Bauer centralises digital business to create single customer view for advertisers
Bauer has pulled all its digital business under one division in a bid to offer advertisers a more detailed view of customers across its portfolio of titles.
The creation of Bauer Xcel Media sees the publisher become the latest to centralise how it sells ad inventory and reader insights to brands and agencies.
It aims to build a single customer view of more than 130 million monthly unique users in the hope of spurring advertising revenues as well as commerce, branded content and native digital advertising across its titles. Bauer also plans to use the division to grow its targeted audio advertising product InStream and will hire a number of digital specialists to help steer the effort.
Bauer Xcel Media will operate as separate unit to the publisher’s print offering with it believing the split is key to its expansion into new markets. The publisher promises that the consolidated digital offering will give it the scope to capitalise on local opportunities that can be scaled globally at speed.
Paul Keenan, chief executive of Bauer Media UK, described the move as a "transformational moment" for the media owner, as it looks to drive a "new level" of digital performance alongside its print and braodcast businesses.
"We will launch innovative new products across our ad funded, audio and commerce businesses and develop our unified view and relationships across our significant premium entertainment audience of 23 million users. We will also seek opportunities to acquire assets to grow our digital business," he said.
The move comes at a time when publishers are searching for new ways to package their inventory in a bid to leverage the engagement metrics. The Guardian recently revamped its site following this realisation in the hope of being able to convince advertisers to invest using time-based metrics among other tools.