ACG National Capital
The upcoming 21st Mid-Atlantic Growth Conference, Washington Technology Showcase and DealSource will feature the first ever Washington Technology Showcase, which aims to highlight some of the Washington area’s most promising technology companies.
The CGCS editorial team recently spoke with LemonFish CEO Thom Ottoson, who talked about threat detection and how his company can help consumers better combat cyber threats. Today, we’ll be featuring a conversation with Bryan Gernert, CEO of Resonate, a leading analytics, data, and technology company.
The showcase will also feature presentations from a number of other innovative companies, such as All Trust Networks, APX Labs, Diamond Mind, DrFirst, Echo360, Fast Orientation, Haystax Technology, Higher Logic, Liquidity Services, Luminal, LemonFish, Tenable, VideoBlocks, and Zoomdata.
Here is what Bryan had to say:
CGCS: Can you provide our readers some background on your company and its solutions? What products/services does the company sell? Who is your target customer (consumers/enterprise/government)?
Bryan Gernert: Resonate is a data & technology company that enables customers increase their value and message relevance to audiences – thereby driving higher levels of engagement and ROI buy uncovering why people do what they do. We uncover the most insightful and actionable dimensions of difference in audience segments to help clients better connect with people.
We started as an online targeting company in 2008 – working with political campaigns and issue advocacy organizations. A couple of years later, we branched out into the consumer brand market. Today, we work in both worlds to uncover what motivates audiences to take action. This deeper level of understanding, made available through a self-service platform, informs strategy, creative, and messaging. We continue to deliver online advertising to specific audiences based on these unique characteristics.
CGCS: What challenges do your customers face that your products and solutions help overcome?
Bryan Gernert: There’s stiff competition for people’s attention. No matter the message, all advertisers are looking for an edge they can get for wallet and mind share. Big data and digital media holds the key to both. But unlocking that potential isn’t quite as easy.
There is no shortage of data available to marketers today. But from custom research and purchased data segments to proprietary site activity and customer databases, there’s no real action. And there’s no way to activate it a meaningful – or scalable – way. Marketers are sitting on mountains of data with no path forward. Custom research is also expensive, takes months and doesn’t provide an actionable path.
Resonate’s data covers nearly every consumer industry and political and advocacy issue. Whether a client wants to learn more about their audiences to inform their strategy, target them online – or both – these insights are available instantly. What used to take months now takes just minutes. And there is a direct line between these insights and the ability to connect with these same audiences online.
CGCS: What market trends are impacting the demand for your product/service?
Bryan Gernert: Though we’ve been delivering digital media since we opened our doors in 2008, we started building the analytics platform nearly three years ago. At the time, the industry was primarily focused on demographic and behavioral targeting. But now, marketers want to engage their customers on a more human level. This idea of “relevance” has really taken off.
The marketplace has been let down by the promise of Data Management Platforms (DMPs) and analytics tools that fall short of actionable data or insights that can set them apart from the pack. We deliver on both.
CGCS: What do you view as your largest business challenge of 2015 and beyond? How is the company positioning itself to overcome them?
Bryan Gernert: Time. Time is always the enemy of a start-up – especially one like ours that is leading a change in industry norms. We need to stay ahead of the curve, which means we need the best of the best in engineering, developers, research, big data and operations to stay one step ahead.
CGCS: What drew you to participate in the 2015 Mid-Atlantic Growth Conference? What do you think the company can get out of its participation? What can attendees gain from your participation?
Bryan Gernert: The sky is the limit once we transform the perception that DC is for government contractors and politics. There are great, entrepreneurial companies here, doing big things, which has been true of the area for some time, it’s just not thought of that way. Because of that we lose too much talent to NYC and the Valley. I’m looking forward to talking with other leaders to find new ways to develop the region’s culture as a start-up haven. We need to make this an area that developers and entrepreneurs want to stay – and even better – move to.
To learn more about the Washington Technology Showcase and to register for the 21st Mid-Atlantic Growth Conference, Technology Showcase and DealSource, click HERE