Closing the Redemption Loop, a Q &A with Shaunak Khire, CEO of Adlibrium

As AdMonsters OPS Mobile approaches, one of the hottest topics has been monetizing mobile effectively for local advertising. AdMonsters spoke with Shaunak Khire, CEO of Adlibrium, about how mobile can be utilized as a tool to support local commerce and non-profits. Adlibrium uses their marketing platform to support both local clients and the company’s own partnership with the Clinton Global Initiative.

1. How does Adlibrium empower small business owners to market effectively on mobile devices?

As Adlibrium is local commerce platform, we allow our users to create all types of campaigns – ad campaigns for a business app, offer campaigns, or exclusive offers, among others. All of this, of course, is

done on tablets and mobile devices. The first question that would come to anybody’s mind is Why mobile for small businesses? Mobile commerce, which is local advertising in its true sense, is just getting started and is probably the frontier for local shopping and marketing – Adlibrium will be a part of both. 

Adlibrium enables these merchants and SMBs to create offers and app ads. Offers can be targeted demographically and by location. The merchant determines all the factors, such as time, discount, and offer expiration. We distribute these offers via email and through our opt-in app and, in the near future, through exchanges, a big distribution source. Our opt-in app allows consumers to get “coins,” essentially rewards, for doing activities and receiving these offers. These coins can be redeemed or donated toward our commitment to the Clinton Global Initiative. 

2. One of the most interesting aspects of Adlibrium is the data that the company provides to its merchants. What kinds of data do you provide to small business owners, and how can they use this data to better reach their audiences? Why is it important for Adlibrium to offer such a great amount of data to merchants?

Adlibrium provides a variety of data, including run of the mill clicks, impressions, and calls made. We divide this data demographically so that our clients know the approximate age, income, and gender of their customers or potential customers. Beyond this usual data, one of the most important challenges local advertising has faced has been tracking what happens after the customer has seen an ad.  Until now, there really has been no way to track a purchase and what happens after it. Adlibrium enables this tracking. We call this ‘closing the redemption loop.’

As a merchant using Adlibrium, I would know that you, the consumer, used an offer by simply entering a unique code into our platform. Knowing now that you liked the offer, I could then retarget you with the same offer or up-sell other items or services to you directly. We want to bring these capabilities to everyday transactions as well. It will take a while, but local advertisers should not have to ask the million dollar question, Which half of my ad budget I am wasting? With Adlibrium, merchants aren’t wasting; rather, they’re receiving more than just exposure. 

4. How does Adlibrium plan to use its technology to enable brands to help non-profits? How does this benefit the brands themselves?

February 2010, we were invited to speak with the Clinton Global Initiative about a lot of things associated with social fundraising with a particular focus on mobile and independent non-profits. It struck us that if we were able to combine something with our existing platforms that would have significant scale, we should do it instead of trying to reinvent the wheel.  In September of 2010, we announced a commitment with Pres. Clinton and the CGI that would enable what we like to call ’cause aware’ ad campaigns. 

Basically, our commitment allows non-profits to come to Adlibrium with their short ad message and a donation link, which we then insert in an ad unit with merchant permission without any cost to the non-profit or the merchant. A typical mid-sized SMB contributes at least twice each year to a non-profit, a fundraiser, or other such event. Adlibrium tells merchants that their brands can easily be associated with non-profits by simply opting-in to do so. It requires no extra effort on their end, and ultimately a merchant who does opt-in will be viewed by customers as local business that also gives back. This creates a wider audience for fundraising and promoting the causes of non-profits, especially local non-profits. 

5. How do you envision Adlibrium’s role in the future of mobile advertising?

Adlibrium is at the intersection points of advertising and local commerce. We are still in the very early days of mobile advertising world, a world in which consumers are compelled to pay more attention to the ads on the small screens of their mobile devices than they would to Internet ads. The main problem for an advertiser is translating immediate actions into meaningful and continued interactions with the consumer. This is why you see big brand agencies doing rich media interactive ads and why we are bringing a similarly interactive experience to local advertisers. From an overall industry perspective Adlibrium’s lead in setting up an SMB initiative with the Mobile Marketing Association is of vital importance to all stakeholders.