Deutsche Post DHL Buys IntelliAd To Ramp Up Its Adtech Business

Originally reported on TechCrunch

Some more consolidation in the adtech space: the German logistics, communications and postal giant Deutsche Post DHL has acquired IntelliAd, a German online marketing agency that specialises in optimising search ad buys, as part of a larger strategy to make a bigger push into online advertising and marketing.

Financial terms of the deal were not immediately disclosed; TechCrunch contacted both companies for more details. For now, Deutsche Post says that IntelliAd will become an independent subsidiary, and that all of its 50 employees, including founders Tobias Kiessling, Wolfhart Fröhlich and Mischa Rürup, will stay on post-acquisition.

While it may sound slightly out of left-field for a postal giant to be making online marketing acquisitions, this is actually right in Deutsche Post’s wheelhouse: In August 2010, it acquired ad targeting platform nugg.ad. In 2011 it bought Adcloud, an online performance marketing specialist.
Deutsche Post DHL is Germany’s largest mail company, as well as the world’s largest courier and logistics company. The move to alternative revenue streams in digital looks like it has been made to provide a fuller service for companies to manage digital distribution of their services in addition to physical distribution (and possibly to lay the groundwork for a time when digital will be a more important point for distribution than physical for some of them… something we can already see happening in basic mail services).

Jürgen Gerdes, a board member of German Post DHL, in a statement (patchy translation here) comments: “Deutsche Post [already] provides a service for media agencies, marketers and advertisers in online advertising, to help them place ads effectively and efficiently. With IntelliAd we’re building this position, especially in search, the fastest-growing and largest online advertising channel, and becoming an even more powerful partner for our customers.”

IntelliAd was founded in 2007 and its specialty is in creating algorithms that help companies game the process of bidding in search advertising auctions, for optimal placements and pricing.
Clients have included companies like Air Berlin and the mobile carrier O2, as well as performance marketing agencies. Given that Google is by far the biggest search network in Germany and elsewhere, it’s optimized to work there, but says that it works across all search engines.

Rocket Fuel Launches Benelux Operations

Rocket Fuel announced this week the addition of Rocket Fuel Benelux, continuing its rapid expansion across Europe.

Dominic Trigg, managing director for Europe, has appointed industry veteran Frederick van Eijk as managing director, to establish and build the business in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

This latest expansion follows the rapid take up of Rocket Fuel’s artificial intelligence advertising solutions in the UK and the launch of Rocket Fuel DACH earlier this year.

Frederick will seek to emulate the company’s European and US success, where the business is listed amongst Forbes’ most promising companies. Rocket Fuel has achieved this acclaim for its exponential growth and its powerful suite of sophisticated solutions that optimise online advertising campaigns in real time.

Frederick has more than seven years experience in online and offline media advertising and is an expert in digital advertising in the Netherlands. He was previously sales director at one of the largest advertising sales houses in the country, WebAds. Prior to that he spent four years working in digital sales for Microsoft Advertising.

Frederick comments: “There is a lot of hype around online advertising effectiveness in Benelux, but I genuinely believe that Rocket Fuel’s product is a ‘one of a kind’. It launches, optimises and localises campaigns in real-time with a degree of speed and accuracy that I have never seen before.

“I am very excited to be working for Rocket Fuel and am confident that we can drive a deep furrow in this market, having already received a very positive response at soft launch.”

Dominic comments: “Rocket Fuel has proven it has one of the most effective solutions on the market across Europe, and I expect our success story to continue as we expand.

“It is testament to our rapid growth and rich prospects that we continue to attract such industry-leading talent as Frederick. I am very excited to welcome him on board.”

The Benelux operation is headquartered in Amsterdam and Frederick is currently building regional sales and account management teams.

PubMatic Further Strengthens its European Team

PubMatic, the digital media platform company for publishers, has further bolstered its European team by hiring Leo Brown as Director of Client Services and Duncan Chamberlain as European Demand Director.

Brown’s responsibilities will include leading and expanding the European publisher services team to support PubMatic’s growing client base and to continue to drive value through insight and strategy. Prior toPubMatic, Brown held leadership positions at Yahoo!’s Direct Response team, creating and delivering operational processes across the business including technical support, product strategy and optimisation of linked and RTB supply. Prior to Yahoo!, Brown served as a campaign analyst for Blue Lithium where she managed several top-tier accounts and played a key role in migrating Blue Lithium’s performance business to the Right Media Exchange platform.

Gianluca Carrera, VP International and European MD, comments: “‘The breadth and depth of Leo’s experience will enhance our focus on providing clients the best service in the industry. With client services becoming a critical enabler for complex media strategies, I’m very excited about having her on board.”

Chamberlain will be responsible for managing and developing relationships with PubMatic’s top-tier demand partners who leverage PubMatic’splatform in Europe.

Before joining PubMatic, Chamberlain worked at Netshelter Technology as the International Operations Director responsible for overseeing the network platform, working with the UK sales team and resellers across EMEA & APAC. Before Netshelter, Chamberlain held senior Ad Operations positions at Geeknet Ltd, Tailsweep Ltd and Yahoo!.

Carrera adds: “Duncan brings with him a wealth of experience in strategically building and developing effective relationships and he will definitely play a major role in achieving our growth objectives in Europe.”

Based in London, they will continue to enable publishers across Europe to realise the full potential of their digital assets.

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