How Independence From Media Has Made Adform a Hidden GEM

by Rebecca Muir on 21st Jun 2016 in TRADERTALK

In this episode of TraderTalk TV, filmed aboard Adform's boat at Cannes, ExchangeWire's CEO, Ciaran O'Kane speaks to: Gustav Mellentin, co-founder and CEO at Adform; Oli Whitten, COO; and Jay Stevens, CRO.

O'Kane describes Adform as a 'hidden gem', citing their full-stack and their independence from media (meaning there is no conflict of interest) as reasons.

The ad tech luminaries discuss other key factors that have led to such an accolade, including:

– Transfer of knowledge, specifically Stevens' and Whitten's transition from sell- (Rubicon) to buy-side

– Transition from ad server to DSP and DMP; executed by an impressive 350-strong team of code-committing engineers

– Adform's long-term approach to entering new markets

They also look to the future and ponder:

– The opportunity in LATAM and the nuances of the region, including operating in such a way that does not require money to leave the country in which it exists because of strict tax regulations

– How Brazil has grown to be the seventh-largest media market in the world – despite the reduced fluidity of cash

– The need for a single-stack solution that allows buying in-market, in local currency

– Whether programmatic guaranteed will thrive following the rapid decline of PMPs

– The evolution of trading agreements between media agencies and publishers, and how they will change if programmatic guaranteed takes off