Introducing Joakim Antonsson: Chief Technology Officer and Mastermind behind the screens

The driving force behind the success of Brand Metrics is the technology we provide. As a team we put the work in behind the scenes to ensure we offer our customers optimal brand lift measurement and a product that is seamless and easy to use. As we continue to introduce our brilliant team, next up we have the man behind the technology, Chief Technology Officer, Joakim Antonsson.

With 17 years of experience in software engineering, product management and leadership under his belt, as CTO at Brand Metrics, Joakim is an essential cog of the well-oiled machine that Brand Metrics is today.

What is your role at Brand Metrics and where do your expertise lie?

As Chief Technology Officer at Brand Metrics, I’ve always had a passion for engineering, product management and leadership. For over six years now I’ve been one of the driving forces behind the product that is Brand Metrics. My background has given me a unique perspective on how to drive success in a tech-forward environment.

My expertise lie in bridging the gap between technological innovation and market needs, ensuring that the Brand Metrics product not only embodies cutting edge technology but also delivers real value to our users. It’s all about continually learning and levelling up both our team and our product to reach the goals of our customers.

What initially drew you to joining Brand Metrics? What made them stand out to you?

It was a combination of two things: personal connection and professional curiosity. I’ve known Anders and quite a few of the Brand Metrics team for a long time so when they shared their vision with me for Brand Metrics, I was all ears. They had the ambition to create something new but faced challenges in getting the technology to where it needed to be which was where I came in. 

The opportunities Brand Metrics presented was also a big part of wanting to join for me, it was the chance to help work on something from the ground up that could really help transform and shape our targeted industry. It was the perfect blend of entrepreneurship and technical expertise and I’m so glad I’ve been able to be a part of it.

As Chief Technology Officer at Brand Metrics, could you tell us more about the technology behind Brand Metrics and what it offers to publishers?

As CTO, I get to oversee the full technological process of our platform which, at its core, is revolutionising how brand lift is measured. Our primary goal is to automate the research projects behind brand lift studies to their full potential, ensuring a seamless experience for all customers, particularly those managing the system on the publisher side. I like to think of it as an iceberg: on the surface, it’s a seamless, easy-to-use product for our customers whilst, behind the scenes, we’re putting in all the hard work to make sure it’s streamlined. 

In the background, we are meticulously tracking the number of clicks required to initiate a measurement and are constantly innovating to reduce this to an absolute minimum. Our ambition is for these measurements to operate autonomously, requiring no additional interaction from the publishers and, in return, offering ultimate convenience.

We've developed a backend infrastructure designed to preempt and resolve potential issues automatically. The complexity of the system is balanced by its integration capabilities with widely used systems like Google Ad Manager and Xandr, automating as much of the process as possible and ensuring a smooth workflow for our customers.

A huge part of our platform is the proprietary research algorithm we've developed. This isn’t  just the engine driving our current offerings but is also built to evolve, enabling us to compare data across different time periods and geographical regions. It ensures our measurements are not only accurate but also meaningful on a larger scale, providing invaluable insights for our customers.

Addressing technical challenges, especially those arising from the constantly changing browser privacy standards and the deprecation of cookies, has been a pivotal aspect of our work. We've navigated these changes through continuous improvements to our research methodology, ensuring that our platform remains at the cutting edge of brand measurement technology while only relying on first party data.

What specific metrics does your platform track to gauge brand lift?

The key metrics we track are based around the number of exposures to a campaign, which is a fundamental element in understanding brand lift. However, we take it a step further by also considering the quality of these exposures, including time in view. We're not just counting how often consumers see a brand, but also how they engage with it. The longer someone views a campaign, the more likely they are to be influenced by it, positively impacting brand lift.

Our algorithm adjusts and refines its calculations based on these parameters, enabling it to become more accurate and insightful over time. We aim to provide publishers and advertisers with a well-rounded understanding of their campaign's effectiveness, especially when it comes to enhancing brand awareness, recall, and favorability. 

Are there any exciting future plans for Brand Metrics in the industry that you can share with us? What are you excited for this year? 

Looking into the future of Brand Metrics, there’s lots to be excited about. Our team is right on the edge of a major breakthrough into the CTV space, especially with our recent hire of Robbie Kraai. We don’t just want to expand our footprint into new industries but we want to revolutionise how brand lift is being measured within our rapidly growing industry. 

Furthermore, one of the most thrilling endeavours we're currently engaged in is the development of predictive brand lift technology. This innovation represents a significant leap forward in our capabilities. Currently, in the validation phase, this technology is being fine-tuned to ensure its accuracy and applicability across various scenarios.

Our focus is on exploring different applications for this predictive technology and identifying the most impactful ways to deploy it.

I’m, of course, super excited to bring these new developments in our product to the market. These developments, we hope, will not only set a new standard for brand lift measurement but also contribute to the evolution of the advertising industry as a whole.

Want to hear more about how our technology works, connect with Joakim on LinkedIn to discover the power behind the metrics: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joakim-antonsson-92823621/