Operative Blog

Adotas – Answers Served: Operative Discusses Solbright Acquisition

ADOTAS – On the heels of the launch of its Operative.One platform for connecting the demand and supply sides, Operative acquired Solbright, which develops software assisting publishers in managing online ad revenue and workflow. According to CEO Mike Leo, the acquisition will bolster Operative’s ability to deliver efficient and effective infrastructure for media companies.

Leo took a few minutes to talk about the acquisition as well as the ways in which Operative.One stands out from the pack of end-to-end digital marketing solutions.

ADOTAS: What interested Operative in Solbright?

LEO: Their clients and their employees.

How does this acquisition fit in with Operative’s aims?

This gives the advertising business management category much-needed scale, while Operative gains significantly in market share and a strengthened competitive position. We estimate to now be managing more than 30% of all digital ad spend through our solutions.

The result is greater value delivered for our clients. A more scalable overall business and R&D organization means a broader and deeper set of integrations with demand and supply-side systems, accelerated product innovation, and improvements to the already high level of client service and support we provide today.

What kind of updates will clients notice when Solbright’s technology is integrated into Operative.One? What will be the most useful?

We’ll be working with each and every Solbright client over the next year to upgrade them to our Operative.One platform. Operative.One provides significant next-generation advantages –- for example, a robust product packaging and selling architecture and an enhanced platform for third-party system integration (e.g., Salesforce). The employees who built Solbright and have been working closely with Solbright customers for several years have joined Operative in the continued development and support of Operative.One.

How does Operative.One stand out from other end-to-end digital advertising solutions?

We’re the only ad business management platform that brings it all together for media companies and their partners. We’ve essentially created a “hub” that allows clients to eliminate the complexities associated with the digital value chain by integrating all systems and processes necessary to package, sell, traffic, manage, optimize and bill ads. In a nutshell, we are connecting critical functions (from product packaging to invoice) with our clients’ ecosystems.

What attracts media companies and publishers to Operative.One? How do their concerns differ from advertisers?

Operative takes care of business infrastructure for media companies, so they can focus on what’s important: product innovation and client relationships. They are also starting to realize that continual innovation and operational effectiveness are inversely proportional. We provide a platform upon which to innovate without the associated chaos.

Advertisers are demanding for new ways to deliver content; e.g., mobile, Tivo, iPad, which is one of the drivers behind the current pace of digital innovation and, hence, the chaos. The amount and pace of innovation that comes out of this industry is staggering — ad production technologists, such as Google, Pubmatic and FreeWheel, providing a constant source of innovations for increasing the value we bring to advertisers. But those innovations must be integrated into the business, rather than the business being a slave to the innovations.

What’s the key to providing transparency on every transaction level?

Data. But data is the easy part. Getting it all in one place is the challenge.

So who is easier to deal with — the supply side or the demand side? If you had to side with one in a fight, who would you go with?

You cannot choose one over the other. Ask Apple. Providing value requires a robust ability to seamlessly combine components of the value chain to create true scalable value. But value cannot be realized unless you can manage all distribution channels with a high degree of rigor.

These are not new problems and the solutions already exist. Demand planning and supply chain management go back to the first farmer’s market. They just need to be translated for our space. That is not an easy job, but the scale we have achieved allows us the resources to get the job done for our clients.

DIGIDAY:DAILY – Operative Buys Solbright With Sites Set Far Beyond Digital

by Melinda Gipson on Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Strengthens Company Market Share and Brings Scale to Advertising Business Management Category

New York, NY- October 18, 2010 – Operative, the advertising business management company, today announced it has acquired Solbright, a pioneer in digital advertising operations solutions. Founded in 1999 and based in New York City, Solbright is a leading provider of revenue and workflow operations software that currently helps leading websites to manage their online advertising.  The deal strengthens Operative’s market position as the company estimates its solutions now manage more than 30 percent of digital advertising spend, and counts half of the top 50 online media leaders as clients. Terms were not disclosed.

“Having entered the digital ad operations market on the ground floor, Solbright’s ultimate goal has always been to establish the company as a leading innovator in the space,” said Tom Pace, President and CEO, Solbright. “Today’s announcement marks a significant milestone in that journey, as we recognized a tremendous opportunity to influence the market by joining Operative’s strengths with ours. With more than 200 customers now looking to Operative to meet their digital advertising needs, we are well-poised to become the standard business infrastructure supporting media industry leaders of today and tomorrow.”

Earlier this month Operative launched Operative.One, the first advertising business management platform to deliver freedom from the complexities of the digital value chain by integrating all processes and systems necessary to package, sell, traffic, manage, optimize and bill ads. Operative.One provides media companies and their partners with end-to-end business transparency, resulting in a boost in operational efficiencies and reduction in transaction costs.  Resources from the combined companies will manage upgrades to Operative.One for joint clients throughout 2011. 

“Joining forces with Solbright gives us the critical mass to solidify our position within cross-platform digital advertising,” said Mike Leo, CEO and President of Operative. “This powerful combination enables Operative to truly deliver the enterprise-class infrastructure media companies require to effectively and efficiently run their business.  I am excited to work with a team of this caliber to further our commitment to enabling client success in our ever-evolving marketplace.”

The acquisition augments Operative’s current product development and client services functions with 11 years of deep domain expertise in digital advertising operations.  Solbright employees will immediately play an integral role in the continued development of Operative.One while also ensuring business continuity for existing clients.  This increased scale will benefit the combined client base through:

• Delivery of broader and deeper integrations with demand and supply-side systems
• Acceleration of Operative.One product innovation in the areas of analytics and enhanced cross-platform support
• A robust Digital Media Index that provides access to actionable insights on industry pricing and spending trends
• Enhancements to an already high level of client service and support

“As media companies depend more and more on revenue from digital advertising, solving the difficult problem of integrating the variety of platforms in the digital ecosystem becomes critical to their businesses,” said Andrew Frank, Research Vice President with Gartner’s Media research team.  “Both Operative and Solbright are strong forces in the digital advertising space, so I’m encouraged that this deal can create the kind of scale necessary to bring a comprehensive solution to the market.”

About Operative
Established in 2000, Operative (www.operative.com) is the advertising business management company that gives media industry leaders and their partners the freedom to move fast and forward with solutions that eliminate complexities within the advertising ecosystem.  Through the alignment of people, process and technology, Operative.One brings together the business processes and systems necessary to package, sell, traffic, manage, optimize and collect revenue on advertising products. More than 200 industry leaders, representing more than 30 percent of digital advertising revenue, rely on Operative, including The Wall Street Journal, MSN, Smart Money, NBC Universal and National Public Media. Operative is headquartered in New York City.

Operative Launches First Advertising Business Management Solution for Media Industry Leaders of Today and Tomorrow

Operative.One joins demand and supply sides of the advertising ecosystem

New York, NY- October 5, 2010 - Operative, the advertising business management company, today announced the general availability of Operative.One.  The first advertising business management solution to join the demand and supply sides of the advertising ecosystem, Operative.One provides freedom from the complexities of the digital value chain by integrating all processes and systems necessary to package, sell, traffic, manage, optimize and bill ads. With Operative.One, media companies and their partners enjoy end-to-end business transparency, resulting in a boost in operational efficiencies and reduction in transaction costs.

End-to-End Solution

Operative.One is an entirely new platform and major upgrade over the company’s flagship product, Operative Dashboard. It serves publishers, networks and agencies with unique functionality to address specific business needs for every aspect of the digital media lifecycle:

• Reduced RFP response time
• Increased yield by maximizing sell-through and minimizing under-delivery
• Delivery of error-free campaigns on time
• Reduced time to close billing cycle from weeks to days
• Collecting 100% of contracted revenue by eliminating discrepancies

A powerful ad master model provides a flexible foundation that ensures an ad unit touches all relevant demand and supply processes.  Integration is supported not only with internal business systems, such as CRM, financial systems and ad servers, but also dynamic external platforms – including networks, data providers and exchanges – relied upon for an accurate account of sellable inventory. 

This release of Operative.One has a particular focus on maximizing yield with robust features for greater flexibility and control over the dynamic nature of digital product and inventory management. Uniquely, Operative.One supports selling audiences and complex targeting-based products, including the management of inventory associated with multi-dimensional products. Inventory management capabilities provide sellers with a deep and comprehensive view of capacity, availability and contenders for multi-target products at the point of sale. The solution also addresses the overlapping nature of multi-target inventory, automatically distributing campaigns across the most appropriate targets.

Cars.com, the leading destination for online car shoppers, will be upgrading from Operative Dashboard to Operative.One. “Maximizing yield is critical to our advertising business operations at Cars.com. After using Operative Dashboard for the past three years to streamline processes and increase visibility, we are excited about the added flexibility, efficiency and transparency that Operative.One promises,” said Michael Kraut, Vice President of National Sales, Cars.com. “We expect that robust new functionality and continued superior service will significantly impact our ability to most effectively build, sell and manage inventory, as well as execute on our key performance indicators.”

Open, Future-Proof Platform

A recent survey by DM2PRO.com revealed that greater than half of all campaigns for the top 10 percent of publishers are cross-platform (include mobile, video, display components in a single order), and 60 percent of publishers plan to sell cross-platform campaigns in the next 6-12 months. As advertiser demand for brand-driven solutions grows, the convergence of mobile, video, print and broadcast advertising will introduce new complexities to the advertising ecosystem.  As an open platform supporting a diverse set of established and emerging partners, Operative.One offers interfaces for extensibility that ease the creation of custom applications and integration of data.  The platform is architected to flexibly support cross-platform advertising and all display, mobile and video needs today, as well as accommodate future demands for cross-media packaging. 

“When we created Operative Dashboard five years ago to unify data, orders and workflow in one system, it was a time when the digital advertising ecosystem was far less complex,” said Mike Leo, President and CEO, Operative.  “Since then, technology innovation and business processes involving multiple parties have created an increasingly fragmented value chain, and this will only continue. Operative.One brings it all together for greater transparency and efficiency so that today’s and tomorrow’s media leaders can focus less on business infrastructure and more on innovating their products and building client relationships.”

About Operative
Established in 2000, Operative (www.operative.com) is the advertising business management company that gives media industry leaders and their partners the freedom to move fast and forward with solutions that eliminate complexities within the advertising ecosystem.  Through the alignment of people, process and technology, Operative.One brings together the business processes and systems necessary to package, sell, traffic, manage, optimize and collect revenue on advertising products. More than 175 industry leaders rely on Operative, including The Wall Street Journal, MSN, Smart Money, NBC Universal and National Public Media. Operative is headquartered in New York City.