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Vox Media, the leading independent modern media company, today announced Concert Local, a centralized advertising marketplace bringing together a collection of trusted local media brands, built in partnership with the Google News Initiative, Google’s effort to help journalism thrive in the digital age. The product is an extension of the award-winning national advertising marketplace, Concert, launched by Vox Media in 2016.
Concert Local offers national marketers centralized access to trusted local publishers’ digital audiences at scale and smaller brands an alternative solution to advertise around quality content at the local level, with the same brand safety and performance that Vox Media has built over the last four years with Concert. Publishers within the marketplace gain access to national advertising campaigns and new revenue streams to help build sustainable businesses.
“Over the last decade, Vox Media has built the technologies needed to power not only our business, but solutions for our partners and the industry at large,” said Trei Brundrett, Chief Operating Officer at Vox Media. “With Concert Local, we are hoping to provide local publishers with revenue opportunities, so they are able to continue building innovative models for the future and further shine a light on the bright spots we are seeing in local journalism.”
“Supporting news organizations of all sizes in finding sustainable business models is central to the Google News Initiative,” said Jason Washing, Google Managing Director of Global Partnerships. “This project with Vox Media is a positive step forward in helping local news publishers attract national advertising campaigns at scale, and activate new revenue streams to fund high-quality journalism in their communities. We’re proud to bring our funding and digital expertise to help build, iterate and improve Concert Local over time.”
Concert Local will draw from over four years of learnings from Concert, where the platform has partnered with over 700 brands to create nearly 13,000 Custom Athenas, leading to nearly 13 billion impressions across the marketplace. With use of the proprietary Athena ad unit, a creative canvas built by Concert that is easy for publishers to integrate, visitors to sites within the Concert Local portfolio will see an improved and non disruptive advertising experience. The unit offers advertisers opportunities for ad personalization at a local level, spanning dozens of formats that support video and beyond.
Omnicom Media Group (OMG), the media services division of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC), has signed on as the launch partner for Concert Local. OMG agencies include Hearts & Science, OMD, PHD and Resolution.
“Concert Local aligns with OMG’s approach to programmatic, which puts curation at the core of our offering to assure an investment context that links media and brand equity,” said Luke Lambert, Head of Programmatic for OMD USA, an OMG agency. “Working with Concert Local, we can drive value for our clients by connecting their brands to trusted local content, while also supporting the important work of local newsrooms across the country.”
Concert Local launches with a number of publishers including Advance Local, Boston Globe, Chicago Sun-Times, CNHI, Dallas Morning News, Deseret News, Hearst Newspapers, Star Tribune, Tampa Bay Times, and Texas Monthly. The marketplace will also include Vox Media networks with strong authority in local markets like Curbed, Eater, Grubstreet and SB Nation.
About Vox Media:
As the leading independent modern media company, Vox Media ignites conversations and influences culture. Across digital, podcasts, TV, streaming, live events, and print, we tell stories that affect our audience’s daily lives and entertain as much as they inform.
Our portfolio features influential and respected editorial properties including Vox, New York Magazine, The Verge, The Cut, Eater, Vulture, The Strategist, Polygon, SB Nation, Intelligencer, Curbed, Grub Street and Recode. Off-platform, the Vox Media Podcast Network offers one of the largest collections of popular podcasts, and Vox Media Studios, inclusive of Epic, produces and distributes award-winning nonfiction shows. Powered by innovative technology that scales quality, the Chorus publishing platform and Concert advertising marketplace answer the always-changing needs of modern audiences, creators and marketers.
Vox Media has been named one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Companies in Media,” an Inc. “Company of the Year,” Digiday’s “Best Company for Parents,” and one of the Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality by the Human Rights Campaign.
About Google News Initiative:
The Google News Initiative (GNI) is a global effort to work with the news industry to help journalism thrive in the digital age. In partnership with news publishers around the world, the GNI aims to foster new thinking in online journalism and aid the development of new publishing business models. In turn, the GNI is committed to sharing knowledge generated from its work with the wider industry. For more information, visit https://newsinitiative.withgoogle.com/about/.
About Omnicom Media Group:
Omnicom Media Group (OMG) is the media services division of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC), the leading global advertising, marketing and corporate communications company, providing services to over 5,000 clients in more than 100 countries. Omnicom Media Group includes the full service global media networks Hearts & Science, OMD and PHD; the Annalect data and analytics platform; performance marketing agency Resolution; and a number of specialty media communications companies.