SMBs' Shiny New Ad Platform ... Ad It Last

Right on the heels of the raging debate on cutting out online media buying agencies, I present you with a short description of Ad it Last.

I've been bouncing back and forth through time zones in discussions with Christina Tutone, CEO of Ad it Last. Ad it Last is the first full buy+build+deliver media system online made for mainstream use. By mainstream I mean SMBs, agencies and eventually, marketing directors of Fortune 500 companies.

The site launched in October 2007 offering overseas media sellers the opportunity to sell into the Australian market through its online procurement platform. The system also allows global buyers to buy media for the Australian market. But the most valuable market appears to be the local one. Giving SMBs the ability to buy and build their own media in what Christina describes as an eBay-like simple, environment, goes a long way to ridding them of the agency or consulting hurdles they would currently have to jump to get to the media buys they’re after.

To date, the AO100 award winning system supports build functions for print, online and radio but Christina plans on rolling out some exciting new online build technology for both flash and video ads.

Born in Australia, current media partners include such heavy hitters as The Age, Fairfax, a leading provider of Australian online news and classifieds and Sensis MediaSmart (Telstra) the online media division of Sensis that offers Search, Display and SMS advertising.

While the system is based on self-procurement, the lean Melbourne based team provides buyers and sellers with human support online or via voice.

“But Australia is so far away” you say? Well Ad it Last is currently moving into New Zealand and the US and holds patents covering the system globally.

The idea of selling remnant media space online is not new but past models have not provided turnkey solutions to the entire media buying and delivery process nor have they aggregated multiple channels effectively. In most cases, the auction-based sales were targeted to advertising agencies that had canned spots to deliver to the media properties.

Ad It Last’s focus on local media and the SMB sector makes it unique and gives the local media industry something to seriously think about.

I’m fascinated by the disruption here and wonder if and how players like turnhere and spotrunner will come into play…