Brand Networks Acquires Clickable; Unveils Azalea Commerce to Accelerate "Shopper Centric" Walled Gardens

NEW YORK, May 14, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Brand Networks, the innovative technology provider and media solutions partner to the world's biggest walled gardens, today announces the acquisition of Clickable, and with it, the formation of a new holding company that leverages the tech, experience, and data of both companies. The new organization, Azalea Commerce, is on a mission to help retail brands establish self-contained advertising platforms powered by permissions-based, first-party data.

Backed by Private Equity firm AEA Investors, Brand Networks shareholders and a $40M investment from a strategic partner, Azalea Commerce is equipped to accelerate the monetization of transactional, behavioral, and purchase data owned by retailers effective immediately.

The organization has formed in response to significant disruption in the media landscape which places transactional data and the retailers that own it in a powerful new position. Shopper data enables advertisers to predict future behavior and measure advertising results like never before.

"To-date, Brand Networks and Clickable combined have generated over $5 billion in advertising demand for the leading programmatic exchanges, publishers and social walled gardens," said Jamie Tedford, Brand Networks Founder and Chairman of the Board. "Azalea Commerce applies that knowledge and experience to power data monetization for a new category of customers — the retailers now competing in the walled garden economy."

"The launch of Azalea Commerce gives Brand Networks a strong platform to nourish organic growth of our current lines of business while adding new capabilities for customers and partners," said Dave Fall, CEO, Brand Networks. "According to recent research from Gartner, CPG marketers will spend $178 Billion on 'shopper marketing' this year. Some $55 Billion of this spend is expected to move from in-store to online advertising before 2020. Azalea Commerce is uniquely suited to capitalize on this dynamic and explosive growth market."

The Clickable acquisition adds new analytics, search, and data products to Azalea Commerce's programmatic technology stack, built by Brand Networks and enhanced through previously acquired companies, SHIFT and Optimal. Additional capabilities in programmatic display, video and connected TV were secured through a strategic and exclusive partnership with Tapad's media business in 2018. 

Azalea Commerce goes to market with five offerings to serve demand-side agencies and brand customers, existing publisher and platform partnerships, as well as shopper-centric walled gardens. 

• Brand Networks, our flagship offering, will continue as the media services center-of-excellence, providing social, video, display and search managed services to agencies and brands.
• Iris by Brand Networks, the award-winning, AI-powered platform provides streamlined automation, optimization, data integration and media planning tools driven by AI technology.
• Azalea Consulting, the multidisciplinary team comprised of seasoned engineers, data scientists, and systems integrators that collaboratively architect and build next-generation walled gardens for first-party data owners.
• GO Local, the local advertising platform that gives retail marketers the tools to create local content and automate hyper-targeted social advertising to drive store traffic, local awareness, larger basket size, and repeat visits.
• Shoppably (BETA), the shopper marketing and co-op advertising workflow tool that streamlines collaboration between CPG businesses and leading shopper-centric walled gardens, enabling buying of owned inventory and "shoppable" ads from leading social platforms.

About Azalea Commerce

Azalea Commerce is a holding company created to accelerate development and monetization of new shopper centric advertising 'walled gardens'. It integrates five core offerings that serve demand-side agencies and brands, existing publisher and platform partnerships, and emerging retail advertising ecosystems. The organization is backed by existing Brand Networks shareholders and a $40 million strategic partner investment.

About Brand Networks

Brand Networks solves the newest and toughest media challenges for the world's most impactful brands and agencies. Since 2005, the company has created marketing and advertising solutions that blend engineering and expertise to make media work across every digital touchpoint. More than 1,500 businesses trust Brand Networks to develop winning media strategies and deliver holistic brand experiences across social, display, video, connected TV and Amazon. The company is headquartered in Boston with 10 offices worldwide.

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SOURCE Azalea Commerce; Brand Networks