, obtaining reliable, up-to-date, deterministic measures of reach, frequency, and impressions for custom combinations of OOH assets—such as those required for an advertiser’s campaign plan or a media owner’s network of displays—has been a Herculean task.

At Screenverse, we’ve been proactive in embracing cutting-edge solutions like Place Exchange’s PerView, a strategic move that equips us with the essential data capabilities that modern media buyers demand. As the OOH industry increasingly recognizes the value of engaging with programmatic transactors, the need for precise measurement of their inventory becomes evident. This shift will not only raise the bar for transparency and accountability but also empower media buyers with actionable insights for smarter decision-making.

This technological revolution presents an exciting opportunity to offer an alternative solution to omnichannel media buyers who seek strategies not contingent on the performance of cookies. As traditional tracking methods face regulatory and technical challenges, alternative approaches will become paramount, and OOH, in its metamorphosis through programmatic integration, stands as a beacon of hope.