• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, August 1, 2006

Local TV ad service Spot Runner and JWT, a major global ad agency, joined forces Monday to marry the local relevance of the first with the broad reach of the second, says David Waxman, co-founder of Spot Runner.

"For our part, we've been focused on how to make the local businessperson successful on local TV," says Waxman. For Spot Runner, it's a "fantastic opportunity" to get introduced to the high-caliber national clients that comprise JWT's roster. Conversely, JWT gets "an easy turnkey solution for their national clients to get them on local television."

This approach would be advantageous for a couple of reasons, according to Waxman, who says "a local message is often of great benefit to global brands." National advertisers supporting local franchises can build a stock of ready-to-air commercials pre-approved by corporate headquarters, for example, which franchisees then choose from.

Waxman added that the service would benefit any national brand that operates on the local level. He envisions a national manufacturer that wants to help out local services using "an automated platform, where a national brand makes the ads available to smaller local players."

Waxman also noted that Spot Runner's "platform is very extensible to new media, like IPTV." He did say that key elements of these products, including an online measurement system, are still in development.

This alliance comes as other video ad services with online components join forces with national distribution networks. For example, digital marketing technology company Atlas recently forged a deal with Concurrent Technology, a digital video-tech firm, and Everstream, a digital-ratings data service owned by Concurrent, to create a network for buying, executing, and tracking the results of digital video ads. By coordinating the efforts of the three companies, Atlas hopes to gain a competitive edge, achieving economies of scale and greater efficiency for customers.