• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, November 10, 2010

It may be called the World Wide Web, but one of Madison Avenue's biggest players has figured out how to use it to deliver the most local form of advertising. In a deal announced this morning with video ad server Mixpo, Interpublic's Geomentum unit said it will begin placing in-banner video ads on Web sites that are capable of "micro-targeting" users based on their local geography.

Geomentum, which was formally launched more than a year ago, combines all the "hyper local" media assets within Interpublic, such as newspaper-buying group NSA and directory media unit Wahlstrom, to flip the perspective on the media universe from a telescopic view to a microscopic one. Since its inception, the Geomentum team has said it planned to move from traditional local media to digital, and the deal with Mixpo is the first in what it plans to be an ongoing series of technological developments that unlock the power of local targeting, local audiences, and local sales and branding opportunities for marketers.

To power the system, Geomentum has quietly been developing a sophisticated marketing and media mix modeling system, which is believed to be the first to emphasize the role that locality plays in sales and brand effectiveness. That modeling system currently is being deployed as a beta test with a range of retailers and retail clients, and is expected to be rolled out next year.

Adding digital video advertising to the mix provides a dynamic new element for Geomentum and its clients, because TV advertising is generally considered to be among the most effective media in generating sales results. But despite numerous fits and false starts, the TV industry still has not managed to scale a significant addressable advertising marketplace, even though cable TV operators theoretically can segment and insert ads down to ZIP code and even household levels.

So the deal with Mixpo effectively gives Geomentum a running start on what many believe will ultimately become an addressable TV/video advertising marketplace.

The Geomentum team has also been working closely with sister Interpublic unit Cadreon, which has built a system for buying online display advertising based on its audience composition, with plans to expand it into online video and eventually TV advertising. That system presumably would also enable Interpublic and its clients to target audiences based on their local profiles.

Geomentum indicated that the deal with Mixpo is an initial step in that direction, and dubbed the concept "dynamic local video" or DLV buys that will digitally insert advertising messages into banner ads based on a variety of geographic factors unique to the users its clients' brands are targeting.

"Online advertisers have never before had the ability to precisely target and version interactive video to the neighborhood level and, importantly, scale that across the nation to create true sales momentum," Geomentum CEO Dave Walker said in a statement.

Geomentum believes the approach will be more effective for advertisers, but will also produce a more engaging experience for consumers by ensuring they are served ads that are locally relevant.