Invidi Nets Experian Investment

Companies to collaborate on targeted advertising

By Glen Dickson -- Broadcasting & Cable, 5/27/2010 12:37:23 PM

Advanced advertising firm Invidi Technologies announced Thursday (May 26) that global information company Experian, which aggregates and analyzes reams of consumer data including credit reports, has invested in Invidi and formed a strategic partnership with the New York-based firm. The companies say they will work together to provide advertisers with “advanced targeting and post-campaign marketing analysis.”
 
Experian, which is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland and has customers in over 90 countries, is the second big name to become a new investor in New York-based Invidi in the past month. In early May, Internet search giant Google led a $23 million financing round which also included previous Invidi investors GroupM, Motorola Ventures and venture capital firms Menlo Ventures, InterWest and EnerTech.
 
Invidi already has distribution agreements for its addressable advertising technology with satellite operators DirecTV and Dish Network, in which geographically-targeted ads would be “pushed” in advance to be stored on subscribers’ set-tops. The Invidi software would cue up the localized ads to be played off the hard drive in place of a national spot. Comcast has also successfully tested the Invidi technology in its Baltimore, Md. system in partnership with media buyer Starcom MediaVest.
 
No financial details were disclosed about Experian’s investment in Invidi. As part of the deal, Kosta Skoulikaris, senior director of digital advertising services for Experian, will serve as an observer to Invidi’s board.
 
“With Experian Marketing Services and INVIDI working together, advertisers for the first time will be able to close the loop and truly measure the effectiveness of television advertising, while also leveraging Experian’s depth and breadth of data sources for consumer segmentation and advanced targeting,” said Invidi CEO David Downey in a statement. “Not only will advertisers learn what is working but they will also learn what is ineffective and be able to use that information to improve future campaign performance.”
 
“This exciting partnership further expands our marketing footprint highlighting Experian Marketing Services’ superior targeting across traditional and digital media providing advertisers a more vivid and complete consumer picture,” added Victor Nichols, Experian North America CEO. “This key offering for television advertisers will help them make better decisions powered by our data, analytics and marketing technology. Working with Invidi will give advertisers increased opportunities for greater brand advocacy and significantly improve their ROI through our mutual media partners.”