The thought behind Mediascape’s development is that for the industry, proprietary systems based solely on a traffic platform architecture are no longer sustainable or competitive. Marketron says it has put together a platform and suite of services which solve the challenges that have kept media companies in the radio world from adopting digital strategies—and some agencies from executing radio buys over the past few years. Mediascape specifically addresses media as it relates to radio and how media companies can better serve and measure ads on radio properties and wherever else that content is distributed (online, mobile, etc.).
Marketron CEO Steve Minisini tells RBR-TVBR a bit more: “As we’ve been thinking about the evolution of the company and looking at what the issues are in radio today, radio is not in a position to be able execute on what advertisers want. We started forming our vision for being a major contributor to fixing that. So we stated talking to a lot of the large agencies—our customers’ customer—and by in large they said there is a big opportunity going forward in radio. They have a huge voice in the market. But the problem is there is this giant disparity between what we need and want and what they can deliver. Hence, why $5 billion dollars of advertising revenue has moved away from the radio sector in the last handful of years.”
When Minisini explained in the marketplace what Mediascape could do, many said this is an opportunity for radio to bridge the gap to deliver on new and traditional ad dollars: “This is not a product announcement, but a completely transformational approach to both the technological and economic situation in which these kinds of solutions have been delivered in the past.”
Mediascape uses four major components:
• The Marketron Exchange Platform fuels the Mediascape platform: for connectivity, messaging and integration; Data Management to solve the master data management dilemma and enable a 360 degree view across multiple systems; Digital to enable the complete lifecycle of all digital/ NTR; and Mobile to engage listeners and make radio more interactive. This is the first open, ecosystem platform that provides the key elements necessary for media organizations to consistently drive higher performance.
“It’s the communications, messaging and infrastructure platform. That’s what connects buyers and sellers today. It allows you to have orders and invoices sent electronically from agencies and back to advertisers all electronically,” Minisini adds. “A large percentage of the market is using our Exchange platform—it’s kind of become the standard in the industry.”
And Mediascape/Exchange integrates with Donovan Data Systems as well. Marketron says 80% of the U.S. radio ad spend flows through Marketron systems.
• Mediascape Services: Services enabled by the Mediascape Platform are focused on increasing revenues, improving operational efficiencies and reducing costs, making radio more profitable. Mediascape Services available today include: Mobile Advertising, Network Connect, Media Connect, Electronic Orders & Invoices, Proof of Performance and Third Party Integrations, followed by Media Relationship Management, Dynamic Analytics and Revenue Management later this year. Marketron and its partners will continue to innovative, delivering best-in-class services that drive significant value for our customers.
• Mediascape Traffic: Next generation traffic service architected from the ground up using the latest and most advanced technologies, delivered in a Software as a Service (SaaS) model to be accessible anytime, anywhere and eliminate costly IT infrastructure and hardware. The solution will bring together the best of Marketron’s current traffic systems and forty-plus years of experience developing and supporting traffic systems to deliver a robust, highly configurable solution meeting the needs of both small and large radio organizations. Mediascape Traffic will support all operating modes from centralized to regional to distributed as well as mixed mode operations.
• Mediascape Economic Model: Addresses the financial barriers that have kept media companies from aggressively adopting new high growth digital strategies, under a technology model that is now open, scalable and affordable.
“Over the past year, our relationship with Marketron has evolved from being just another traffic software provider to a strategic partnership aligned with Emmis’s long term business objectives. Marketron now plays a critical role in the joint development of our Customer Relationship Management solution, which will be a first for our industry,” said Patrick Walsh, Emmis COO/CFO. “As Emmis continues to seek out ways to use technology to improve our sales process and customer engagement, we look to Marketron. Mediascape is a natural evolution in Marketron’s commitment to a broadcaster’s financial ecosystem that will strengthen our business and our industry.”
Mediascape combines an infrastructure and suite of services that is provided on an integrated and open technology platform available to all media organizations. Mediascape is available to media organizations of all sizes. By removing the technology and economic obstacles, Mediascape customers can focus on their brand, market differentiation and execution strategies to capitalize on their share of new ad spend. Marketron provides technology/services to more than 7,000 media organizations, including 43 of the top 50 radio organizations.
