• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, April 2, 2013

Sociomantic on Tuesday is expected to name JB Brokaw as president of North American operations.

The appointment is part of a larger effort by the Berlin-based ad-retargeting firm to bolster its U.S. leadership team, and expand its presence in the region. In fact, Sociomantic only recently brought on Jason Kelly -- formerly of Google and AdMeld -- as CEO.

“The U.S. is very critical for Sociomantic,” Brokaw said on Monday. As with every market [Sociomantic has] entered, the U.S. market brings a unique set of opportunities and challenges.”

Brokaw most recently served as chief revenue officer and chief client officer at iProspect. There, Brokaw was responsible for new business, as well as the growth and development of the Aegis-owned agency’s client services organization, and a roster consisting of roughly 100 brands.

With Sociomantic, Brokaw will be responsible for sales and revenue operations, while developing the company’s advisory and services teams.

“Our goal is to bring new clarity to our customers’ display advertising strategy by showing how efficient we are with media buying and how much more we're able to put back into their performance display campaigns,” Brokaw said.

Ad-targeting and retargeting is a particularly hot sector among investors and agencies. 

Late last year, AOL’s Advertising.com unit scooped up ad-targeting and retargeting specialist Buysight for an undisclosed sum. In September, meanwhile, Criteo -- a New York-based retargeting startup -- raised $40 million on an $800 million valuation.

What explains all the interest in retargeting?

“Even before the Web, an advertiser's data [was] one of the company’s most valuable assets,” Brokaw explained. “Retargeting is basically a first-party data dream come true.”

“How well retargeting works is obviously a matter of the technology and data that are behind it, but eCommerce marketers know that even at its most basic, retargeting is a tried and tested strategy for bringing lost visitors back to buy.”

“We're now seeing the third wave of retargeting, where the most aggressive online marketers are pushing for more customized solutions that allow them to make the most of their proprietary data,” Brokaw added.

Also driving the retargeting business is its increasing cross-pollination with real-time bidding, which has made online ad-buying more efficient -- and by many measures, more effective.

“RTB and retargeting are simply meant to be,” according to Brokaw. “The combination of the two is really the crossroads where we start to get a glimpse into what advertising will look like throughout the next century.”