Mediatrage: Varick Media Redefining the Agency Model

They called it the first “advertising hedge fund” when it launched last year, trading media in real time across ad exchanges, ad networks and websites. Varick Media sell their unique service on the promise of solid returns for its roster of clients:

"Similar to the way that hedge funds pool investment and algorithmically trade, we'd like to think we are extremely similar. Instead of investing in the financial markets, we're investing our clients money within the media markets aiming to return a very solid ROI for each individual client. Think of us as the first advertising hedge fund."

Varick Media is a new breed of agency: their algorithms and partnership with MediaMath enable them to run and optimize campaigns across Google/DoubleClick AdX, Yahoo! RightMedia, Microsoft AdECN, and AOL Spot Market. Their early success has shown that their innovative real-time buying strategy has helped their clients. So, why would an established brand work with Varick Media? The answer is simple: performance.

Varick Media reported that campaigns were returning success of three times the industry standard on display advertising – and forty-five times the industry standard on contextualized advertising. And with increasing numbers of buyers and publishers trading on the exchanges, you are likely to see those numbers improve. In an ROI-obsessed marketplace, they appear to be delivering for its clients. It’ll be interesting to see if other big brands put their trust in Varick’s brave new model.