Ranks as Leading Mobile Ad Platform, Works With Major European Carriers, Acquired by Microsoft
2.5 billion mobile phones in use around the world—and still growing. By 2011, advertisers will spend $14.4 billion on mobile media—or one-fifth of global spending on Internet advertising.
This huge advertising opportunity is what Paris-based ScreenTonic set out to address in 2001. ScreenTonic’s mobile solutions provide advertisers with a complete range of ad formats, from display to text, as well as ad management and reporting capabilities, while serving the needs of mobile operators and independent publishers equally.
The company sells mobile advertising campaigns to advertisers Its technology allows mobile portals to display advertising content on their mobile pages or in their mobile applications, and generates new revenue. With venture funding from 3i and I-Source Gestion, the company’s ad technology was launched on Orange’s mobile portal in France in 2003.
In addition to big-name carriers, the company has also worked with mega-advertisers such as Reebok and Coca-Cola.
Says Marc-Henri Magdelenat, CMO at ScreenTonic, “The original vision that mobile would be a great tool for advertisers has never changed. Our goal is to provide the right ecosystem for both publishers and advertisers on the right platform. We help publishers monetize their audience on the mobile phone, and provide the same platform for advertisers to allow them to buy and advertise on the mobile phone.”
The Microsoft Connection?
Jean David Chamboredon of 3i, ScreenTonic’s VC, initially introduced Microsoft to ScreenTonic. Then in early 2007, the French Emerging Business Team led by Julien Identified ScreenTonic as a high-potential partner and acquisition candidate because of its compelling solution and great IP.
Says Magdelenat, “We were the leading company in Europe in this mobile advertising sector, and were already active in four countries—France, Spain, the UK, and Belgium. We work with more than six carriers in Europe, including Orange, Virgin Mobile, Mobistar, Proximus, and Bouygues Telecom. It’s why Microsoft identified us as a partner, and when we met with them, we quickly realized that we were on the same page, with the same approach to this evolving market”
From the first meeting with ScreenTonic to final acquisition took only nine months. Right from the start, Microsoft realized ScreenTonic would perfectly fit a gap in its technology road map.
Where Are They Now?
In January 2007, ScreenTonic’s technology was nominated to the 3GSM Awards for ‘Most Innovative mobile application or content’. Not long after that, in May 2007, Microsoft came courting. It acquired Paris-based ScreenTonic SA in a move that combines the breadth of Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions offerings with the mobile expertise and industry relationships of ScreenTonic. The goal? To help advertisers reach a global audience of mobile users.
Explains Magdelenat, “We did not set out to create a Microsoft-compatible platform; we wanted a platform that would serve the vast majority of cell phones and networks. Our platform supports Windows Mobile (which has great market share) and others so we can serve ads on as many phones as possible.”
As a result of the acquisition, ScreenTonic sees many opportunities to expand beyond its foothold in Western Europe, into other countries such as US first, India and China, which Magdelenat says “would have been much harder for a small startup before.”
Chris Liddell, CFO of Microsoft, provides more information on the ScreenTonic/Microsoft connection.
Stave Ballmer talks about Microsoft's strategy for the future of digital advertising.
