Online data marketplace Datonics is poised to expand into the Canadian marketplace, hiring former GroupM exec Rodney Perry to oversee the launch.
Perry previously served as managing director at Oracle Data Cloud, heading up its Canadian operations, prior to his role as president of MPlatform, the adtech team at GroupM. In his new role, based in Toronto, Perry (pictured right) will report directly to CEO Michael Benedek, focusing on audience data and identity resolution while building out the product offering and the team.
In an email to MiC, Datonics CEO Michael Benedek said having the right person in place is crucial to a successful expansion. With more than 20 years of market experience on both the client and agency side, Perry has a deep understanding of the Canadian and global tech space, particularly the unique challenges Canadian agencies and clients face, he said.
“A multifaceted skill set is very important,” he explained and an agency background is critical to understanding how advertisers engage in the digital space. “The majority of this is being done at the agencies so that becomes our starting point. The client perspective is also key in that it helps agencies to gain knowledge and provides them with effective actionable plans.”
Datonics is based in New York City with offices in Tel Aviv. The new Canadian outpost will focus on growing audience data through publisher and adtech partnerships. In Canada there are “a lot of opportunities to refine data,” Benedek told MiC.
The Canadian market – because of its size and dynamics – is growing in importance for marketers, he continued, providing a testing ground to evaluate products before they go global. “Language, time zones and technological efficiency all make Canada a great market to test, expand and validate business opportunities,” he added.
Datonics data includes more than 1,200 pre-packaged and unlimited number of custom keyword-derived segments based on search, purchase intent, life-stage and B2B data on more than 300 million North American users.
