• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, December 16, 2013

Mediahub/Mullen has created a partnership with demand-side platform and data management firm OwnerIQ, the companies said.

Under the terms of the agreement, the Boston-based agency will gain access to the OwnerIQ database on the shopping behavior of 200 million consumers.

OwnerIQ culls data from 300 sources comprising Web sites, retailers, manufactures, price comparison engines, coupon sites and support product sites. It tabulates the data in ways that help agencies and clients plan and buy against consumer path to purchase decisions.

“The custom tools we build on top of this rich data will enable us to address our clients’ business needs even more effectively,” said Mullen VP and Group Media Director Kazi Ahmed.

OwnerIQ designed its technology to help clients better understand purchase path dynamics in the context of programmatic buying, which has gained recent traction in the marketplace.  

Programmatic buying is a priority for many agencies heading into 2014. John Moore, Mullen’s chief media officer, said the agency is focused on honing its skills in that arena going forward. “That’s an area we’re really focused on,” he said. “Companies that can help us figure out programmatic are the ones I’m interested in forging a deeper partnership with.”

OwnerIQ has a data management platform that tags and catalogs more than a billion consumer product and brand interactions per month. The firm’s demand-side ad platform is integrated with inventory pools that have billions of pre-filtered advertising opportunities via real-time bid each day.

Mullen/Mediahub and OwnerIQ have worked on projects over the past two years. Given the results for some of Mullen’s marquee clients, the agency has opted to broaden the relationship.