Zinc CEO on merging ad tech and blockchain technology

Zinc

Over 30% of the $335 billion projected ad spend in 2020 is estimated to be lost to inefficiencies in the current digital advertising landscape.

With nearly a third of all money that goes into digital advertising getting thrown into the abyss of click farms, click spam, malware, ad stacking, bots, and other wasteful activity, it’s no surprise dozens of entrepreneurs in the space are turning to build businesses around solutions.

Zinc is a blockchain-based advertising protocol looking to crack the code to salvage some of the estimated $100.5 billion that goes to waste.

Zinc incentivizes users to be more engaged with the platform by compensating them with rewards for the ads they watch in the apps they already use. These rewards can be spent to reduce the number of ads they see, as well as accessing premium features and content inside Zinc Protocol partner apps.

Daniel Trachtemberg, the CEO and Founder of Zinc, was previously the Head of Mobile Fraud Prevention and Director of the Mobile Data Management Platform at app monetization company ironSource with over 1.5 billion monthly active users.

How does Zinc differentiate from other similar projects targeting blockchain in advertising, such as Basic Attention Token?

One of the main challenges for all new startups, especially in decentralized ecosystems like blockchain based dApps is distribution: user acquisition & adoption.

BAT is aiming to drive adoption through their web browser – the “Brave” browser. A great product, but getting the users to adopt a new browser and change their habits on that level is quite a challenge. So one key difference is that users who will participate in the Zinc protocol ecosystem will gain more rewards within the apps they already use. Basically, apart from having to install the Zinc wallet app, where users choose what information to share with advertisers, they continue doing everything as they do now, and so does the rest of the industry. Another key difference between Zinc and other projects is that the Zinc Protocol does not aim to cut out the middleman. A lot of projects are claiming that the problem is the middlemen and if advertisers and publishers had a way to work together those problems would be solved, which in concept is a great idea, but in practice we think it’s a bit naive.

It seems that Zinc is focusing efforts into app-based advertising rather than website advertising. Is site-based advertising something Zinc will explore in the future or do you see the future of digital advertising as being app-based?

Web-based advertising is something Zinc will definitely explore in the future. However, it seems the general trend is towards mobile: more and more people spend more time on their mobile phones. Mobile is a segment that’s showing rapid growth and advertisers see the potential, which is evident when you look at the growth of marketing budget spend on mobile each year.

But this growth also fuels inefficiencies and fraud, keeping big brand advertisers away from running mobile campaigns, which, in my opinion, is quite a paradox: as fraud grows in relation to mobile spend growth. So if we eliminate fraud & data inefficiencies, mobile can become even a greater untapped channel – especially for brand advertisers with big budgets.

In addition to fraud, access to quality data is one of the issues faced by advertisers. Can you explain why this is an issue, and how Zinc will provide better data quality to advertisers?

First party, real human-verifiable user data is the most precious asset traded in the advertising ecosystem, I would dare to say even more than actual ad real estate.

Most advertising budgets are dedicated to targeting specific audiences. So if a publisher succeeds in attaching high quality, verifiable user data when selling an ad space, the amount of money he’ll be able to charge is exponentially higher than without this user data – this is key to understanding how Zinc will generate value for all the players in the ecosystem, including the user/consumer.

Today only Facebook and Google and some PMPs (private marketplaces) have this kind of data. Imagine that you could target users outside the duopoly with the same accuracy – it will improve the way app developers and publishers do business (focusing of ad quality and not quantity): increase the advertiser’s capability to generate reach, and significantly improve the user experience.

That’s exactly what the Zinc protocol is meant for: ensuring users are real humans, allowing users to self-disclose basic information in exchange or getting more rewards and fewer ads via the Zinc token ecosystem. This first party data information will be used to target the specific audiences with a higher accuracy and efficiency resulting in higher revenue, less waste and better user experience.

Many app-based games such as Angry Birds already offer users the ability to earn and spend in-game rewards. How will the user experience with Zinc differ from this?

Most of the game publishers rely on advertising to achieve two main goals: the first, monetize and build their businesses; the second, keep players engaged...


TAP Coin: Decentralized blockchain-based advertising #TokenSale

Digital world

The new world of blockchain-based advertising will create a major shift at the cross-section of advertising and the internet.

HOOCH, the number top drink-a-day app that has changed the game for bargoers from New York to Hong Kong with their free drink app, is about to shake up the hospitality industry again. Not basking for long in the success of their recently-released lifestyle experience program, HOOCH Black, this next development is also set to be a surefire success.

Their new project, TAP Coin, is due to be launched soon and it’s an innovative product, to say the least. TAP Coin is more than just HOOCH. While HOOCH Black has 100,000 hotels on the platform, with discounts of up to 60% off Expedia and hotels.com rates, TAP Coin will feature more than just this. HOOCH will be the first — and only one of dozens of apps on the TAP decentralized ad network. This means that while HOOCH currently has 200,000 subscribers, other apps will have tens of millions on the network. But there’s more- the advertising potential is phenomenal with a platform like TAP Coin. Due to its decentralized nature, the network is magnitudes more efficient than advertising on a centralized platform like Facebook, Instagram or Google AdWords.

Millions of users, hundreds of thousands of venues, massive discounts and a radically new advertising model, all based on blockchain - TAP Coin is the next household name app.

Not only does TAP Coin offer major discounts on hotels, drinks and entertainment experiences, it also uses the power of blockchain to empower consumers with their own data. This means that users now have the choice to allow advertisers to collect their data or not. If users allow their data to be used by advertisers, then they are rewarded with TAP, which they can then redeem on hotels and experiences (at already discounted prices).

In this way, TAP becomes a defacto loyalty currency, which does not discriminate according to origin of the loyalty points. It solves the old...


Facebook Ads Relaxes Ban on Cryptocurrency Advertising

Big news on the social media marketing front for cryptocurrency advertising

Facebook is easing its ban – sort of – on ads related to cryptocurrency.

The social media giant has launched a "cryptocurrency products and services onboarding request" form that will allow some companies to get their ads on the platform, according to a blog post published Tuesday.

Facebook, however, won't allow advertisements for initial coin offerings or binary options. The prohibition on these remains in effect months after Facebook first took action against crypto-ads in a move that was followed by similar actions by Twitter, Google and other major sites.

The request sheet shows that the social media company wants specifics on the kinds of services companies wishing to advertise offer. For example, Facebook asks whether companies have the relevant licenses in order to operate, or if they are a publicly-listed company. Facebook has also...


A Modest Blockchain Proposal: Reshape Advertising with Varanida's Token Sale

Building a better Internet through a decentralized advertising and content solution.

Blockchain innovator Varanida plans to do nothing less than change the nature of internet advertising. Advertising has long supported the internet, keeping much of it free to users. But with privacy and phishing concerns on the rise, and with the broader and even more dangerous perception that the internet has been hijacked by profit-obsessed click baiters, link farmers, etc., to the detriment of the old dream that ‘information wants to be free,’ it has become clear that internet advertising will have to change.  

The goal of Varanida is to get out in front of and mold that change.

In broadest terms, the idea is to produce a world in which internet users see the advertising they want to see, given their ability to earn VAD tokens by watching it. So the users win. Also, publishers win by paying a fair value price for their advertising and preserving their engagement with their audience. And the advertisers win, getting a fair and transparent advertising network.

The key to achieving this: blockchain technology. As the white paper says, the Varanida Blockchain will deploy “a crowdsourced advertising validation through the validation by users of the quality of the advertising.” This will be a fraud-proof system, allowing for trust within the triangle of advertisers, publishers, and users.

Varanida issued its token sales announcement on June 27.  

On that day, Round 1, an invite-only round, began. The minimum contribution for this round is 3 BTC, or 30 ETH, and 30.15% of the new tokens, VAD, will be sold during this round.

Round 2 is slated to begin on August 15 (unless the maximum amount for Round 1 is hit before then). This will be open to the public, subject to know-your-customer restrictions.

The project’s mother company, Varanida SAS, is headquartered in Lyon, France. One of its early investors and strategic advisors is Joel Comm, the bestselling author of The AdSense Code (2006) and Twitter Power (2009).


ICO & Token Generation Audience Development Marketing

Source oneQube by Peter Bordes

360-degree audience development and marketing strategies are mission critical to get your brand above the noise as blockchain proliferation accelerates, and the number of companies looking to launch ICO's and Tokens grows exponentially. 

Blockchain companies need customized, multifaceted programs, and the ability to execute simultaneously across all organic and paid channels in order to compete effectively for market share. We have developed a proprietary data-driven audience automation software stack for ICO and token generation event (TGE) marketing, and a team of audience architect specialists who are obsessed with developing powerful highly engaged audiences for our partners. Not just for their launch, but for the full life cycle from ICO/TGE launch to post-event to build brand awareness, platform adoption and visibility in their cryptocurrency and token markets.

The cryptocurrency space is becoming exponentially more competitive. In order to have a successful token launch, projects have to communicate their value proposition and connect to relevant audiences at scale. Having a technology partner that has the necessary tools and ability to identify, communicate and engage with token buyers significantly impacts our partner's ability to deliver their message at the right time, right place and right method to their target market.

Launch a Successful ICO / TGE by leveraging our Audience Development and Engagement Platform

The blockchain space is in its nascent days and many of the marketing tactics deployed in other industries are not effective. The use of antiquated siloed mass marketing tactics are ineffective compared to the hub and spoke ecosystem approach developed by oneQube. For instance, when looking at any given ICO / TGE, a company cannot expect to effectively rank their keywords in a timely enough fashion to achieve the desired result. If they are not leveraging and syncing all channels simultaneously to accelerate their keyword ranking trajectory.

OneQube focuses on driving direct and measurable results for our partners. We use a combination of Organic Audience Development, Paid Social Media, Organic Community Management, Email Nurturing, Community Activation, Content and Social Amplification to drive interested parties to their website to learn more about their project and drive conversions.

Establishing trust and credibility within your community and potential users of the platform is key to a successful token generation event. Together with our clients, we put great effort into building trust with the audience. Creating a highly engaged passionate audience, and enabling our partners to harness the powerful collective network effect of that audience.

We leverage our network of thought leaders and add additional exposure through networking our partners with advisors and business development relationships to help our customers build their business, increase their visibility, reach their target token buyers and successfully convey their message.

oneQube ensures our clients build the reputation and awareness for their token to have the most successful project launch. As well as developing and executing a post-event marketing strategy to build their business and cryptocurrency markets.

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