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Project Agora secures 2nd round financing from Venture Friends to accelerate the expansion of its Publisher Monetization SaaS platform.

Project Agora, the leading monetization service for publishers in Europe and the Middle East, secures 2nd round financing from Venture Friends to further accelerate the development of its SaaS platform.

Project Agora is currently helping 382 websites across the region grow their revenues. During the last 6 months it had a fantastic run, growing its revenues with a YoY rate of 143%.

“The growth we have had during the last period has been overwhelming but amazingly successful. We have substantially increased the number of cooperating websites and the depth of our partnership, while scaling up the team to 30 specialized monetization experts. This round will help us further accelerate the development of our proprietary optimization platform and our scaling efforts to help local publishers regain a bigger share of the advertising pie”, commented Odysseas Ntotsikas, Project Agora’s, Founder & Managing Partner.

Apostolos Apostolakis, Venture Friend’s Partner commented:

“We are very excited to further support Odysseas and Project Agora team in their quest to improve publisher monetization in a scalable and easy to manage way”

InMobi and Think Digital Group (TDG) Sign Exclusive Partnership in Central and South East Europe

#inmobi thinkdigital mobile

Strategic partnership between Thinkdigital Group (TDG ) and Attica Media

The two groups announced a long-term partnership, which is aiming to accelerate the development of their digital advertising business in Greece and the rest countries of their presence.

Starting July 1st, Attica Media will be appointed as the exclusive Sales Partner of Thinkdigital for the local and international properties Thinkdigital is cooperating with (i.e. Adara, Eurohoops, inMobi, TripAdvisor and via Appnexus-MSN, Skype, Outlook-etc.) in Greece and in Cyprus. As part of the agreement, Attica Media and Capital.gr will partner exclusively with Project Agora for tech solutions and for additional monetization sources on their media (Askmen, Capital, MissBloom, Shape, etc.).

Mr. Theoharis Filippopoulos, Chairman of Attica Media, said: "through this partnership with Thinkdigital Group, Attica Media will rapidly grow into a top tier player in digital media. Our portfolio of 20-plus digital media enables advertisers to reach their target audiences, in scale and with quality and offers solutions that cater to the most complex and wide needs of brands. We are fortunate for this partnership and are looking forward to ripping significant benefits for all our partners. "

Odysseas Ntotsikas, Founder & CEO of TDG said: “In a world that evolves daily and as the local media market becomes fragmented, partnerships are the only logical way forward and create the right conditions for investment, growth, and extroversion. Our collaboration with Attica Media creates a future proof scheme, which will provide synergies of wide reach, premium editorial context, targeting options and creativity. This partnership further establishes TDG as the leading ad technology provider to publishers and advertisers in Greece and in the wider region.”

#attica #partnership

TDG celebrates its first ten years by planning for the Next Ten

TDG, one of the leading Digital Marketing & Ad-Tech groups in Europe and the Middle East, is celebrating this month its first ten years of continuous innovation and growth to help democratize advertising in emerging markets.

In a celebratory note to TDG employees and partners, Odysseas Ntotsikas, TDG’s founder and managing Director said: “Since 2006, TDG, has been known as the digital powerhouse that opens up new digital channels and practices of communication, educates local stakeholders to navigate the currents of digital transformation, and challenges oligopolistic business barriers. We celebrate these first ten years by looking to the Next Ten. Bring them on”.

TDG employees more than 130 digital professionals across its 8 local offices. It operates through its four specialized companies, ThinkDigital, ForestView, TailWind, and Project Agora. TDG, through its Romanian subsidiary is also the organizer of ICEEfest one of the most influential digital advertising festivals in Europe.

Ad blocking in Greece at 19.6% according to Tailwind’s study

The first in-depth, comprehensive research on Ad blocking in Greece, conducted by TailWind with the support of Focus Bari and Oriel and under the aegis of the Hellenic Advertisers Association, the Hellenic Association of Communications Agencies and IAB Greece, shows that while the challenge is existent, it has not reached ‘overwhelming’ proportions. Mobile’s extremely low percentage of ad blocking usage is a great opportunity for the industry to ‘start anew’ in this vital channel – though only a major reversal of current excesses, across channels, will ensure this.

The industry should act fast as 3 out of 10 ads blocking users have installed ad blocking software in the last twelve months, translating into an effective 50% proliferation rate. This growth rate is principally the result of exasperating user experience – annoying ads and slow loading times are destroying the ad funded free internet. And yet this is, to an important degree, reversible: 2 out of 3 ad blocking users would be willing to uninstall the software if user experience issues were resolved. This would make a substantial difference as it would translate into an ad blocking percentage of (only) approx. 10% and an increase of almost 30% in effective audience reach. A major hidden risk comes to the fore: ad blocking triggers are most prevalent in the digital video environment, i.e. unless it is reformed, the industry is in grave danger of missing out in the fastest growing and most lucrative segment of digital advertising. Any reform process must include all industry stakeholders and, as the global example of the IAB shows, involve new standards and codes of conduct. In parallel, a broader drive to educate users about the value exchange in digital advertising must be enhanced and reinforced. Please download the “Ad Blocking in Greece” whitepaper.

#adblocking #greece #ads

TDG welcomes its 4th Generation of Digital Thinkers

TDG welcomed the 4th Generation of “Digital Thinkers” last week at its premises in Athens & Patras. Having been selected from over 300 received applications and coming from various business disciplines, the 11 talented & aspiring ‘digerati in the making’ are currently participating in the Group’s Internship program and for the next 6 months.

Digital Thinkers after the completion of a structured and demanding Onboarding Training Program, will be assigned to active roles & duties in the TDG companies ThinkDigital, ForestView, and TailWind, while being also offered the opportunity to work under the guidance of experience TDG professionals, who under the role of their «mentor», will help them further develop their skills & abilities, unfold their talents and build their first strong career steps in the digital industry.

The Digital Thinkers Internship program was first introduced in December 2012 and our 1st Generation «graduated» with great success in June 2013. TDG continues to actively invest in the further development of Digital Thinkers, by offering the opportunity to those young professionals who excel during the course of the Program to challenge themselves with a permanent placement within the Group following completion of the 6 month Internship.

Our Digital Thinkers 4th Generation age on average at 27 years and most of them are MSc/MA degree holders.

With this innovative initiative, TDG actively proves the trust and investment the Group places on young talented professionals. The Group’s goal is to include in its teams fresh, dynamic & promising personalities and provide them with all the tools needed to achieve their dreams and become the next digital industry professionals.

#internship #DigitalThinkers

Taboola signs exclusive partnership with TDG, to grow native advertising in CE / SE Europe

Taboola, the world’s leading discovery platform, today announced its exclusive partnership with TDG, the leading Media & Ad-Tech player in Central Eastern, South Eastern Europe & MENA.

The collaboration integrates Taboola’s existing platform with TDG’s network of locally operated websites in CE and SE Europe with the first countries to launch being Cyprus, Greece and Romania. The deal makes TDG the go to point for local advertisers looking to expand into native advertising.

Leading marketers and publishers around the world use Taboola’s discovery platform to help distribute their content and monetize their traffic. Powered by predictive algorithmic technology, Taboola delivers personalized content recommendations on some of the most innovative sites around the web through high-impact placements alongside editorial, across all devices.

The partnership marks an important stepping stone for content recommendation, as Taboola brings its technology to two of the fastest growing and relatively untapped regions in the world.

“Content discovery represents a paradigm shift in the way consumers are finding and consuming content (branded or not) today and Taboola has been leading this change,” said Odysseas Ntotsikas, TDG’s Managing Director and Founder. “We are very excited to see publishers, advertisers and advertising agencies in CE and SE Europe embracing the change and start distributing and monetizing their content in a native way that brings results”.

“In the “Attention Economy” it’s more important than ever before to give brands and publishers a strategy outside of the walled garden platforms to grow their audiences.” said Adam Singolda, Founder & CEO, Taboola.

“The competition for users’ attention is fierce, and there is a big opportunity to empower consumers with the ability to discover new content. We are humbled and honored to bring our technology to a new market, where together we can pave the way for a future that is more personalized.”

#Odysseas Ntotsikas #adam singolda #thinkdigital #thinkdigital group #taboola

Magic VertiGo: why you should go vertical in mobile advertising starting today

In the last few years, the way consumers watched video content changed radically. The battle was on horizontal. HD. Ultra HD. And so on. But things are about to change. And if you don't want to be left behind, listen to this advice: go vertical! Welcome into the 21 century! "Vertical" has become the biggest trend in mobile advertising these days. No wonder why. A mobile held upright is easier to use. It's just natural. Magic VertiGo fits perfectly in this story. Launched by Project Agora and a member of the "Magic" family of Impactful Ad-Formats, VertiGo is a new vertical format for programmatic mobile advertising. « Vertical video has flipped the script on the advertising landscape and it only made sense to work on developing a format such as Magic VertiGo. Beyond doubts, it’s the most impactful and authentic way for brands to tell their story and to reach programmatically the ever growing mobile audience when the time, medium and context are right! », said Thomai Gklarou-Stavropoulou, Project Agora’s International Product Director.

Why VertiGo? With a fully customizable Call to Action button, VertiGo automatically plays only when is visible. • Reach consumers with a Mobile first approach • Adapt advertising to native mobile behavior, vertical scrolling • Influence perceptions and impact behavior with a fully immersive Video Experience • Entertain & connect emotionally to viewers with mobile video storytelling Accessible to all brands in Greece, Romania, Hungary & the Middle East, VertiGo offers great benefits for advertiser which can now exploit the hallo effect that every new ad-format enjoys during its first interaction with consumers.

Ad-Format Benefits • Adjusts advertising to the way consumers are accessing content today in all screens: Vertical Scrolling • Ads are upright, full-screen placed in mobile publisher content • It can utilize video to multiply the impact while still having call to action elements to induce actions • Sits at the center of consumer attention • It’s polite and non-intrusive The “Go Vertical with VertiGo” campaign combines a strong visual proposition, with PR, social media and advertising components, unfolding in core target markets: Greece, Hungary, Romania and MENA, aiming to drive both awareness and talkability around this pioneering format across earned and owned media. « We really wanted to create an integrated campaign to fire up conversation and really engage the audience through the creativity of its insight and a really competitive product », added Dragos Stanca, TDG’s Head of Innovation & Marketing. See the VertiGo in action (mobile only)!

#VertiGo #Magic VertiGo #Project Agora #Thomai Gklarou-Stavropoulou

ThinkDigital becomes TripAdvisor’s Exclusive Display Advertising Partner in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Hungary and Romania

TripAdvisor is the largest travel community in the world, reaching 340 million unique monthly visitors. By democratizing its audience’s ratings, the platform is the undisputed leader in hotel reviews and the world’s largest travel site.

It offers advice from millions of travelers, featuring a vertical search engine and a wide selection of booking tools. Covering more than 6.5 million accommodations, restaurants and attractions, the sites operate in 48 markets worldwide.

Odysseas Ntotsikas, TDG CEO and Founder, commented on the newly-founded partnership: “This new win-win partnership will allow us to better represent the interests of our clients and media agencies. Their marketing success means personalizing the outreach, talking with a highly qualified and engaged audience, comprising alpha - influencers, known to shape the behavior and purchasing decisions of their social circles. We are looking forward to exploring new ways for the brands to connect with TripAdvisor’s public in Greece, Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria, putting in the best of our expertise in handling big global portfolios in these markets”.

TripAdvisor offers a unique opportunity of desktop and mobile display formats mix and the exclusive possibility of targeting specific audiences such as Local Travelers, Local Affluent Consumers and Foreign Travelers while serving as an exclusive hub for the travel industry advertisers.

For more details, just drop an email to the closest ThinkDigital office in your region.

#Odysseas Ntotsikas #TripAdvisor #partnership

Project Agora secures financing from Venture Friends to grow its SaaS platform

Project Agora secures financing from Venture Friends, one of the leading VC firms in S.E. Europe, to further accelerate the development of its SaaS advertising monetization platform for publishers.

Project Agora has had a fantastic run during the first 18 months, launching its advertising inventory monetization service in Greece, Romania, Hungary and MENA, and innovating to maximize revenues and simplifying operations for more than 330 websites. Project Agora is currently monetizing more than 1bn impressions per month while its employee base has grown during this period from 6 to 21 digital professionals.

“The traction we have had during the first 18 months has been overwhelming but amazingly positive. Access to capital will help us grow faster to empower local publishers get the funds and extra time to build content and services that people want to engage with”, commented Odysseas Ntotsikas, TDG’s Founder & Managing Partner. Apostolos Apostolakis, Venture Friend’s Partner commented: “We are thrilled with Project Agora and its dynamic so far. The company has already established partnership with 330 websites who are already seeing an uplift in their advertising revenues. We are also very much enthusiastic to be partnering with Odysseas in his new business venture. In parallel to his successful international career with TDG, Odysseas has been a true digital marketing thought leader”.

#Project Agora #Venture Friends #programmatic

With 3,350 delegates, 137 speakers and more than 60 hours of keynotes and presentations ICEEfest doubled the number of participants in the past two years.

More than 3,350 delegates and 137 speakers in 6 stages shared their thoughts, analyzed the latest trends and discussed all things digital in this year’s ICEEfest.

Digital content, Virtual and Augmented Reality, viral marketing and creativity, e-commerce, technological developments and performance marketing were among other key topic discussions at this year’s ICEEfest, with parallel events for startups and entrepreneurship, tourism marketing and women empowerment.

For the first time ICEEHealth was launched: a satellite event dedicated exclusively to the internet and technology in the medical field.

Apart from an outstanding line up of companies such as Netflix, Google, Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Yahoo!, Tumblr to name a few – the full speaker’s list is available here - , ICEEfest’s 5th year has welcomed the largest number of delegates:

• 3,350 participants, up to 21% from last year (2,768) and 95% from 2014 (1,420)

• 137 speakers, international trainers and artists (103 last year)

• 17 countries were represented at the festival (Romania, Greece, Moldova, United Kingdom, Poland, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Hungary, Serbia, USA, Russia, UAE, Iran, Sweden, Denmark, Germany)

"At TDG we have served our mission to Democratize Advertising during the last 10 years profoundly well. ICEEfest has been the spearhead of our efforts. There is nothing more democratizing than bringing more than 3.000 people from 17 different countries together to discuss and exchange ideas on the future of advertising and digital, network, get inspired and have fun"- Odysseas Ntotsikas, Founder & CEO of ThinkDigital Group commented.

The competition for innovative startups «200 Seconds of Fame» as well as the IAB Mixx Award Ceremony and the rich entertainment program with Stand Up Comedy, Live Music Party and Expo & Summer Playground were not missing from this year’s event.

"We stay true to our mission to build the interaction between the CEE market and the world. It's a two way road. What the Interactive Central and Eastern Europe project is today, represents only the 1st phase of a much broader process. I’m proud to say that, after 5 years of hard work, we are recognized globally, maybe not yet as the biggest digital and tech event in the region, but, for sure, the best or, at least, the coolest project of its kind in CEE region. Join us in 2017 to convince yourself", stated Dragos Stanca, organizer and founder of ICEEfest.

Once again, the ICEEfest community stayed connected via the exclusive, annually-active ICEEfest App that this year facilitated 3,053 participants and speakers (in comparison to 1,305 in 2015) in their schedule and communication during the two-day works. Social Listening (powered by mediaTRUST) counted 1,256 mentions in social media and 773 mentions in online press.

ICEEfest is organized in partnership with the public that invests every year buying tickets and is presented, since the first edition (2012) by Orange.

Important partners in 2016 have been Xaxis, Jacobs and Volkswagen. The festival is supported by BCR, Prometheus, Mather Economics, Seller Engine, Admiral Markets, TP Link, Uber, Mira, Dent Estet, iFuse, Ciuc, Pepsi. The complete sponsor list can be found in the official website: www.ICEEfest.com.

The ICEEfest-ers can watch all speakers’ presentations on the official website of ICEEfest, while with their ticket they can have an annual access to the online “ICEEfest Academy” (soon to be updated with the best keynotes from 2016).

#ICEEfest ICEEfest2016

Nature’s Symphony by ThinkDigital Romania for WWF

Upon selection among 4 agencies, ThinkDigital Romania is turning up the volume for nature, in the latest European campaign launched for WWF.

The campaign is aiming to draw attention to the latest EU legislative transformations that may have negative impact on these countries’ environment as well as raise awareness on the beauty of the European nature.

Under the WWF website, a dedicated interactive section has been created, NatureUp, where users after choosing their country flag can create their own, unique song with sounds of nature and share it. The songs will be used to produce a natural symphony that will be played live in Amsterdam, in the end of June when the Ministers are deciding on the future of the European Nature Laws.

The campaign is launched in 18 different CEEU countries with localized websites, a mobile application and video footage.

“We are happy that WWF chose an idea <Made in Romania> and that we have the chance to work on a beautiful campaign, which can have a positive impact on the environment“, said Gabriela Bartic, Strategy & Creative Director al ThinkDigital Romania.

This is the second time that ThinkDigital Romania and WWF cooperate after the successful WWF application, “Iubeste” for Valentine’s Day.

Now you can turn the volume on Nature up here: http://www.wwf.eu/natureup/

Watch the video here: http://bit.ly/20pr3lv

#WWF ThinkDigital

100+ top international speakers and 3,500 attendees from CEE will meet in Bucharest, Romania, for ICEEfest.

6 different stages, 3,500 delegates, 100+ international speakers, a whole open air summer camp, comedy shows, live music, parties and more. The Interactive Central and Eastern Europe Festival – ICEEfest – will take place in Bucharest, Romania, for the 5th year in a row.

CEEs prodigy event dedicated to the Internet and its huge impact on the economy, communication and almost all aspects of everyday life, celebrates its 5th anniversary with a complex agenda and with a CEEU first exclusive presentation by NETFLIX. Joris Evers, NETFLIX Vice President, Head of Communications for Europe, Middle East and Africa will be this year’s keynote speaker.

THE GLOBAL GIANTS category will include industry killers like Google, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIN, Yahoo and Tumblr. But those are not the only ones who have completely changed the world. There are amazing companies that have shifted industries like music, tourism and urban transportation and will be joining us. To name a few - Shazam, Maker Studios, Tripadvisor and Uber.

JOURNALSIM AND DIGITAL CONTENT will be eyeballed by the heavyweights from CNN, Euronews, BBC, Eurosport, Discovery Channel, Vice, Le Monde, Corriere della Sera, RTL, Dogan and Ringier.

CREATIVITY in communication is the icing of the cake. Our pastry chefs this year come from the authors of some of the most viral digital campaigns: The Zoo (Google), R/GA, DDB, BBH Live, Lola Mullen Lowe, Catapult, Palladium, 4 Wise Monkeys and many more.

VIRTUAL REALITY is the next stop, to which we have dedicated several sessions with companies that mix the hip and hype of this segment: Hololens, Khora, Grand Visual, Design4Real, Inition, WildBytes, Discovery AR, Happy Finish and others.

EHEALTH. This year’s ICEEfest launches its first satellite event, ICEEhealth, exclusively dedicated to the impact of technology and interned on the medical world. Companies such as Human Ecosystems, Deamjay, Omixy, Mira Rehab, Skin Vision or Quealth will bring to the forefront the most revolutionary products and ideas in this ecosystem.

E-COMMERCE AND PERFORMANCE marketing will be addressed by Google and Facebook, the experts from House of Kaizen, uSwitch, Verve, Hotjar and many others.

ADTECH. Marketing complex technologies and content distribution are represented by AppNexus, Xaxis, Ooyala, Sizmek, Criteo, Sociomatic, Mather Economics, Playbuzz, Centro, RavDefender and not only.

The festival will take place in Bucharest, Romania on June 9th and 10th and will also have focused areas dedicated to investments and startups, but also, music, film and comedy.

For exploring the partnership opportunities, check here. Startups get their chance to sky rocket with tailored proposals, that you can find here. Full Speakers’ list can be found here.

#ICEEfest

Alpha Bank’s Innovative Alpha e-Banking by ThinkDigital

Alpha Bank recently launched its new Alpha e-Banking platform and at ThinkDigital along with Tempo OMD we were assigned with the task to implement their first native advertising campaign, communicating the bank’s innovative services to an already predisposed audience that is skeptical towards banking products.

The native campaign’s message was to place Alpha Bank as the first option for safe and effective web and mobile banking transactions and to also educate the audience on the innovations within the bank’s new Alpha e-Banking platform. MSN.gr, due to its high traffic was selected as the campaign hub and under its “FINANCE” vertical we created a fully branded “INNOVATION” section where with thorough and dedicated messages we addressed our audience with the functional and effective pros of web banking.

“The New Alpha e-Banking MSN “INNOVATION” sponsorship aiming at promoting the advantages and possibilities offered by the upgraded service has been a totally successful activation. MSN has been the ideal environment for this promotion, securing high coverage levels for the native campaign standards.” Lila Valvi, Digital Account Manager, Tempo OMD.

The campaign amplification used leading Media (Skype and MSN Homepage) and succeeded remarkable results exceeding 2,5M views.

Campaign Website: http://www.msn.com/el-gr/money/innovation/

Visit Alpha e-Banking: https://www.alpha.gr/e-banking

Download Case Study: Here

See all our Case Studies: Here

#alpha bank #e-banking

Take a bite of…The Gran Escape

GranCereale, launched in Greece in 2010, perfectly combines high nutritional value with great taste and texture through a wide range of biscuits, cereal bars and rice cakes; a healthy pleasure for women who want to look and feel good.

In order to raise awareness for the whole GranCereale product range, their nutritional value and drive users to POS, in ThinkDigital we decided to place the product in the middle of the natural habitat and its audience, women between 25-44, who prefer a healthier life, exercise regularly, and take care of their diet without sacrificing the taste.

The “Gran Escape” is a one-month, multi-layered, outdoor adventure campaign with Nikoleta Ralli, a famous Greek TV persona, escaping the city onto a mountain adventure in Orini Korinthia, where she is trekking, kayaking, and camping alone, sharing with us her day-to-day whereabouts.

Users are able to read Nikoleta’s blog posts, track her experiences on her social media accounts, download a pdf. map with her route, watch the dedicated video content, learn about GranCereal products and sign up for a weekly contest, with a chance to win a 3-day excursion in the same Greek mountains.

The campaign reached over 2,3 million users targeted on MSN, Skype, Outlook and other ThinkDigital properties such as kairos.GR, travelplanet.GR and greekcook.GR.

Have a look at the great campaign content here:

Campaign Website: http://www.grancereale.gr/thegranescape

Download Case Study: Here

See all our Case Studies: Here

Is the full stack CMO the Super Hero of our generation?

TDG’s founder Odysseas Ntotsikas debates the super-hero CMO skills, and questions if those skills alone are enough to drive any business’ digital transformation to 2020.

Read the full post here!

Odysseas Ntotsikas in Fortune’s 40 Under 40 List

TDG’s Founder and CEO, Odysseas Ntotsikas, is once again featured in the Greek edition of Fortune Magazine’s list of 40 successful entrepreneurs under 40.

Odysseas founded ThinkDigital Group in 2006 to democratize advertising in emerging markets. Today TDG is counting active business accounts in more than 20 countries and a personnel of over 120 professionals in the Group’s three companies: ThinkDigital, ForestView and Tailwind.

TDG has grown to become one of the leading independent Digital Advertising Companies in Central Eastern, Southeast Europe and MENA working with international and local partners such as Adara, Appnexus, Dailymotion, Facebook, MSN, Skype, Shazam and Sizmek to effectively serve major advertisers and publishers across the region.

Following the successful launch of Chameleon, TDG’s own Adaptive Optimization Engine, TDG’s latest high-profile project is Project Agora - that aims to offer “an end-to-end monetization solution to publishers”.

Learn more on Project Agora here.

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