Skai helps clients measure across walled gardens with ‘unified performance advertising’ tool

Adtech firm Skai has launched a new omnichannel platform aimed at helping marketers more accurately measure and benchmark the success of their campaigns across multiple media platforms. 

Skai is providing advertisers access to all of the publishers it supports, which count major consumer media such as Amazon Ads, Google, Microsoft, Apple Search Ads, Meta, TikTok, Snapchat, Walmart Connect and LinkedIn.

Scaling across 'Walled Gardens'

As digital advertising continues to dominate marketing budgets and solve for signal loss in a challenged macroeconomic environment, brands are increasing investment in performance channels, particularly retail media, paid search, paid social and app stores, due to their effectiveness and measurability.

These channels are dominated by publishers referred to as “walled gardens,” and marketers are tasked with connecting insights and execution across them in an automated and holistic manner—a laborious and error-prone undertaking. 

Recent research shows that more than 73 percent of CMOs have increased the number of channels used to reach customers in the last three years, causing additional complexity in maintaining speed and consistency of experience, and many cite delivering greater ROI from marketing investments and data as a top challenge. 

A flat pricing structure to encourage experimentation

In a press release, Skai said it is pitching its upgraded solution at a flat annual rate rather than the traditional variable pricing based on a percentage of media spend. The company said this new pricing model is to encourage more experimentation as payment isn't tied exclusively to instant growth. 

The flat annual rate is tiered by program scale and specific needs such as custom data needs or transitional managed services. By offering predictable pricing, Skai intends to eliminate the relentless sales and legal cycles advertisers have resigned themselves to while enabling clients to take fuller advantage of its offerings, harnessing the maximum speed and power of the platform. 

“Gone are the days of thinking about retail and other digital media in isolation or echo chambers”

A number of clients from Microsoft, WPP and  Amazon consultancy Momentum Commerce are already using the service.

Rafael Sosa-Krall, global media director at Microsoft, said: "As marketers, we have to start thinking more omni. We are looking at broader ‘performance roles’—you can still have experts in search and social, but they need to be able to do everything. We need technology that can support this fluidity across the team, facilitate collaboration, and respect consumer privacy while helping us compensate for signal loss.” 

Gemma Spence, global vice president, transformation at WPP-owned VMLY&R Commerce., said: “Gone are the days of thinking about retail and other digital media in isolation or echo chambers. The reality is, that's not how consumers shop. Where I see the market going, and where we are being pushed by clients, is the need for connectivity around, within and between retailers. The ability to drive switching and deeper engagement is something that the market is demanding and the adtech world needs to answer. Skai has set a high bar.” 

John T. Shea, chief executive of Amazon consultancy Momentum Commerce, added: “We know retail media ad performance doesn't happen in a vacuum so we're thrilled to partner with Skai on their new platform to help our shared customers drive insights and performance across Amazon, Google, Facebook and beyond."  

“Brands are underachieving relative to their potential today. For years, we have seen them struggle to keep pace with consumers across the various channels for shopping and information-seeking,” said Yoav Izhar-Prato, Skai chief executive and co-founder. “Working closely with each of our industry-leading partners, it became very apparent that the gap lies in what brands can achieve running channel-siloed go-to-market programs. 

“Brands can finally speak the same language as their audiences with omnichannel interaction and value exchange online. Early programs on the platform show massive performance improvement and better efficiency, resulting in smarter decisions and higher quality engagement. I have no doubt this will set the standard for how brands bring their offerings to market moving forward."