Katarzyna Bargielska, Co-Founder at Programmatic Advertising Platform AdTonos

AdTonos is an audio-centric ad tech company offering unparalleled solutions for advertisers and impressive monetisation opportunities for publishers.

Our programmatic audio platform is a marketplace that connects advertisers with publishers and offers a variety of placements. It provides advertisers with vast reach across audio channels and enables them to buy ads programmatically through integrations with more than fifteen demand-side platforms (DSPs), via our simple and intuitive platform.

Measurement and post-campaign analytics help advertisers achieve better results, and the platform provides detailed reporting, including unique listeners, ad playout and website visits. Our Audiopixel™ is easy to integrate with Google Analytics, providing a single campaign overview. We can run remarketing campaigns, either addressing all the advertiser’s web visitors with one ad or serving different ads depending on the product viewed. Crucially, advertisers can buy inventory across multiple radio stations via a single interface, and can run both national and local campaigns depending on marketing needs and budget.

The platform successfully monetises the streams of over 200 publishers and radio stations across Europe, Latin America and the United States, and we are continually integrating new audio inventory suppliers. AdTonos supports publishers in competing for online budgets and building new revenue streams.
 
 
AdTonos | Online Audio Advertising Platform - Audio Advertising Reinvented
 

How did you come up with the idea for the company?

 
Michal Marcinik, co-founder and now CEO of AdTonos, came up with the original idea. Michal is passionate about audio and is rarely seen without his headphones. He particularly loves radio and founded the first internet radio station in Europe at just 18. He had publishers, presenters and a business partner responsible for acquiring advertisers, but the project was frozen when the dot com bubble burst.

After this experience, Michal decided to help radio stations monetise their online content. His start-up, Radio Net Media Ltd, won the Incredibles competition created by Sebastian Kulczyk, and he used the funding to enter the market with an audio programmatic advertising proposition. He invited co-founders to join him and there was so much passion in his proposal I decided to take up the challenge. I could see the exciting market potential, so my decision was quick.
 

 

What advice would you give to other aspiring entrepreneurs?

 
You need a project idea you believe in 100%. Then you need to consult people who have strong business experience to verify the idea and assess the market potential. Originators and creators are naturally very committed to their work but sometimes overlook factors that are vital to long-term success and financing.

It may sound clichéd, but putting together the right team is also essential. People need to be knowledgeable and experienced, but also strong, flexible and enthusiastic enough to build from scratch and overcome the challenges that face any start-up. If you can find and engage the right people, you’re already halfway there.

In addition to a great vision and the right team, you also need a humble approach. Not everything is successful from the start. Success is built steadily, step by step, by learning from failures. A flexible approach helps adapt to changing external conditions, especially in the current context of COVID-19 where agility is more important than ever.
 

What can we hope to see from AdTonos in the future?

 
AdTonos is more than just a programmatic audio platform, it is the leading force in audio-centric advertising technology. We’re bringing real-time interactivity to live radio with our new technology, YoursTruly. The technology allows advertisers to reach listeners via smart speakers with engaging two-way, voice-based communications. An ad featuring an interaction trigger is inserted into an ad break, and listeners can react with a simple voice command to engage the voice assistant and complete the desired action before returning to the live radio station.

We have also implemented Drumbeat, a technology that allows radio broadcasters and online radio publishers to generate instant revenue. The solution is already integrated with top tier streaming providers, so if a publisher uses one of these they can begin monetisation right away with no need for contracts, further integrations or the cumbersome process of attracting advertisers. Drumbeat grants advertisers access to thousands of radio stations, additional audio and podcast inventory, and a wider group of listeners. Publishers and advertisers receive real-time campaign reporting via a dashboard, and daily confirmation of campaign results.

We are committed to creating innovative technologies for the audio advertising industry and we will also develop our existing solutions further. We are planning new integrations with business partners, streaming providers and publishers and intend to make our tools available in additional markets worldwide.