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Mobile command: Tagga Media’s founder is aiming to bridge the huge gap between advertisers and mobile consumers
Mission: Make Tagga’s software platform the go-to tool among ad agencies for building mobile websites and mobile advertising campaigns Assets: A career in marketing and finance and time spent in the bull pit with some of the world’s top financiers Yield: A book deal and a software company that’s among the few that are addressing how to capitalize on the consumer’s enthusiastic embrace of the mobile web
 By Curt Cherewayko She’s published a book about finance and has worked for a mining firm, a geo-software developer and an investment bank. Amielle Lake’s resumé doesn’t suggest that she would one day be trying to solve one of advertising’s great mysteries: why have advertisers and marketers failed to capitalize on the consumer’s keen embrace of mobile phones and smartphones? According to Internet research firm eMarketer, mobile advertising accounts for roughly 2% of the $24 billion spent annually on online advertising. The firm estimates, however, that spending on mobile advertising could reach $1.56 billion by 2013, almost five times what it was in 2008. Lake and Tagga Media, a Vancouver company she founded two years ago, are already playing a small part in the growth of the mobile web. Ad agencies such as Suburbia Advertising, LPi Communications Group and Blast Radius are using the company’s software to build and launch text-message advertising campaigns and to build mobile websites for their clients. Tagga’s platform has been used by advertisers to create mobile websites and text message campaigns for major brands like Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, Ben & Jerry’s, Old Dutch Foods and the Coca-Cola Company. Vancouver ad agency Braun/Allison Inc. developed a text-message campaign for its client Glowbal Restaurant Group Inc., which owns half a dozen restaurants in B.C. More than 1,000 people in Vancouver signed up for the two-month program, which involved Glowbal sending out text messages that advertised discount menu offers. Tagga is adding a mobile advertising component in the coming months. According to Lake, Tagga’s platform is the answer to a problem that has prevented advertisers and marketers from getting in front of the mobile consumer: there are few tools that make it easy for ad agencies to develop websites and generate ad campaigns for the mobile sector. Lake knows this from experience, because she’s spent much of her career as a marketer. “When you’re sitting on the buying side of the table – managing the media mix as a marketer – you always want to reach people on their mobile devices, and there’s no real easy way to do that,” said Lake from Tagga’s headquarters in East Vancouver. The thirty-something Lake has a calm demeanour that was likely a major asset during the months she spent interviewing some of the world’s top financiers. In co-authoring The Elephant Hunters: Chronicles of the Moneymen, Lake, who has an MBA, a diploma in international management and a bachelor’s degree in English literature, interviewed dozens of top leaders in finance. Published last year, the book explores the role that relationships play in deal-making in the financial world and how relationships dictate the way in which businesspeople share and withhold information. Lake kept the interviewees anonymous for the book, which allowed her to provide a more candid glimpse into the minds of financiers. While her career thus far has included work in a number of industries, she’s always had roles in marketing or finance. Before founding Tagga, Lake was vice-president of corporate communications for the former Western Keltic Mines Inc. Prior to that, she was director of corporate development for Galdos Systems Inc., which develops geospatial software. The firm was founded by her father Ron Lake, who is famous for developing one of the geospatial software industry’s primary data standards. Between 2005 and 2007, she was vice-president of Haywood Securities Inc., a Vancouver-based investment bank. “My career has been all over the place,” admitted Lake, although she added that her experience in marketing and finance made founding a startup a natural fit for her. Jim Southcott, CSO at ad agency TBWA\Vancouver, was “startled” by Lake’s maturity and business-building instincts when she approached him to join Tagga’s advisory board. “Right out of the gate, she understood how to build a team and how to create a business value proposition,” said Southcott. “Her father was very much a business builder and probably gave her great training.” Tagga also counts as an adviser one of the founders of aQuantive, which Microsoft Corp. acquired for $6 billion in 2007. That company’s software platform, now sold through Microsoft, is used by advertisers to build websites for clients. Tagga is trying to repeat aQuantive’s success in the mobile sector. It’s looking to raise $3 million to $5 million in venture capital later this year, which will fund expansion into major U.S. cities and additional hires locally. To date, Tagga has raised a little more than $1 million from angel investors. While most of Tagga’s 30 customers are ad agencies, the company has recently signed deals with Hearst Media Services, a division of Hearst Corp., and with Vancouver-based search directory firm Canpages Inc. Hearst Media, which publishes about a dozen daily newspapers in major markets, uses Tagga’s platform to integrate SMS (text message) marketing and mobile-optimized websites into its advertising sales offering. Canpages is using Tagga’s platform to sell microsites, a branded version of mobile websites. Olivier Vincent, Canpages’ president and CEO, first met Lake a year ago at an event hosted by B.C.’s wireless industry association. (Lake is a familiar face and frequent speaker at marketing and social media events held in North America.) Beyond initially noticing Lake’s “entrepreneurial energy,” Vincent became interested in Tagga’s platform. Mobile searches account for roughly 20% of all Internet-based searches at Canpages.ca, compared with only 2% of searches at that site a few years ago. “I have no doubt that within two to three years, there will be more local searches coming from mobile devices than there will be from computers and laptops,” said Vincent. For that trend to continue, many websites will need to be retooled to account for the different way in which consumers navigate the Internet on mobile devices. Given that Canpages is hoping to sell tens of thousands of microsites, it needed an efficient way to build them. That’s where Tagga’s platform comes in. “We haven’t found any platforms like Tagga’s yet,” said Vincent. “Instead of spending two to three hours creating a mobile website, we will be spending 10 to 20 minutes.” •
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This article from Business in Vancouver April 6-12, 2010; issue 1067 Photograph: Dominic Schaefer |
