NEW YORK—The ad tech company Direct Digital Holdings announced that it has partnered with Beeswax, a FreeWheel-owned programmatic buying platform, to expand access to and to simplify the path for buying multicultural and general market connected TV ad inventory.
Direct Digital Holdings owns Colossus Media, LLC ("Colossus SSP"), Huddled Masses LLC ("Huddled Masses") and Orange142, LLC ("Orange142") and is the ninth largest Black-owned company on the NASDAQ U.S. stock exchange.
Comcast owns FreeWheel.
The agreement will see Beeswax integrate with Colossus SSP, a Direct Digital Holdings-owned supply-side platform that works with both multicultural and general market publishers, giving its users access to a more diverse range of CTV ad inventory. That means marketers and agencies who use FreeWheel's Beeswax to buy CTV ads can now reach a wider array of viewers.
More specifically, the partnership includes integrations on both the buy and sell sides of CTV ad buying. On the buy side, Direct Digital Holdings' two digital marketing companies, Orange142 and Huddled Masses, will work with Beeswax to serve CTV ad placements for marketers. On the sell side, as outlined above, Direct Digital Holdings will work with Beeswax on simplifying and expanding access to both multicultural and general market CTV ad inventory via the group's supply-side platform, Colossus SSP, the companies said.
"The media and marketing landscape today is very nuanced – from fast-changing innovations to constant industry fragmentation to audiences that are becoming increasingly more diverse and harder to reach, across multiple screens," said Mark Walker, CEO, Direct Digital Holdings. "Taking that into account, we sought a partner who brought a real-time, holistic understanding of the ecosystem, as well as a track record of creating simple and much needed, innovative solutions that remove friction and address and resolve the needs of marketers today. FreeWheel, through its work with Beeswax, exemplifies and understands these key traits and we're excited to be working with them."
"We are humbled and thrilled to team up with a partner who not only understands this space, but also is minority owned," said Tess O'Brien, vice president, head of revenue, Beeswax. "We look forward to working with Direct Digital Holdings to drive innovation and growth in CTV, while helping to provide Beeswax's clients with an easier pathway to access multicultural content within the programmatic ecosystem."
