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Hello everyone! Another Friday is upon us meaning that another work week is in the books. Centrons across North America were busy like bees this week (no surprise there!) but before you sign out for the weekend, check out our Five on Friday:

That’s it for this week, enjoy your weekend and be kind.

Our friends at a southern fast casual BBQ restaurant make a mean pulled pork sandwich. They know that as a QSR company, the best way to retain existing customers is to please their taste buds, but what about reaching new customers? When this BBQ joint released a series of new products, they struggled to determine how to use various digital channels to engage a new consumer audience and entice them to place orders online. Developing an effective cross-channel strategy is challenging, so this company partnered with Centro to find a streamlined approach to accomplishing their business goals. This allowed them to channel their expertise back into what they do best — BBQ.

Recipe for Results

For this challenge, our Centro Audience Buying team whipped out the special sauce - recommending a mixture of targeting tactics across desktop and mobile channels to precisely reach these consumers. Three unique audience segments were defined, each with their own custom-built campaign execution strategy. Each campaign utilized demographic and contextual targeting to align with the interests of the specific segment, metropolitan area and zip code targeting to find them in the right location, and site retargeting to reach those that had already engaged with the QSR brand.

After analyzing the behaviors of the audiences, the Centro team suggested the client leverage the desktop channel to boost site traffic, and the mobile channel to increase and track food orders.

Centro’s media mix hit the spot for this QSR consumer audience. Not only did the client reach their audience and improve online orders, but Centro’s performance-driven approach also exceeded QSR industry benchmarks. Using click-through rate to evaluate traffic drivers, the campaign produced a CTR twice that of the industry benchmark – driving more users to the client’s webpage and increasing awareness of their new products. The performance of the mobile channel followed suit – with a 32% lift in mobile food orders by campaign completion. The BBQ client was thrilled, and continues to increase investment in Centro’s media strategies.

What’s the secret ingredient to Centro’s solutions? We set ourselves apart with a holistic approach to media buying. We pair 13 years and over 100,000 campaigns worth of expertise with the most modern tactics and technology to execute campaigns that are innovative and intuitive. This killer combo gives our clients the performance they need to power their business forward. People and technology are the cornerstones of our business, as well as every #CentroInAction story we release.

Haarlow will serve as Centro’s Regional VP of Media Strategy and Operations, West; Centro Emerges

as Media Powerhouse by Attracting Executives from Spark, DigitasLBi and TM Advertising

LOS ANGELES, CA – September 10, 2014 – Centro (centro.net), a provider of unified, enterprise-class software for digital advertising, today announced the addition of Kristin Haarlow as Regional VP, Media Strategy and Operations for the West. Haarlow is an emerging leader in digital media, having managed $200 million in digital spend across 30+ clients annually for Spark. Haarlow will oversee Centro’s media operations in Los Angeles, Denver and San Francisco. In the past 12 months, Centro has attracted prominent media executives from DigitasLBi and TM Advertising to lead offices in other U.S. regions.

In 2014, Centro helped 900 clients unify and automate digital media buying as well as streamline operations from start to finish. Agencies have come to expect from Centro the highest quality of service reflective of what Haarlow delivered in her nine years at Spark. As vice president of digital investment at Spark in Chicago, she led major accounts such as Purina, Fifth Third Bank, E*Trade, Hanes, Famous Footwear, Dairy Queen and more. Haarlow has a B.A. in business and psychology from Miami University.

“Kristin’s arrival signals the rapid growth we are experiencing among clients in the western U.S., where we are now working with agencies of all types and sizes and with clients in the most popular verticals,” said Scott Neslund, EVP of Media Services, Centro. “Agencies and advertisers who are spending more on digital media require the expertise necessary to guide campaigns effectively. Kristin and her team are in a prime position to fulfill this mission and empower agencies to compete for more digital dollars.”

“Having worked as a partner with Centro for a few years, I’ve seen firsthand the value it brings to relationships with agencies,” said Kristin Haarlow, Regional VP, Centro. “Agencies will be the prime beneficiaries of Centro’s immense scale and presence in the market, as we provide access to technology and knowledge that can be the differentiator in winning a greater share of an advertiser’s media spend.”

About Centro

Centro (centro.net) provides unified, enterprise-class software to simplify digital media operations. Our media management platform streamlines and scales ad buys across all channels, accessing both guaranteed and biddable inventory, to achieve any campaign objective. Our holistic approach gives marketers a single system of record to fulfill their research, planning, buying, optimization and reporting needs. Since 2001, Centro has successfully planned and executed more than 100,000 national and local campaigns across all digital display platforms and ad format types. Headquartered in Chicago with 33 offices in North America, Centro’s success and commitment to culture has led to many accolades, including #1 on Crain’s Best Places to Work in Chicago in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014.

Contact:
Anthony Loredo
[email protected]
646-462-4888

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Happy Monday!

Beginning a new week can be tough, so to help you ease back in, our very own Digital Innovations team has put together a quick list of the latest trending topics in digital media. From articles to reports and industry updates, all the must-reads are right here.

So without further adieu, we give you the latest edition of the Digital Innovations Awesome List (DIAL).

Enjoy!

DIAL

Winning on Mobile: How Connected Consumers are Transforming Travel

30 million people look for travel information on their mobile devices each month. Check out the infographic for key stats and insights on connected traveler behavior as well as opportunities for the travel industry based on recent trends. (note: there are a few UK focused stats blended in!)

Mobile Millennials

71% of the US population owns a smartphone, and only 15% of Generation Y does not. Check out the latest from Nielsen to see how gender, operating system, and age play a role in mobile device ownership.

Going Beyond 'Click-To-Play' For Mobile Video Ads

What goes in-stream must go out-stream. Publishers continue to create new terminology in the video marketplace to sell new and premium units that are rather different from traditional TV, yet they’re being positioned as a way to capture more TV dollars.

10 Biggest Online Video Stories of the Summer

A look back at some of the top video related stories of the summer. After reading over these, it appears to have been the summer of streaming.

Lexus Airs Skippable TV Ads On Purpose

Lexus (along with Saatchi) executed a recent Connected TV buy using an online ad approach - offering users the option to skip the message. Interestingly, this campaign achieved an impressive completion rate.

Trends in Consumer Mobility Report

Bank of America’s report on consumer mobility explores mobile trends and banking behaviors of consumers across the USA. This reports offers some great statistics, especially on the importance of mobile phones to consumers.

Gilbarco (Outcast Media), VeriFone Team For At-Pump DOOH Network

A multi-layer deal forges what’s being referred to as the world’s largest at-pump interactive digital media network, complete with video content and advertising in pump and station retail areas.

Meet AdDetector-The New Plug-In that Labels Native Advertising

A week-old browser plug-in is helping to boost transparency in native advertising. The service, AdDetector, places a huge red banner above articles on news sites that are paid for by an advertiser, often known as “sponsored content” or “native advertising.” Some big brands have already tried it out and the reviews are mixed.

4 Tech Innovations That Are Transforming Marketing

Top-level look at how technological advancements have given consumers more control and what marketers need to be thinking about next.

 

Hey friends! Thanks to the short work week, Friday is already upon us! We are definitely fans of easing back to work after a holiday but that doesn’t mean we are short on exciting news to share with you.

So kick back, relax, and enjoy today’s edition of Five on Friday!

 

That’s our five on Friday! Happy reading and be sure to enjoy the hot weather before autumn creeps in!

Friday again so soon?! It has been a week of self-improvement of all of us, and we can’t wait to share the changes with you! Check out the fun below!

That’s our five on Friday! Happy reading! Enjoy the long Labor Day weekend and be sure to swing back Tuesday to see what we’re getting into next week!

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Read the Entire Story on Great Rated

Happy Monday, friends!

In the spirit of the upcoming Labor Day holiday, we wanted to do a feature on our very own workplace! Time and again, Centrons rate their home-away-from home as the best in the industry. We love our manifesto, we love our benefits, and we love our jobs!

Media outlets have taken notice, too.  JobBrander recently released an employee spotlight featuring our own Amanda Wilson talking about what working at Centro is like. Earlier this month, Great Rated released employee ratings on our company- making Centro officially a Great Rated place to work!

What’s powering this positive vibe, you ask?

We’re fortunate to work at an organization with fantastic leadership (check out this video of CEO Shawn Riegsecker speaking at Startup Grind), and those leaders are just one of the many things that makes Centro one of the best places to work.

#Humblebrag aside, what we love as much as working at Centro is finding talented, lovable folks to work with us! Below are our top 5 positions for the week, complete with links to our careers page. Pro tip: reach out to a Centron for a referral when applying.

Regional Supervisor, Account Management New York - This position  is an integral part of the media operations group, responsible for leading a subset of the regional account management team for the region. The person in this position will work alongside the account management team and will play an active role in delivering innovative and strategic media solutions worthy of Raving Fan service with a focus on Client Direct and/or full service clients. We are also looking for a Regional Supervisor of Account Management in L.A! - Details here.

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Corporate Business Analyst, Chicago, IL- The business analyst  is expected to contribute to the scoping, analysis, and implementation of corporate strategy.  You will take what you have learned from within the company and beyond to strategize with a team and put forward the best possible solutions to create growth.

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Search Strategist, Platform Operations, Detroit, MI - This role will be responsible for managing our Paid Search accounts.  Daily responsibilities include account campaign creation, optimizations, reporting, pacing and internal/client feedback.

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Search Coordinator, Platform Operations, Detroit, MI- This role will be responsible for managing Paid Search account.  Daily responsibilities include RFP estimates, account creations, optimizations, pacing and reporting.

Take a look for yourself and pass along to your friends! Keep an eye on our careers page as we continue to update our job openings. Talk soon!