Xaxis Launches Insight-Based Ad Firm

WPP's audience profiling and targeting division Xaxis has launched a new 'mobile-first' performance ad business called Light Reaction, which will combine Xaxis data with scientific insight into how audiences perceive, relate and react to ads.

Light Reaction's platform will tap into the mobile technology of recently acquired multi-screen targeting firm ActionX; the programmatic capabilities of the firm's QuismaX retargeting products; and Turbine, its proprietary data management platform with real-time audience segmentation and modelling capabilities. The firm will offer audience data, media inventory and real-time programmatic technologies, and says it is also developing tools to help advertisers understand the 'perceptual pathway' by which audiences process and respond to dynamic creative.

The new business will be led by general manager Paul Dolan (pictured), who has worked for Xaxis since 2011, and previously served as EVP, General Manager, Performance Marketing. Commenting on the launch, Dolan said: 'Light Reaction makes it easy for global advertisers to garner the outcomes they want with zero upfront risk and unparalleled capability to scale results across multiple channels. We've developed a model for performance marketing that allows brands to meet precise objectives of customer response while drawing a direct line between ads and results'.

At launch, Light Reaction will be available in twenty markets across North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Web sites: www.xaxis.com and www.lightreaction.com .