Technology

Posted on June 12, 2019 by staff

Can tech bring TV advertising into the 21st Century?

Technology

The president and co-founder of a French AdTech platform has announced plans to expand his company’s UK presence and help tech-first companies understand TV advertising.

Pierre Figeat announced the plans after raising €6 million in a Series B funding round.

The TV radio analytics platform will hire around 70 people at its fledgling London base, having already secured big-name clients including ASOS and match.com.

Admo.tv is aiming to grow its UK headcount to 70 by the end of 2019, in line with its Paris headquarters. It will also open new offices in Spain and Germany and continue to develop its platform based on TV detection technology.

Referred to as ‘fingerprinting’, it can tell when an online visitor has visited a website as a result of a TV or radio advert.

On the reason for the creation of the tech, Figeat explains that it was a matter of necessity.

“There was not a precise measurement of the performance of exactly a single ad of the TV campaign,” he explained. “We understood that this link between the TV and digital would mean we could bring value to brands.”

The company worked with online fashion brand ASOS on its first TV campaign, helping the digitally native company measure the impact with as much precision as it was used to in the online world.

“When those type of brands want to try TV they need to be able to measure everything and be very granular and precise,” he said. “We see the UK as one of our key markets, particularly given its commitment towards innovation and its strong AdTech heritage.

“We look forward to building our team in the city and growing our roster of UK-based customers.”

The entrepreneur, who spends most of his time in London, said the UK’s £6 billion spend on TV presence – and its ability to work with US advertisers – makes it a prime European location. Compared to its physically larger neighbours, it spends more than France (£5bn), Germany (£4bn) and Spain (£3bn).

The company intends to extend its use to include the impact of TV advertising not only on digital environments but also on brand reputation and traffic in physical stores. Its new media prediction tool will offer advertisers the opportunity to buy TV advertising based on audience behavior and engagement.

For any European company, planning a UK expansion as Brexit looms raises some difficult challenges, but Figeat said it could be an opportunity to rethink the way potentially tighter budgets are spend on advertising.

“One of the problems of Brexit is global media budgets could reduce in the UK,” he said. “I really believe that the future of TV is being able to drive your investments almost in real time based on performance KPIs and audience KPIs.”

The firm’s latest funding round was led by Runa Capital, Entrepreneur Venture and Cap Décisif and followed a €1.5m round completed in 2016 with Entrepreneur Venture and Kerala Ventures, bringing total investment to €7.5m to date.

Baptiste Brunin, CEO and co-founder of Admo.tv, said of the funding: “This round is part of our mission to become the go-to TV measurement and amplification platform for agencies and brands across Europe.

“With the global TV analytics market expected to reach $4.2 billion by 2023, we are excited to demonstrate the relevance of these channels for today’s consumers – allowing brands to capitalise on the significant opportunities presented by a well-planned and holistic TV advertising campaign.

“Perhaps most importantly, we are committed to raising the value of traditionally offline channels for advertisers, agencies and viewers alike.”