• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, September 27, 2017

WPP’s GroupM has launched a new business called Finecast that will build and sell addressable TV products to advertisers and their agencies. It will also partner with media companies to develop and deploy new addressable offerings, including advanced measurement products. 

The service, which has just launched in the UK, is headed by Jakob Nielsen, who serves as CEO. Previously, he was managing director GroupM Digital in the UK. The Microsoft veteran joined GroupM in 2009. Rich Astley has been named Chief Product Officer. He too joins from GroupM, where he held the same title. 

A GroupM rep confirmed the “ambition” is to roll out Finecast to additional markets, where “we see marketplace readiness with TV distributors and OTT platforms.” 

No word yet on plans for a rollout in the U.S. where GroupM operates Modi Media the specialist agency that offers clients addressable TV and other enhanced TV services. The two businesses would appear to complement each other as Modi is an agency which is compensated with service fees from clients while Finecast is a vendor that builds and sells addressable TV products. 

The new offering is designed to help TV advertisers target viewers more precisely across the spectrum of video platforms, including broadcast, satellite and cable TV and the array of video-on-demand offerings tied to those channels; over-the-top providers and game consoles, all combined for scale. 

At launch in the UK, those platforms include distribution across Sky, Virgin Media, Samsung, YouView, Amazon Fire, Roku and gaming consoles, such as Xbox. 

“Finecast is built to strengthen the TV ecosystem for advertisers and media partners alike,” stated Kelly Clark, Global CEO at GroupM. “By unlocking the ability to be targeted in TV campaigns, Finecast opens the door for new advertisers that haven’t used TV before. It will give traditional TV advertisers new ways to use the medium.” 

Clark added “through partnerships and joint investment, Finecast will also provide a platform for industry collaboration on new products and measurement standards.”

Finecast’s targeting precision will be driven by multiple sources of data providing close to 200 different targeting segments. It will utilize big industry data platforms, including Acxiom, Experian, MasterCard and sibling company Kantar. The service will also use GroupM’s own [m]Platform and soon activate campaign targeting at the household level using [m]Platform audience segments.