GSTV Partners with Vistar Media for Ad Serving Technology
New Tech Supports Increased GSTV Programmatic Demand
New York, New York - Vistar Media, the leading global provider of software for programmatic digital out-of-home (DOOH), and GSTV, the national video network engaging and entertaining targeted audiences at scale across tens of thousands of fuel retailers, have formed a strategic partnership for Vistar to power GSTV’s network of digital displays with ad serving software.
For the past four years, GSTV has seen massive success participating in Vistar’s programmatic marketplace through the Vistar supply-side platform (SSP). Building on that trusted partnership, support and its rapid network growth, GSTV has now transitioned its ad serving system onto Vistar’s technology. Vistar’s ad server enables GSTV to ensure reliable content and ad delivery across more than 28,000 locations nationwide.
Partnering with Vistar to streamline its business operations technology enables GSTV to focus on its core expertise of creating and delivering compelling media experiences across its network. Vistar’s software takes on the complexities of scheduling, managing and reporting on ads, while also enabling automation for GSTV’s content requirements.
“We are focused on growing our cutting-edge network along with developing meaningful media experiences that drives action and creates lasting brand impressions. To optimize the flexibility that buyers require at our scale, we knew that we needed to adopt a future-facing ad-serving solution,” said Winston Benedict, Chief Technology Officer, GSTV. “Vistar is a proven partner that combines enterprise-grade engineering with nimble innovation to meet the needs of our growing network. This partnership sets our network up for success today and in the future and ultimately to best serve our client partners.”
Working hand in hand, the Vistar and GSTV engineering teams have created a scalable solution to maintain the high-quality media experience across GSTV’s tens of thousands of locations. In the past year alone, GSTV’s programmatic business has more than doubled YOY. With the upgrade, the new Vistar ad-server unlocks additional unsold GSTV supply for programmatic monetization for the first time to meet growing demand.
“GSTV offers advertisers the ability to reach a highly engaged audience while at the pump, and we’re thrilled they have selected us as their partner to set their network up for optimal success,” said Eric Lamb, SVP, Supply at Vistar Media. “By implementing our ad serving solution, GSTV can now seamlessly manage their inventory and deliver content and advertising across a stable network.”
Vistar’s ad serving and network management technology is available to enterprise and startup networks globally. For more information about Vistar, please direct inquiries to info@vistarmedia.com. To learn more about programmatic advertising on GSTV, please visit gstv.com/programmatic.
About Vistar Media
Vistar Media is the leading global provider of programmatic technology for out-of-home, bringing enterprise-grade software that was purpose-built for the unique requirements of digital signage. Vistar provides a global demand-side platform (DSP) for buyers to activate data-driven programmatic campaigns and a supply-side platform (SSP) to connect signage operators to digital revenue. Vistar also powers some of the world’s most advanced signage networks with device & content management software (Cortex) and ad serving technology. Vistar was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in New York, NY. For more information, visit www.vistarmedia.com.
About GSTV
GSTV is a data-driven, national video network entertaining targeted audiences at scale across tens of thousands of fuel retailers. Reaching one in three American adults monthly, GSTV engages viewers with full sight, sound and motion video at an essential waypoint of their consumer journey, and GSTV is the only consolidated and scaled digital media platform in the convenience and fuel channel. Analysis of billions of consumer purchases demonstrates that GSTV viewers spend significantly more across retailers, services, consumer goods and other sectors following a fuel transaction. While offering consumers entertaining and informative content, GSTV drives immediate action and creates lasting brand impressions, delivering measurable results for the world’s largest advertisers. Visit www.gstv.com for more information.
Adweek: Why CES Has Become a Must-Do for Marketers and Agencies
GSTV's Sean McCaffrey on what to expect at CES 2020
By: Sara Jerde | Adweek
The schedule at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is full of sessions related to OTT and connected TV, new tech in the travel industry and even a surprise speaker in Ivanka Trump (who is expected to talk about the administration’s policies regarding technology education for workers).
We chatted with Sean McCaffrey, CEO and president of video network GSTV, about what he’s expecting at CES 2020 and how the event has changed.
This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.
What are you looking to get out of CES this year?
It’s a great place to rocket into the new year, where everybody comes back from the holidays and crash lands into this massive show. A huge percentage of people who go to the show probably don’t even hit the convention center, because there’s the whole other tribe of marketers and publishers that take over conference rooms and hotel rooms to talk about the latest innovation. A new phone might be a great consumer device, but it disrupts advertising models, it changes content distribution.
As a unique video platform, we’re there to talk to partners that know us already, like brands and agencies. We’re there to talk to partners that can help our business and add value to those brands and agencies like data partners, video platform partners and so on. Companies we already work with—publisher partners, content creators and makers—a lot of them are there. It’s a place where a high level of folks across the industry come together.
How have you watched it change?
This is my seventh year. Even in that short time, I’ve seen it change from really just a core tech show into a place that marketers, brands and agencies feel like they have to be because technology innovation can have really massive impact on advertising models and consumer connection. For us as a smaller publisher, competing in a sea of giants, it’s a place where top-to-top conversations come together to start the year.
Everyone is so overscheduled that everyone has tried to coordinate and consolidate conversations and content. People have gotten smarter about how they use their time there. People have also gotten realistic about what they expect from the show.
I think some of the overinvestment has faded. People are smart; how they spend their money, for their brand and their company, as well as the kind of conversations they schedule. One of the things I used to barely hear that I’ve heard from at least a dozen people this year: ‘If I can see you in New York, I’m not going to see you at CES.’ And I think that’s smart. People want to use their time wisely.
How does CES compare to the types of conversations you have with potential brand partners at other conferences, like Cannes?
They’re different from a calendar standpoint. CES starts the year, and the show is supposed to be built around innovation, but now it’s the place most publishers talk about what they’re doing differently in the year ahead. It’s a unique combination of marketers, brands, content creators and makers, technology companies, ad tech companies and investors.
Converse to Cannes. Cannes is a more global show and it comes from an ethos originally of creativity. It brings a different type of attendee.
As the ad-tech marina is to Cannes, so too is the private hotel suite in a Vegas hotel high rise. It’s a place where those sorts of people are both looking to make deals, but the overall ethos of the show is different. For Cannes, it’s after the upfronts and NewFronts. It’s later in the year, after a number of big media investment decisions have already been made, it’s not necessarily as much about what’s going to happen in the year. It’s also a reflection backwards on the first half and ahead to the second half.
What trends from the media industry do you see dominating the conversation this year?
The changes in data privacy, how will that impact marketing plans? And how will it impact platforms? Everyone is talking about it, everyone’s planning for it, but it’s finally becoming real as the laws go into effect. So, the confluence of ad tech, martech, brand, agencies and so on, people are really trying to understand what that will mean on a go-forward basis.
The OTT/connected TV space is a really interesting one where that’s going to dominate the discussion this year, because it’s consumer technology.
Any advice for a CES first-timer?
Wear very comfortable shoes. Eat when you see food because you might not know when you’ll be eating next; you’re going to be talking so much. You’re told to bring all sorts of SPF to Cannes. And despite it being Vegas, you need to bring a winter coat.