Through M&A, MNTN Scales Into ‘Creative As A Subscription’

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Originally published by Beet.TV Beet.TV •

SAN JUAN, PR — With tools in their hands to build, buy and target ads, a new generation of TV advertiser is embracing the connected TV (CTV) screen.

By and large, the flexibility and power they are discovering from the channel is beckoning smaller companies than were traditionally platformed by linear TV.

In this video interview with Beet.TV, Lauren Benedict, SVP, Enterprise Sales, MNTN, talks about how her company is bolting-on even more features and services for them.

Democratizing TV

First founded in 2009 in Culver City, California, MNTN (pronounced “mountain”) provides self-serve advertising software for direct marketers, agencies and brands.

Benedict joined from Hulu. “When I first joined the organization, we really were focused on working with small- (and) medium-sized businesses – think of those sort of first-time CTV buyers, if you will,” she says.

“We’ve really democratized the ability for these advertisers to get into the connected TV system. About 65% of all of our advertisers are first-time CTV marketers.

“It gives them the ability to grow from search and social where they’ve seen points of diminishing return – because of (the) tracking phenomenon – from a performance perspective as well as brand safety concerns.”

MNTN View: Creative At The Speed Of Culture

Scaling-up creative services

One way in which MNTN is growing taller? Through acquisition.

In 2021, MNTN acquired Maximum Effort Marketing, the creative advertising shop of Ryan Reynolds and George Dewey, leading to Reynolds becoming MNTN’s chief creative officer.

In 2022, it bought QuickFrame, a video creation platform which has “built a network of thousands of creators, streamlining the process of producing video ads for over 1,000 clients across 20 verticals”.

Benedict explains the rationale behind the deals:

  • QuickFrame – “They act as kind of the ability to marry a brand with a bunch of creators to sort of capitalize on production.”
  • Maximum Effort – “Everything they touch really is pretty magical and has the ability to be very culturally relevant and make a lasting impact.”

“So these two creative kind of components coming in house give now in the ability to work with our advertising partners to provide added value in the terms of creative services and what we call ‘creative as a subscription’.”

Climbing the MNTN

MNTN offers:

  • Audience prospecting for connected TV campaigns.
  • Retargeting to connected TV.
  • Attribution for CTV campaigns.
  • Use of third-party audience categories.
  • Ad creative management.
  • Measurement for CTV ads.

The company was named by Fast Company among the top 10 most innovative companies for 2023.

You’re watching coverage of Beet Retreat San Juan 2023, presented by LiveRamp, Madhive, Magnite, Paramount, T-Mobile Advertising Solutions and VideoAmp. For more videos from the Beet Retreat, please visit this page.