Rubicon Project Hosts Third Italian Marketplace Summit Attended By Country’s Biggest Sellers And Buyers; Italian Digital Advertising Spend Forecast To Surpass $1.3 Billion in 2015
LOS ANGELES & MILAN – Rubicon Project (NYSE: RUBI), a global technology company leading the automation of advertising, announced today it is further expanding its presence in Southern Europe with the opening of an office in Milan, which is its 10th international location and the first Rubicon Project office in Italy’s fast-growing digital advertising market.
The growing Italian advertising market presents a number of significant opportunities for Rubicon Project
Marketers are increasingly turning to digital channels in Italy and the IDC forecasts total digital advertising to surpass $1.3 billion in 20151. Shifts to automation are fueling the overall increase in spending with automated segments of the market (including Real-Time Bidding, Automated-Guaranteed and Private Marketplaces) expected to grow by more than a third in 2015. Mobile adoption will also experience significant acceleration in 2015 – more than tripling – as marketers seek more effective and more efficient ways to reach and engage consumers.
Rubicon Project announced the Milan office opening as it welcomed a new addition to the Southern European team. Mariano De Luca will coordinate Rubicon Project’s seller activities in Southern Europe and will lead the growing business in Italy. Mariano will join Sara Buluggiu, Sales Director Southern Europe, who has been developing and establishing the company’s Italian, Turkish, Israeli and Spanish operations over the past nine months.
The announcement follows the third Italian marketplace summit hosted by Rubicon Project at the end of March, and attended by Italy’s biggest sellers, including RCS Media Group, Manzoni, Edizioni Condé Nast, eBay Advertising, Banzai and others, in addition to representatives from each of the top 7 buying agencies in Italy.
Mariano will draw on more than a decade of experience in the digital advertising industry to lead Rubicon Project’s seller activities for Southern Europe. Prior to joining Rubicon Project, Mariano was Account Manager at RCS Media Group, growing revenues and developing the strategy for programmatic trading and all Indirect Channels. Before that he was Head of Hi-Media Adexchange Italy, managing the relationships with trading desks and publishers and working with major DSPs and SSPs. Mariano also spent two years in Paris working for Facebook and Etoile Media.
“The growing Italian advertising market presents a number of significant opportunities for Rubicon Project,” said Jay Stevens, General Manager of International for Rubicon Project. “Mariano’s background at RCS Media Group, where he developed the company’s programmatic strategy, makes him the perfect addition to our team as we expand our leadership position in the automated advertising industry in the country. The opening of our 10th international office and our first in Italy highlights Rubicon Project’s ongoing commitment to the market and to advancing adoption of automation throughout Southern Europe.”
About Rubicon Project
Rubicon Project (NYSE: RUBI) has engineered the Advertising Automation Cloud, one of the largest real-time cloud and Big Data computing systems. The Company’s mission is to automate the buying and selling of advertising by offering innovative technology solutions to connect buyers and sellers globally. www.RubiconProject.com @RubiconProject
1 IDC Worldwide Digital Advertising Market Model, 1Q15
via BusinessWire
