Kim Perell is the CEO of Adconion Direct. Previously, Kim was the Founder and CEO of Frontline Direct Inc, a performance marketing company specializing in database management and customer acquisition, which was acquired by Adconion. We recently spoke with Kim about her current role.
The Makegood: Kim, you founded Frontline Direct, a performance marketing company that was later acquired by Adconion Media Group. What motivated you to start the company and why was it the right time?
KP: My motivation was to do something that I was passionate about, while surrounding myself with smart and talented people who were as enthusiastic as I was. Opportunity is always present, and comes disguised in many different shapes and forms. I saw an opportunity to effectively leverage the knowledge I acquired over the years and built a leading data management and direct marketing solutions provider that exceeded industry standards. Momentum set in and opportunity presented itself again and again. My relentless focus on our technology, profitability and most importantly, our people, helped us to transition into the company that we are today. The merger of Frontline Direct and the Adconion Audience Network has provided the opportunity to launch Adconion Direct, a Digital Distribution & Data Platform that spans Display, Email, Mobile and Social Media.
The Makegood: As the CEO of Adconion Direct, a multi-channel digital distribution and monetization platform spanning, where does your role begin and end?
KP: In my role as CEO, I’m focused on driving Adconion Direct’s strategic partnerships and long-term business development. In an ever-evolving market, it’s important to continue to develop the brand and push the needle across all areas of the business. Fortunately, we have an excellent leadership team in place that enables me to focus on growth opportunities and partnerships.
It’s also imperative to be engaged in all areas of the company and most importantly, cultivate a fervent and passionate corporate culture. Passion is what drives innovation and the willingness to take on opportunity. Our employees are truly our number one asset and we credit them with our incredible success.
The success of Adconion Direct is not only shared with our employees, but the community at large. It is so important to give back and feel connected to your community. I have always believed in corporate responsibility, and this philosophy is incorporated into our company values. Our employees are encouraged to make a positive difference in local communities throughout the year, and each quarter, we organize a company-wide volunteer event. In March, we completed a local school project for underprivileged children, donating a water fountain, painting a mural, building bookshelves & tricycles, and donating hundreds of books.
The Makegood: Adconion Direct offers expertise in online customer acquisition. Can you tell us how Adconion’s offering differs from other players in the space?
KP: What truly sets Adconion Direct apart from our competitors is our multi-channel distribution approach, utilizing proprietary data and technology to provide display, social, email, and mobile advertising solutions. We’ve invested significant time and resources into our distribution platform, enabling our advertisers to reach the right audience, with the right message, on the right device, at the right time.
What differentiates us from our competitors is not just our cross-channel distribution, but more specifically, our use of data aggregated from each channel to produce superior ROI for our advertisers. Bridging the gap between the sites a user visits on their computer, their social interests, the offers they respond to via email and the apps they download on their phone creates a 360° view of the user that is more comprehensive and complete than the data from any 3rd party or an individual channel can provide. Having a 360° view of our target audience helps us convey relevant content from our advertisers more efficiently than our competitors.
Ultimately, it is that efficiency that matters. At Adconion Direct, we focus on two things: performance and ROI. We want our advertisers to know the tangible, measurable results of every dollar they spend with us. Our dedicated delivery teams and technology provide the insights, targeting, data and optimization required to execute performance campaigns providing value and results at an unmatched scale.
The Makegood: Can you tell us about some recent client successes?
KP: After two years of being an integral performance display partner for a Fortune 500 retailer, we launched a series of social media tests on behalf of our client. Three months later, we became the brand’s exclusive social media partner. We’ve found ourselves in this position due to our ability to use cross-channel data, insights and delivery methodology. As we’ve been mapping our display and social users for the past 3 years, we were able to provide a high level of insights, helping them not only with sales but also with understanding their audience outside of social platforms.
In addition, viewable impressions have been a hot topic. A significant portion of our display channel is through direct publisher relationships within the comScore top 500. For the past 12 months, we’ve been working to eliminate all placements that we’ve deemed un-viewable (we are a partner of AdXpose), as clearly there is a direct correlation to performance. One of our advertisers recently shared that according to their reporting, our viewable impressions were the highest of all partners, and in some cases, more than 2.5 times that of other partners.
The Makegood: Thanks, Kim.
