Horizon Media Develops First Ever Brand Attribute Tool for Audio
Horizon First to Leverage its Proprietary BrandRatings Technology with Clear Channel Media and Entertainment’s New “Artist Match” Tool to Activate Focused Custom Content Opportunities for Brands
NEW YORK, NY — August 12, 2014 — Horizon Media, the fastest growing privately-owned media services agency in the world, today announced that it is the first agency to provide brand attribute information in the audio space. The agency has expanded its proprietary planning and activation tool, BrandRatings, to power client brands to identify the most effective, targeted and efficient audio environments. BrandRatings fuses syndicated and proprietary data along with specific brand attributes to identify more targeted and engaging matches between a brand, its consumers and the artists they follow most passionately.
Horizon Media will work with Clear Channel, one of the leading global media and entertainment platforms spanning radio, digital, outdoor, mobile, live events, and on-demand entertainment and information services, to pilot the launch of Clear Channel Media and Entertainment’s innovative “Artist Match” initiative. Artist Match is a new tool that explores the psychology behind artist appeal and how those associations can be harnessed most effectively by brands.
Artist Match goes beyond superficial appeal to discover the intrinsic factors of an artist’s appeal, enabling marketers to create a richer and more engaging sponsorships and integrations for consumers with a particular artist. Horizon will marry Artist Match with BrandRatings to give the agency viewability into not just which artists are the best match, but which programs, networks, stations, and day-parts have the best opportunity for increased engagement. This pilot will provide Horizon with access to the artists whose profile and appeal are identified by Clear Channel as the best match for the brand in keeping with its personality and the needs and expectations of consumers.
“Our partnership with Clear Channel Media and Entertainment, fused with Horizon’s BrandRatings data, allows us to explore the true drivers of an artist’s appeal,” said Eric Blankfein, Chief of the WHERE Group at Horizon Media. “This enables us to create a greater affinity between artist and brand and so develop more meaningful and engaging content across Clear Channel properties.”
“We have an unmatched ability to connect artists with their fans – and brands with their consumers – and now with our new insight-based tools we can take our capabilities to the next level,” said Radha Subramanyam, EVP, Insights Clear Channel Media and Entertainment. “The Artist Match tool offers marketers the ability to identify artists that align directly to their brand identity by giving them the insights into consumer behavior, and we are excited to test out this new capability with Horizon Media clients.”
Working together, BrandRatings and Artist Match rate artists across 26 attributes related to music, fandom and brand connection. That data is analyzed to determine the importance and extent of each attribute of an artist’s appeal, totaling over 64 million calculations per artist. A Clear Channel Media and Entertainment (CCM+E) Power Score is then created for each attribute in order to assign the most engaging artist matches and media platforms in which to activate the partnerships.
About Horizon Media
Horizon Media, Inc. is one of the largest and fastest growing privately held media services agencies in the world. The company was founded in 1989, is headquartered in New York and has offices in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Chicago. Horizon Media was chosen as 2011 Independent Media Agency of the Year by Mediapost, 2010 U.S. Media Agency of the Year by Adweek, Brandweek, and Mediaweek as well as by Ad Age and as one of the world’s ten most innovative marketing and advertising companies by Fast Company in 2011. In 2012, Bill Koenigsberg, President, CEO and Founder, was honored by Advertising Age as Industry Executive of the Year. Most recently, in 2014, Bill Koenigsberg was named 4As Chair of the Board and is the first person from a media agency to hold this prestigious position in the 100 year history of the 4As, the marketing industry’s leading trade association. The company’s mission is “To create the most meaningful brand connections within the lives of people everywhere.” By delivering on this mission through a holistic approach to brand marketing, Horizon Media has become one of the largest and fastest-growing media agencies in the industry, with estimated billings of over $4.3 billion and over 850 employees. The company is also a founding member of Columbus Media International, a multi-national partnership of independent media agencies. For more information, please visit horizonmedia.com.