Parsec Media Announces AFOX: A Distributed Platform to Issue, Trade and Settle Digital Media Contracts

NEW YORK, July 25, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Parsec, a pioneer of attention optimization, today announced the launch of AFOX (Advertising Futures and Options Exchange), its blockchain division, providing a new eponymous offering for marketers and publishers. AFOX is designed to solve a raft of inefficiencies in the slow and unpredictable marketplace for "upfront" digital media transactions. Specifically, AFOX is a solution for the issuance, trading, and settlement of digital advertising contracts. It has been built on the Corda blockchain, built by enterprise blockchain software company R3.

Using AFOX, brands and agencies can enter into contracts directly with publishers, with predetermined rates, quantities, fulfillment date ranges and ad format specifications, as well as quality thresholds verified by MOAT or other compatible measurement vendors. Any impressions that do not meet agreed-upon quality standards are not counted towards settlement.

Blockchain has been hailed as a universal remedy to the digital advertising industry's challenges; however, most implementations are unnecessarily substituting a blockchain for a regular database. AFOX focuses on the digitization of media assets and the ability to transact in a decentralized environment. Transferring ownership and settling contracts in this method is particularly useful in ad tech, an industry with many participants whose incentives are not always aligned.

Global media buying agency MediaCom and publisher Future US will be the first clients of the AFOX platform, directly connecting the agency's brand marketer clients with the digital publisher behind Tom's Guide, Space.com, LiveScience and more.

Thanks to the guaranteed nature of these contracts, AFOX offers future receivables financing, giving publishers earlier access to cash than would be possible in less reliably planned media sales. It also enables the creation of media futures, an agreement by two companies to buy media at a given price at a future date, and media options, an agreement between two companies that one has the option to purchase media at a given price and date.

"MediaCom is excited to be the first marketer participating on the AFOX platform," said Charlie Fiordalis, Managing Partner, MediaCom. "The true power of blockchain technology when applied to media is creating a liquid market to apply advanced financial tools including futures and options. We are always looking for the most forward-looking solutions for our clients and believe that AFOX has developed a unique and innovative product.

"For publishers, AFOX drives revenue reliability in an era when instantaneous transactions have eroded this essential capability," said Marci Chocky, Vice President of US Marketing, Future US. "What's more, any publisher who works with AFOX will undoubtedly be more attractive to buyers for the advantages it offers them. We are thrilled to be the debut publisher with MediaCom as our first AFOX client."

"Parsec is proud to empower pioneering brands and publishers a simpler and more advanced way of handling forward-looking contracts," said Parsec Media CEO Marc Guldimann. "In addition, I am thrilled to announce that AFOX will be helmed by one of its co-founders, John Humiston. John has worked with Parsec for nearly three years, beginning as a full stack developer and advancing to become a senior software engineer and distributed ledger technology product lead. I am confident with his technology acumen and business savvy, he will drive AFOX's success."

"Upfront digital media plans can take weeks to design and months to reconcile, and common 24-hour out clauses for buyers make these plans unstable," said John Humiston, President, AFOX. "Our goal is to iron out the inefficiencies in our market, and the standardization of structured, forward contracts is a key part of that. At the same time, this will open up doors to places that haven't existed yet: liquid secondary markets, media commoditization, much more advanced and symbiotic trade financing on the supply chain."

David E. Rutter, CEO of R3, comments, "We're pleased to welcome Parsec's AFOX to the Corda community, joining over 300 members building innovative solutions on the platform. We designed Corda specifically to address the specific needs of a wide range of industries. This partnership is a perfect example of its ability to meet the requirements of digital media contracts in areas such as accountability, security and scalability. Smart contracts is a process where blockchain can add real value when compared with outdated systems. We look forward to seeing the next stage of development for AFOX on Corda."

To learn more about AFOX, please go to http://www.afoxexchange.com

About Parsec Media
Parsec Media, a pioneer in attention optimization, quantifies the success of creatives and tactics. Parsec works with leading publishers across every vertical to provide a 100 percent transparent, brand-safe, and contextually relevant environment for brands. With a focus on attention metrics, Parsec aligns all stakeholders around a common goal: creating ads that people enjoy and find relevant. The company recently launched Adelaide, the first performance tool for brand builders. A SaaS solution, Adelaide measures brand marketing performance through real-time feedback on consumer attention to help brands drive more lift per dollar. For more information, visit: http://www.parsec.media/

About MediaCom
MediaCom helps brands unlock growth through media. We do this by applying our unique Systems Thinking approach to data, technology and creativity to design communication strategies that build brands and generate sales.

As part of WPP, the world's largest marketing communications services group, and part of GroupM, WPP's consolidated media investment management arm, we have access to the richest data sets and most robust benchmarks in the business, enabling us to identify the best avenues for growth and unlock the potential in every brand.

Our success is underpinned by our long-standing belief that if we invest in our people, we'll deliver better results not only for our teams, but also for our clients. "People First, Better Results" means that we invest in our people's careers and capabilities to help grow our clients' businesses.

In 2018, this approach led MediaCom to become the first network to hold all six major Media Network of the Year titles concurrently: Adweek, Campaign, Cannes Lions, Festival of Media Global, M&M Global and WARC Media 100. The agency retained the WARC Media 100 title in 2019.

MediaCom is one of the world's leading media communications specialists, with billings of US $13.5 billion (Source: COMvergence, March 2019), employing 8,000 people in 125 offices across 100 countries. Its global client roster includes adidas, Coca-Cola (TCCC), Dell, Mars, NBC Universal, P&G, PSA, Richemont, Shell and Sony.

About R3
R3 is an enterprise blockchain software firm working with a broad ecosystem of more than 300 members and partners across multiple industries from both the private and public sectors to develop on Corda, its open-source blockchain platform, and Corda Enterprise, a commercial version of Corda for enterprise usage.

R3's global team of over 200 professionals in 13 countries is supported by over 2,000 technology, financial, and legal experts drawn from its global member base.

Learn more at http://r3.com

About Future
Future plc is a global platform business for specialist media with diversified revenue streams.
The Media division is high-growth with three complementary revenue streams: eCommerce, events and digital advertising. It operates in a number of sectors including technology, games, music, home interest, hobbies and B2B and its brands including TechRadar, PC Gamer, Tom's Guide, Homebuilding & Renovating Show, GamesRadar+, The Photography Show, Top Ten Reviews, Live Science, Guitar World, MusicRadar, Space.com and Tom's Hardware.

The Magazine division focuses on publishing specialist content, with over 80 publications and over 530 bookazines published per year, totaling a global circulation of 1.2 million. The Magazine portfolio spans technology, games and entertainment, music, creative and photography, hobbies, home interest and B2B. Its titles include Classic Rock, Guitar Player, FourFourTwo, Homebuilding & Renovating, Digital Camera, Guitarist, How It Works, Total Film, What Hi-Fi? And Music Week.

SOURCE Parsec Media

Related Links

http://www.parsec.media/