TechBytes with Bobby McFarland, President at CrossInstall

Tell us how your role, as President and Co-Founder, at CrossInstall and your technology has grown to meet the company and the ad industry’s changing needs.

When we founded CrossInstall six years ago, our core business was focused on our Demand-Side Platform (DSP). As the first-to-market with a playable ad unit, we worked on getting our bearings to run those ads through our DSP. Now, we’ve built and optimized thousands of playable ads helping us learn how to be a better partner in playable production. CrossInstall is always innovating. Just recently we were named a Facebook Marketing Partner, worked closely with Facebook to run our playables on their News Feed, and also launched our Creatives-as-a-Service (CaaS) program so clients can run our playables on more platforms. It’s an exciting time to be in the business of playable ads. While my role has expanded, I still enjoy being hands-on, meeting our clients and working with our partners to see how we can continually iterate on our playables and strategy to merit results.

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What is CrossInstall doing to empower advertisers in their growth plans and budget allocation with so many more platform options?

With the growth of new platforms, almost all processes have become more complex. Individual networks and platforms have unique requirements which impact creative builds, ad optimization, and reporting and analysis.

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CrossInstall’s team provides end to end creative partner services, including, concept/storyboarding, design and development, packaging, quality assurance, and creative optimization and iterations. We see our role as more of a partnership with clients. The brunt of each client’s ongoing analysis centers on whether or not each platform is helping achieve their goals and if they need to revise their KPIs. We will be going live within the next month with a new dashboard where advertisers can get their hands dirty with playable optimizations and reporting. Stay tuned for the future of advertiser empowerment!

What draws you to DMEXCO? Which sections are you keenly following?

DMEXCO is a great opportunity for us to meet our European prospects, network with industry leaders, and share in-person the benefits of playable ads. As we recently launched our CaaS program, conferences like DMEXCO are a prime opportunity to wow companies with our creative examples. DMEXCO is a very international conference, and our new CaaS offering is a global business that will eventually rely on local expertise to ensure we’re creating the best possible ads in the region. This makes the conference really relevant for us. We are especially looking forward to The State of Programmatic talk as this is something that is always top of mind for our business with the fast-changing nature of our industry.

Which key event in OTT and Programmatic Advertising industry made the biggest impact on your business and how?

We were thrilled to partner with Facebook to launch playabales on the News Feed. This monumental initiative will shape the next chapter of advertising on their platform and for our business. We are honored that Gram Games’ Merge Dragons playable was one of the first in the beta test building the foundation for a solid partnership between CrossInstall and Facebook. We know their audiences will appreciate the ability to have an interactive experience that provides a taste of the game or brand before installing. More than ever, it is imperative for advertisers to captivate audiences who have limited attention spans, and playable ads lead the way to high-intent, targeted installs.

What are your thoughts on role of Playable Ads completely revolutionizing Digital Reinventions for omnichannel businesses, especially in retail?

Within the past few months, we’ve been excited about the growth of our CaaS program which helps redefine the limits of what is possible with playable ads – especially in regards to brand advertising. We’ve already created playables for 13 verticals some of which include retail, entertainment, food, and travel. We hope this program will inspire advertisers of all sizes who see the value of using playable, interactive ads for their campaigns.

What are your predictions on Playable ads and gaming experience?

Players and users value the chance to experience a game or brand before the actual download or purchase point – this sort of interaction is enabled uniquely by playables. Facebook running playables on the News Feed is a huge step, yet only the tip of the iceberg for a realm of possibilities. There is constant experimentation by different platforms that understand the value of playables, like Facebook, and those that don’t yet offer the ability to run them.

The added value is clear.

How do you work with programmatic ad exchanges to maximize your sales revenues?

CrossInstall has strong relationships with a number of platforms and exchanges on which clients can run their CrossInstall playables. Just to name a few, we work closely with Facebook, Google, Snap, Unity, Tapjoy, and AdColony. Our CaaS program is also a stepping stone toward cultivating partnerships with even more platforms. Our clients receive custom-built, high-quality playable ads and the option to run them on a wide range of platforms which is a win-win.

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Thanks for chatting with us, Bobby.

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