The Washington Post’s technology suite will provide revenue infrastructure, power advertising delivery for brands and local media outlets
NEW YORK, May 21, 2020 – The Local Media Consortium, a strategic alliance of leading local media companies, today announced a partnership with Zeus Performance, the industry-leading advertising framework and revenue technology stack built by The Washington Post.
Zeus Performance drives higher publisher revenue by reducing site latency, increasing overall viewability and improving placement performance. For the LMC’s members, which are comprised of more than 3,500 local media outlets from 90 media companies, Zeus Performance will optimize site architecture, improve viewability and page load speed, increase CPMs and overall revenue, and enhance reader UX.
“Thanks to Zeus Performance, our member sites will be optimized for digital campaigns so advertisers and agencies will be able to access audiences from our thousands of reputable local media publishers while our members enjoy greater access to ad dollars,” said Fran Wills, CEO of the LMC. “As the coronavirus continues to impact advertisers and media companies alike, this new partnership – backed by the venerable Washington Post brand – could not be more timely or essential.”
Through the partnership, the LMC’s members will receive a discount off of the implementation and annual license fees for Zeus Performance as well as gain early access to future products such as Zeus Insights, for contextual targeting, and Zeus Prime, the forthcoming premium ad network. Originally built for The Post, Zeus Performance has added more than 50 local and national media clients since the fall. It enables publishers to deliver an advertising experience that's built for speed, resulting in highly viewable inventory which has become a critical value proposition for advertisers across the web.
“As the digital media landscape continues to transform, it’s important that publishers are equipped with the tools and tactics to drive their business forward,” said Jarrod Dicker, VP Commercial at The Washington Post and GM of Zeus. “Our partnership with the LMC will ensure that local publishers will lead the industry when it comes to advertising delivery and performance, and together, build an ecosystem that brings local publishers, advertisers and readers closer together in this new economy.”
By harnessing the purchasing power of its members, the LMC is able to negotiate better deals with advertising platforms, such as Zeus Performance, and other technology services providers than the individual companies could secure on their own. In addition to negotiating best-of-breed partnerships for its members, the LMC also advocates for local media companies. Recently, the LMC worked with the Brand Safety Institute and Cunningham Consulting to fast-track a local news advertising whitelist to unblock local media ad inventory with agencies and advertisers during the coronavirus pandemic. As a non-equity for-profit organization, the LMC is designed to exclusively serve its members with savings passed directly back to its members.
About the Local Media Consortium
The Local Media Consortium delivers economic value through strategic partnerships on behalf of nearly 90 local media companies in top markets across the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, and includes more than 3,300 outlets. The LMC delivers over $50M in annual financial benefit to its members by harnessing their combined volume and scale to reduce costs and increase revenue with technology and service providers like Google, Facebook, Monster and others. According to ComScore, the aggregated LMC audience footprint spans 212 million monthly unique visitors and reaches 80% of the U.S. online audience. More information is available at http://www.localmediaconsortium.com/.
About Zeus
Zeus Performance is one of three industry-leading monetization tools built in-house by The Washington Post that comprise the Zeus Technology Suite. At its foundation, Zeus is built on speed, user experience and advertising effectiveness. Interested partners can send a note to zeus@washpost.com.