Published on the 05/10/2015 | Written by Newsdesk
SaaS platform apparently delivers less intrusive smartphone advertising…
The mobile advertising market has another contender eyeing up international markets as Motim Technologies said it is planning a 2016 launch for its software in the United States. Backed by investors Powerhouse Ventures and the New Zealand Venture Investment Fund, Motim has opened an offer today (5 October) with equity crowdfunding platform Snowball Effect.
Motim has worked on campaigns for the likes of Becks, Coca-Cola, Nike, Sony, Disney and Universal. Locally, it has produced work for Peter Jackson’s Weta.
Motim CE Andrew Plimmer said consumers are rapidly transitioning to a mobile-first world and the rest of the marketing industry is struggling to keep up. “Mobile is now a major consideration for brands as consumers spend more time on their smartphones and tablets. But the traditional ad industry model doesn’t work with mobile – consumers don’t want broadcast-style advertising hitting their phones, which are considered deeply personal spaces, and ad blocker apps are gaining in popularity.”
While there are purportedly millions to be made in mobile advertising, it isn’t cut and dried, as Snakk Media has discovered. Local companies are up against the biggest in the business, too, including the likes of Facebook and Google.
However, claimed Plimmer, “What Motim has been able to do quicker and better than anyone else is use our technology to create unique brand experiences that don’t feel like advertising.”
Motim’s equity crowdfunding offer has a funding target of $500,000 (9.6 percent of the firm’s equity) and a funding cap of $1.5 million (24.1 percent of the firm’s equity). The firm has a pre-money valuation of $4.7 million.
Motim plans to use funds raised to launch a new software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform to its advertising agency partners. The SaaS platform will allow agencies to buy mobile media space for publishing with Motim’s interactive technology to deliver mobile campaigns.
“The United States continues to be a big focus and, with an established base in Atlanta, Georgia, we’re a player there. There’s a US$25 billion untapped advertising opportunity in mobile in the US in 2016, and the market is growing at 34 percent year on year.”
According to industry journal eMarketer, 2015 will see mobile account for more than half of all digital ad spend in the United States – and also surpass print ad spend – for the first time. The display and search categories dominate the mobile advertising space.
Plimmer said Motim’s SaaS platform will incorporate the emerging space of ‘visual search’ (utilising smartphones’ in-built cameras) as well as display marketing.
