Local Ad Buying Partnership for Comscore, Dentsu

Marcoms agency Dentsu International will shift its local TV buying to a Comscore-based currency, supporting transactions on advanced audiences in all 210 US local markets, through a new partnership just announced.

Part of Dentsu Group, Dentsu International includes the specialist brands Carat, dentsu X, iProspect, Dentsu Creative and Merkle. Buys via the first three of these will be placed in local markets using Comscore's advanced audience solutions. The two firms say they will conduct test buys on behalf of two clients in top 10 local markets based on impressions delivered to advanced audiences built in dentsu's proprietary audience-building platform M1, with buys planned to go live in early 2023; and then roll out to additional markets throughout next year.

The firms had previously announced clients could use dentsu's M1 advanced audiences within Comscore's local planning and buying datasets; and the new deal follows a two year proof of concept phase led by Comscore's agency and brand leadership team helmed by SVP Commercial Kathryn Roganti and Karine McMaster, VP, Advanced Media, Local Investment at dentsu Media US.

Jennifer Hungerbuhler, EVP, Local & Audio Investment at dentsu Media US comments: 'For too long, our local TV buyers have been unable to reap the benefits of advances in data driven buying. As we look to what's next in media, the scale and stability of Comscore's local TV dataset, coupled with the power of dentsu's M1 audience intelligence platform, enable new opportunities for us to precisely transact on the audiences that matter most to our clients and drive value in every market'.

Comscore Chief Revenue Officer Carol Hinnant (pictured) adds: 'Comscore has a long history of innovating the way media is bought and sold, and we are proud to partner with dentsu as they break new ground in the local media industry. This test will demonstrate that advancements in how local media is transacted are not only possible but necessary'.

Web sites: www.dentsu.com and www.comscore.com .