Melbourne-based digital advertising platform Viztrade has launched the Viztrade Local Media Fund to deliver digital advertising investment to Australia’s regional and independent media.
The fund will provide an avenue for brands and marketers to reach local communities across the country.
The initiative is lead by Viztrade in association with Standard Media Index (SMI), marketing management consultancy TrinityP3, DVM Law and Arthur St Digital.
It has also gained backing from Australia’s peak digital advertising body, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) Australia, which supports initiatives like the Local Media Fund because it’s mandate is to benefit publishers.
“We will provide a better system for all advertisers and marketers to reach local communities by connecting directly with digital newspaper publishers across Australia,” Viztrade managing director Simon Larcey says.
“By investing in the Local Media Fund, advertisers can efficiently get their brand messages in front of potential customers. The idea for the fund has been sparked by the collapse in advertising due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Larcey says the Viztrade platform was already connected to hundreds of local and regional publishers across Australia and brands that wanted to support online newspapers outside of the metropolitan markets could easily participate.
“Our long-term aim is to enable Australian and global brands to invest in local media as an effective communications channel," he says.
"This takes money away from the big tech giants and returns it to the local media economy."
The media initiative is aimed at supporting independent media during the COVID-19 crisis, but it also establishes an apparatus to ensure the sustainability of the local media industry.
"We support initiatives like the local media fund as we believe the Australian media industry must be provided with as much assistance as possible in this challenging time,” SMI co-founder and managing director ANZ Jane Ractliffe says.
The fund aims to stop job losses in regional media, enable brands to support the long-term viability of publishing businesses, and achieve positive advertising returns for marketers by promoting their services directly to regional communities.
"The Local Media Fund is a great initiative for advertisers to support the local media economy and a new way to create a more sustainable media economy to support all Australian communities,” TrinityP3 global CEO Darren Woolley says.
The fund will be an ongoing initiative and invites both advertisers, marketers and publishers to express their interest in taking part.
Find out more details here.
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