Back-to-school is the second highest shopping season in the U.S., and Americans are projected to spend $83.6 billion this year -- an increase of more than 10% over last year. Back-to-school shopping offers a huge opportunity for digital marketers, advertisers, and retailers to reach summer shoppers and gear up their digital strategies for the holiday season.

Where and how are consumers shopping this year? Download our infographic to study up on the back-to-school spending stats and facts.

Centro kicked off the summer with 13 new interns in Chicago, New York, and Dallas. For 10 exciting weeks, our Centerns – as we lovingly call them – were spread across multiple teams and given the opportunity to get hands-on learning experience. They took on digital ad campaigns, individual projects, and community service work, and soaked up everything they could about the industry in the meantime.

Over the next couple of weeks, we'll be featuring their experiences on the blog. Today, we'll give you a look into the internship program through the eyes of our New York Centerns.

Kaela Green, Paid Social Intern
I just graduated from Penn State with a degree in marketing and international business. While I was in school, I loved being involved in everything – from event planning to philanthropy and tutoring.

Centro's investment in the growth and personal development of employees was a huge reason I pursued the internship program. I was eager to get some experience before starting a full-time job, and the fact that Centro's interns are often given full-time opportunities is exactly what I was looking for. Aside from learning that I have a cold brew addiction, in 10 weeks, I have learned more about building and optimizing campaigns than four years of college could teach (no offense PSU)! The fact that we operate across multiple verticals and have such a diverse portfolio makes this place an endless learning experience!

I am in love with a number of learning seminars available! There are “Lunch and Learns" every week, online conferences/webinars from field experts, and I'm even going to Facebook's New York office next week to learn about best practices directly from them!

My overall advice to future Centerns is that this is the kind of place you should put your all in, because you'll get it all right back. From the people here to the meaningful work you do, I can't imagine how anyone could ever say this is a negative experience or waste of time.

Matan Horenstein, Media Associate Intern
I'm originally from Portland, Oregon, and I just graduated from Yeshiva University with a degree in business intelligence and marketing analytics.

I love coming into the office every morning. On my first day, I was assigned a mentor who has taken me under her wing, taught me how to achieve my daily tasks, and answered any question I have. I have a manager who legitimately cares about my happiness and well-being, and a team that is eager to teach and see me grow. I am surrounded by fun, passionate, and driven co-workers that I have had the pleasure of getting to know. I have learned so much about the digital media and advertising industry, which makes me feel more confident than ever to begin my professional career.

Centro lives by the values of the manifesto in everything they do, from their “raving fan" service to supporting local charities. While interning here, I helped feed 320 lunches to homeless citizens and raised hundreds of dollars to buy new backpacks and educational supplies for children who live in poverty. I often go home in awe that I've had the chance to work for such an impressive, challenging, and philanthropic company.

If you are considering applying for the internship program, don't waste any more of your time: Apply today. The program has been a life-changing and career-guiding opportunity that I will carry with me for the rest of my life.

Terrence McLaughlin, Associate Programmatic Buyer Intern
I'm from Wilton, Connecticut, and I just recently graduated from Elon University in North Carolina with a degree in strategic communications.

I've spent the past two months learning how to build, monitor, and optimize programmatic ad campaigns that will increase performance for clients – all while collaborating with other teams and navigating the digital advertising ecosystem. I work with my mentor and other members of PBT to perfect my RFPs and builds. Unlike some of my previous internships, I feel that I'm well utilized and considered an equal to every other employee. I've found that my work plays an important role in the performance of my team, as well as the rest of the company.

My advice to a prospective Centern is to come to Centro with an eagerness to learn. You're encouraged here to avoid the typical workplace curse of plateauing, be mindful of your skill level, and have a desire to learn from others. That's what has helped make for a great internship experience.

Additionally, the best Centro employees are those who are motivated by the core values of the company. When you come to Centro, it's important to remind yourself of these values and which ones are most important (for me it's self-improvement) and try to apply them wherever you can.

Berenice Mosso, Paid Search Intern
I graduated with a BA in English from CUNY Brooklyn College and I worked as a teacher for a while. While working as a teacher by day, I was a digital marketing student by night at this really cool program called COOP (I totally recommend students checking them out at coop.cx). I applied to Centro's summer internship program right after COOP and get in.

This summer has been a blast. I've met a lot of people and have learned more about paid search. I have worked on RFPs and search submissions, pulled reports from Kenshoo, researched keywords using the Adwords Keyword Planner, and created ad copy for search builds.

If you have more questions about our internship program or would like to apply to be a part of the program, please reach out to [email protected].

Centro’s Invite-Only Ad Marketplace Receives Top Grades for Authenticated Traffic and Player Size

Chicago – Aug. 10, 2017 – Centro (centro.net), a provider of enterprise-class software for digital advertising, today announced that it has attained the No. 1 position in the latest Pixalate Video Seller Trust Index (VSTI) in the U.S. The Centro Brand Exchange achieved the recognition because of high grades on traffic quality and video player size. ​Pixalate, a leader in fraud protection and data intelligence, created the VSTI to provide a cross-platform rating system for video advertising, spanning programmatic TV, mobile and desktop video. The Centro Brand Exchange is an invite-only ad marketplace that consists of premium journalistic sites across all devices. Its sources for video inventory include publishers such as Dallas Morning News and E.W Scripps. For more information, visit: centro.net/products/ad-exchange-for-publishers.

There are many concerns about the quality and opportunities in digital video ads because its high value attracts fraudulent and questionable behavior. According to comScore, ad fraud is complex, with 80% of global invalid traffic (IVT) being rated as sophisticated. The firm also observes that invalid traffic rates on video ads sourced through open ad exchanges are 4.5 times higher than those through direct buys. Furthermore, U.S. viewability rate for desktop video ads is only 41 percent. Centro is meeting these challenges through a high-class video ad marketplace where buyers and sellers are vetted carefully and only large player format is available.

“Centro Brand Exchange aims to strengthen the trust and transparency between ad buyers and sellers by combining proprietary advertising demand, journalistic content and scaled audiences,” said Katie Risch, EVP of customer experience, Centro. “When customers choose the Centro Brand Exchange, they gain a consultative, principled partner with a nearly two-decade track record of helping media organizations improve performance and drive revenue.”

The Centro Brand Exchange offers brand-safety at scale. Its invite-only approach puts publishers in select company with 1,700 top-notch journalistic sites including those published by major newspapers, magazines, television stations, radio stations, and more. Centro combats fake news by supporting authenticated real news publishers that pay content creators. According to Trust Metrics, Centro Brand Exchange sites are ranked 103% higher than industry benchmarks. The Centro Brand Exchange is continuously vetting quality video publishers and is focused on growing their highly ranked inventory.

Centro taps into direct demand by making inventory available to buyers across major channels, devices and ad formats. Publisher partners benefit from Centro’s in-market agency and advertiser relationships across 6,000+ brands, as well as ad spend from all major demand-side platforms (DSPs).

Pixalate's Video Seller Trust Index
Pixalate’s VSTI evaluates nearly 200 distinct per impression metrics based on an analysis of more than 100 billion impressions to determine reputation. Seller quality ratings are determined using machine-learning to analyze and score sellers for overall effectiveness assessing fraud, as well as new metrics including comparative Gross​ Rating Points (GRP)​, reach, player size, and engagement in compliance with recognized industry standards.

About Centro
Centro (centro.net) is a provider of enterprise-class software for digital advertising organizations. Its technology platform centralizes, organizes and automates all digital media campaigns across all channels, accessing both guaranteed and biddable inventory, to achieve any objective. Our holistic approach gives marketers a single system of record to fulfill their research, planning, buying, optimization, reporting and reconciliation needs. Headquartered in Chicago with 32 offices in North America, Centro has received numerous accolades for its commitment to employees and workplace culture.

# # #

Contact:

Pam McBride

[email protected]

888-216-3939

Staying on top of paid search management is a crucial element to campaign success, but it's often complex. Where you do start?

The good news? You've already got a head start, because we brought you up to speed on the basics of paid search during our May webinar.

The better news? For our next webinar, we're going to take your paid search game to the next level. We'll explore advanced tactics and innovative trends you need to be paying attention to in the space – so you can target smarter, make your media dollars work harder, and stay one step ahead of the digital competition.

Join us and Centro's Associate Director of Paid Search, Lindsay Martin, on Wednesday, August 16, as she discusses:

• What to keep in mind when optimizing
• AdWords targeting that goes beyond keywords and geographies
• How the big players in the search space are innovating
• What trends to watch and how to think about the future of search

Ready to become a paid search guru? Then click here to learn more information and save your spot. Can't make it this month? Be sure to visit our resource center to view presentations and content from past 3T webinars.

Centro kicked off the summer with 13 new interns in Chicago, New York, and Dallas. For 10 exciting weeks, our Centerns – as we lovingly call them – were spread across multiple teams and given the opportunity to get hands-on learning experience. They took on digital ad campaigns, individual projects, and community service work, and soaked up everything they could about the industry in the meantime.

Over the next couple of weeks, we'll be featuring their experiences on the blog. Today, we'll give you a look into the internship program through the eyes of our Dallas Centerns.

Kate Latham, Paid Social Intern
I went to Texas Tech University and majored in marketing.

After graduating, I knew I wanted to be in digital advertising, but needed more experience. Interning at Centro was a great way to get my foot in the door and learn a lot. I help pace campaigns, adjust budgets, assist with creative swaps, and test audience availabilities on different ad sets. I also put together client-facing and internal one sheeters and case studies. I could go on for days about everything I've learned about paid social this summer, but basically: the knowledge I've gained has been invaluable.

We also got to help plan a Giving Tree project and that was very cool. I'm new to Dallas, so it was a great way to learn about different volunteer organizations and opportunities.

My advice to people considering this internship program is to just do it. You will never be in a better position to learn more -- without the pressure of being a full-time employee.

Kelsey Brockett, Media Associate Intern
I'm originally from Dallas, but I graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a degree in public relations.

My day-to-day tasks include helping the media associates with pacing, screenshots, actualizations, kickoff emails, processing IOs and traffic sheets. I also create research decks for the retail, CPG, and QSR industries, cultivate a publisher library for strategists to use, and create “Campaign of Champions" case studies, highlighting successful Centro digital campaigns.

My favorite part of this internship has been getting to learn about digital ad campaigns and the people behind them! It might sound cheesy, but Centro has the coolest people. They are patient, helpful, smart, and kind, and I am so appreciative of that.

Interning here as taught me that it's important to love the company's culture and people just as much as you love the work. Also, there are no stupid questions. Everyone is constantly learning in this industry, and personal growth and development are key.

My advice to a future Centern: Get ready for an awesome summer! Come in with an open mind, a notepad, and a pen – and make sure to say hi/get to know everyone!

If you have more questions about our internship program or would like to apply to be a part of the program, please reach out to [email protected].

At Centro, we know that keeping up with the trade pubs and latest trends can be tough and time consuming. To make that easier, we've compiled all the articles, reports, and other bits of awesomeness you may have missed, but should definitely read. Enjoy our latest list below!

The Rise of Self-Service in Ad-Tech
As media buyers call for more transparency, the media planning and buying ad tech industry is moving toward a self-service model. This shift allows media buyers to have their own bidding tool and manage their data in-house. The appetite is there from the buy side, but it seems many technology companies have been hesitant to fully develop the platforms and are instead relying on recent acquisitions to create an end-to-end solution. #BasisFTW

Outbrain Acquires Native DSP Zemanta
This deal comes after months of speculation of an Outbrain and Taboola merger. Instead, it will bring together Outbrain's native recommendation ad products and Zemanta's native DSP, which has access to 30 native supply platforms, including Outbrain and their competitors.

Discovery Aims for Content Clout with Scripps Network Bid
This $11.9 billion deal will bring together Scripps' largely female-focused lifestyle channels such as HGTV, Travel Channel, and Food Network with Discovery's Animal Planet and Discovery Channel, whose viewers are primarily male. With more viewers watching shows and movies on their phones, tablets, and phablets, U.S. TV networks and cable providers are feeling the pressure. The hope is this will give Discovery & Scripps an advantage in skinny bundle negotiations and economy-priced cable packages. One thing is for sure: The Puppy Bowl and Property Brothers tie-in is going to be adorable.

Adobe Finally Kills Flash Dead
Adobe has announced 2020 as the end-of-life date for Flash. For a guy who taught himself Flash in 2000 and spent the early part of his career designing ads in Flash, this is the end of an era.

Experimenting with VR Ad Formats
Gaze Here Now: From Area 120, Google's internal workshop for experimental ideas, comes the early stage experiment of what a native, mobile VR ad format might look like. Check out a couple of examples created by developers experimenting with the forthcoming ARKit from Apple.

With Echo, Amazon is Emerging as a Friend to Publishers
Publishers say Amazon has given them significant freedom to create skills for the Echo — and has even been willing to make accommodations publisher requests. In this honeymoon stage, Amazon has also allowed some publishers to monetize Echo without asking for a cut. “Alexa – how long will this last?"

For the Wealthiest Americans, Amazon Prime has Become the Norm
82% of households with annual incomes above $112,000 have access to free two-day shipping and both seasons of Man in the High Castle — whereas only about half of households making under $41,000 have an Amazon Prime membership. Recognizing the opportunity for growth, and in an attempt to woo Walmart shoppers, Amazon announced a half-price pay by the month ($5.99) option for low-income shoppers.

Android and iOS Updates Pump the Brakes on Location Data
With the looming mobile operating system updates, Apple will make changes that give consumers more control and insight into when apps are using their location. Android is making changes to limit the amount and frequency of background data available for developers. Their intention is to eliminate apps that capture a user's location, but don't provide the value associated with that exchange.

August's DIAL is also available as a PDF. Download here!

Centro kicked off the summer with 13 new interns in Chicago, New York, and Dallas. For 10 exciting weeks, our Centerns – as we lovingly call them – were spread across multiple teams and given the opportunity to get hands-on learning experience. They took on digital ad campaigns, individual projects, and community service work, while soaking up everything they could about the industry in the meantime.

Over the next couple of weeks, we'll be featuring their experiences on the blog. Today, we'll give you a look into the internship program through the eyes of our Chicago Centerns.

Sarah Newell, Media Associate Intern
I went to the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana and majored in advertising and minored in informatics. I was attracted to Centro because ad tech is the perfect combination of my studies!

I am currently an intern for the Publisher Solutions team. I work with several different markets, mainly assisting the publisher specialists whenever they need help. This could mean setting up campaigns in Basis Platform, pacing campaigns using Basis DSP, or talking to publishers about different ways to optimize campaigns.

My favorite part of this program is that every week someone takes time to give the interns a presentation about a different department or a different role in the company. We're at the beginning of our careers and learning at a big company, so it's a great way to discover what opportunities are out there and how we can grow at Centro.

Through this internship, I've learned that if you ask, people will go out of their way to help you. For example, I told my boss that I really enjoyed learning about how different teams work together, and now she's setting up a workshop with our team and the sales reps, so they can give us an intro on how they sell.

That above and beyond is such a great example of what initially attracted me to Centro's internship program: the people and the opportunities.

Maggie Nemoy, Insights Intern
I went to Vanderbilt in Nashville, where I majored in economics and minored in math and corporate strategy (yes, I am a total math nerd). At Vanderbilt, I was so happy surrounded by the group of intelligent and caring students, and I wanted a similar environment at work – which I found at Centro.

My daily work consists of creating insights and strategy briefs for different campaigns – that means I pull data on what our competitors are spending on different ad platforms, and use data platforms to research consumers and their media habits. Also, when a campaign manager wants to include a feedback survey with their advertisement, I'm in charge of coordinating with our brand study partner and setting the studies up.

Outside of the work, the best part has been having so much fun getting to know the other interns and making good friends. I also feel like I learned something new every day. I've learned that it's really special to work at a place that embraces making (reasonable) mistakes and learning from them. Which is why my advice to future Centerns is to work hard and have fun, but don't be afraid to make a mistake!

Caroline Nugent, Analytical Operations Intern
As a recent graduate of Michigan State University, I was thrilled to move to Chicago and join the team. Centro's commitment to providing its employees with opportunities to learn, grow, and innovate in the digital advertising landscape initially attracted me.

I'm more than halfway done with the experience, and I can say I've gained valuable exposure to the solutions and platforms that Centro uses for campaign performance analysis. The internship program has been very well organized, and the weekly meetings have given us all the opportunity to better understand the different teams and their roles within the company.

Plus, everyone is very welcoming, passionate about what they do, and more than willing to answer questions. It was a big transition to move to a new city from my hometown, but everyone at Centro has been so welcoming and given me tons of recommendations for places to explore and restaurants to try!

Matthew Langshur, Software Engineering Intern
I'm still in school at McGill University in Montreal studying mechanical engineering. This past year, to get more involved in engineering, I joined a student club where we built a functioning race car and competed against other universities.

This summer, I was tasked with investigating and beginning to implement the use of load testing tools for Basis Platform. This meant learning about the platform and learning Ruby so I could successfully research and test different load testing solutions. While the work I was assigned wouldn't prove difficult to an experienced developer, it would take a considerable amount of time to fully research, and the fact that I helped contribute makes this internship memorable and impactful.

Centro has taught me more than I could have imagined. I'm now familiar with several programming languages and, as a result, have a much better understanding of web development – something they won't teach you in school.

My advice to a prospective Centern is to work hard (obviously), but don't shy away from a task even if it seems too difficult. With enough resolve and work, anything is achievable.

Torie Patterson, Media Associate Intern
I went to Denison University and majored in communications. I love to play tennis and travel which is why I studied abroad in Greece and London.

Here's a snapshot of what my internship entails: Beyond helping out the team with anything they need, I also assist with managing live campaigns, help to monitor performance of campaigns, help to process and approve publisher IOs, and facilitate order revisions and approvals of revised IOs

One of my favorite parts of the program has been our involvement in Giving Tree project, where we all went to the Lincoln Park Community Shelter to make lunch for the guests, spend time with them, and hear about their lives. It was really great to embody Centro's manifesto by giving back, and it was a special experience to see the impact we made!

What would I tell a prospective Centern? That this internship is an amazing opportunity, they will learn so much beyond their specific role, and get direct, hands-on experience in digital media.

Paola Gutierrez, Marketing Intern
I went to Loyola University Chicago and majored in marketing and international business. I am currently pursuing my MBA at Loyola's Quinlan School of Business. In my free time, I love to try new foods, play board games, read, and travel!

Every day I support the team in a variety of ways. Some days I help with event set-up and logistics (researching and contacting food truck vendors, restaurants and rooftop bars, or boat companies). Other days I help contribute content to our social media channels and the blog (I wrote these lovely intern blog posts). Sometimes I'm doing analysis to figure out how our social media accounts stack up against the competition.

My favorite part of my internship has been planning and being a part of our Giving Tree Project, because it gave me the opportunity to meet people all around the company who contributed food donations for the meal we cooked at Lincoln Park Community Shelter. Our project showed me that everyone at Centro really does live by the manifesto, particularly their dedication to others.

I would tell a prospective Centern to meet as many people as they can, and to try to learn something new every day.

If you have more questions about our internship program or would like to apply to be a part of the program, please reach out to [email protected].

Brand and agency marketers descended on Chicago last week for the Midwest outpost of the Modern Marketing Summit. Attendees connected over what's new and exciting and challenging in today's digital industry, with a particular focus on how evolving technology is affecting retail, CPG, and QSR marketing.

As with any conference, there were larger, common themes and hot topics discussed – and we're highlighting some below:

Mobile data partners should carefully evaluate the collection of app data.
It's a joint effort: Mobile data partners that offer mobile advertising audiences and the brands and marketers that leverage them need to be cognizant of how data is being collected on mobile users. This must be done with regard for user permissions, and they must work to understand the collection process – whether it be data that comes directly from publishers or from app SDKs they have access to.

Brands have been adopting advertising-based forms of artificial intelligence for years.
AI is defined as the development of computer systems able to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages. Technically, adoption of AI dates back to when brands and marketers started executing search engine marketing and, after, the rise of programmatic and optimizations of programmatic tech learning over time.

Despite the expectations for AI, humans will continue to lead the digital advertising selling process.
Some hypothesize that the advancement of AI will result in the loss of digital media jobs that are currently occupied by people. However, panelists discussing the topic contended that tactful sell-in of media concepts and strategic evaluations of media will continue to require human oversight. Qualitative optimizations will also require human thinking, so it's more likely jobs will evolve in the space rather than be lost to AI.

Ads aren't made for the sake of serving impressions, but for reaching people.
Clients put so much focus on using technology and algorithms to hit KPIs, while forgetting that no matter how digitally-focused today's world may be, the goal of digital ads remains the same: reach human beings. This means that ads must speak to us – not just by reaching the right individuals, but by identifying and speaking to us at meaningful moments in our day.

Saying you need big data doesn't mean you know what to do with it.
One panelist cited an IBM study where approximately 70% of surveyed CMOs said they wanted to invest in programmatic media -- except roughly the same percentage of those surveyed CMOs identified themselves as not truly knowing what programmatic was. A similar (though perplexing) comparison can be drawn for marketers and brands wanting big data, but not knowing what they want it for. Organizations may want to try putting less emphasis on amassing large sums of data, and instead focus on building infrastructure or resources that digest data into insights. Even if it's on a smaller level, the insights and intelligence they gather will help to solve client problems.

Brands should focus on the collection of CRM data.
It might sound like a no-brainer, but there's no denying the value of collecting high-quality CRM data for audience targeting. A panelist from Kellogg's noted the brand's constant effort to collect CRM data and constantly refresh their large and growing data set. In order to make their robust first-party data work harder and more powerfully, the brand consistently interacts with their existing customer base by offering them new reasons to stay in touch. This ensures high-value customers remain actively engaged and primed for new ad campaign messaging.

"Further automation, more sophisticated algorithms: What's music to the ears of brands’ bottom lines and media efficiency is slowly encroaching on the role that actual humans play in the ad ecosystem."

Read more in MediaPost.