• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, June 19, 2012

Buying and selling radio ad inventory is getting easier, thanks to increasing integration between online platforms. In the latest development, Marketron, which operates the Mediascape service for radio transactions, is integrating the Radio Advertising Bureau’s online Account Manager, thus enabling radio ad sales reps who use Account Manager to use Mediascape.

Account Manager gives radio ad sales staff access to customer relationship management features, as well as projections, forecasting and order tracking. It also has Web-based tools like the Radio Advertising Bureau’s Proposal Assistant and key RAB research databases. The integration of Account Manager with Mediascape allows sales personnel to handle both CRM and activities, such as billing in a single interface, reducing the time spent on data entry.

The Marketron-RAB integration comes just a few months after former RAB president and CEO Jeff Haley stepped down from his post at the helm of the radio trade organization to become president and CEO of Marketron. Haley was replaced at the RAB by Erica Farber, who previously served as executive vice president of the organization.

At the time, Haley praised Marketron for “recognizing the need for a more robust and open business platform.” Since it is an open platform, Mediascape can be expanded to interface with a variety of exchanges, databases and other online tools.

In January 2011, Marketron integrated Mediascape with Arbitron's Tapscan Web, an online sales proposal and analysis system, to create a fully automated, Web-based sales and traffic platform for radio advertising, covering various functions ranging from campaign planning to analysis, reporting to ratings information.

According to Marketron, some 80% of all radio transactions flow through Mediascape.