The location-advertising company GroundTruth has acquired an SMB-focused self-service ad platform called Addy. So why this and why now? GroundTruth cited the steady growth in local advertising in explaining the deal. That growth underscores why SMBs need better tools to compete with brands in building effective local campaigns.
“The feedback we have received from our small business customers is that they need a more simplified process for ad buying on our platform,” said GroundTruth President and CEO Steve McCarthy, in a statement. “Acquiring Addy gives us the technology assets we need to deliver on our core commitment to provide a superior experience to all our customers. Including local business owners.”
Brands, resellers, and agencies use GroundTruth’s Ads Manager platform to plan and launch location-based campaigns. So what’s GroundTruth’s secret sauce? For starters, its data allows marketers to analyze local foot traffic patterns in order to optimize mobile-ad targeting.
Separately, we’ve written several posts during the course of the pandemic using GroundTruth’s data to open a window into how Covid has upset the normal patterns of life.
Making Local Campaigns Easy for SMBs
So what’s Addy’s deal? The company was launched in 2016 as Adverator. It renamed itself Addy in 2019, which by the way was always the company’s nickname, according to its founders. Basically, it’s a DIY platform for SMBs to build local ad campaigns across channels. These include everything from digital campaigns to postcards to television ads.
“From the start, our mission at Addy has been to make the advertising process easier, more intuitive, and even enjoyable for small marketers,” said Addy CEO Ben Bilbrough in a statement. “We are excited about joining the GroundTruth team and starting the next chapter in that journey. Together we will be able to provide local businesses with advertising options and marketing tools that empower them to grow their business however they like.”
The synergy in this deal will come from combing GroundTruth’s data with Addy’s DIY tools.
This acquisition is the first under McCarthy’s tenure as CEO. He was promoted to CEO of GroundTruth less than six months ago, after almost a decade as the company’s CFO and COO. Coinciding with his promotion, GroundTruth overhauled its leadership team. The revamp involved a combination of internal promotions and new hires. And the aim was to accelerate GroundTruth’s growth and technology innovation. The Addy deal also appears to support these objectives.
