The first media agency to utilise blockchain ‘smart contract’ technology has launched this week.
TMG has announced that its new business, named Truth, will provide “100% transparency” to buy and plan media, stressing that it will ensure global best practice ahead of next year’s GDPR deadline.
Digital cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, and the engine that powers them – blockchain – have taken the fintech markets by storm, and last month Mediatel reported that the media and advertising sectors would be next.
A blockchain is best described as a fixed, public ledger that allows transactions to be confirmed by a decentralised network of stakeholders. It acts a bit like a giant shared spreadsheet that requires no centralised arbiter, making it inherently transparent for anyone on the network
TMG said the new agency has been launched in response to the “erosion of trust between advertisers, media agencies and media owners”, and said the “industry is ripe for innovation, where middlemen and the layers involved in media planning and buying can easily strip 80% of the value between brands and media owners.”
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Truth will be headed up by Mary Keane-Dawson who joined TMG earlier in 2017, and Adam Hopkinson who joins as COO from 1 December.
“By bringing blockchain technology into the media world we will build a cleaner media supply chain with 100% transparency,” said Keane Dawson. “We want to put the client first and believe this is the best way to do that.”
Commenting on the new agency, Adam Graham, CEO of parent company TMG, added: “We are entering a new dawn in data driven advertising and Truth will be at the heart of that. We know from our research that CMOs are demanding change. We will be that change.”
Truth launches with offices in London, San Francisco, Singapore and Sydney.
