[March 28, 2017]

United States Air Force Uses Machine Learning Powered Predictive Audience Targeting Coupled with Immersive Digital 360° Video Ad Unit to Drive Consumers to Experience Special Operations Missions

AdTheorent, Inc., a technology company whose data-driven predictive solutions are transforming digital advertising, and the United States Air Force (USAF), today announced initial results from the "We Need People Who Can Do This" digital advertising campaign. AdTheorent and USAF combined a highly-immersive 360^° video advertising unit with machine learning powered predictive audience targeting to drive awareness of the Special Operations Group among the USAF's target audience.

"For our brand, it's all about reaching a specific target audience at scale to drive recruitment efforts. Education is key part of this as a career in the Air Force requires mental and physical toughness and in this case a 360^° video speaks a thousand words," said Melissa Walther, Chief, Internal Information at United States Air Force. "This 360^° ad experience, coupled with AdTheorent's ability to use machine learning for intelligent targeting is delivering stellar results for our brand."

USAF's 360^° Video Experience

The "We Need People Who Can Do This" digital campaign was conceived to engage users through a 360^° video experience showcasing the physical and mental endurance required of Air Force Special Operations professionals. Built on the Celtra Creative Management platform, this one-of-a-kind interactive rich media unit starts with an unexpanded banner that launches into an interactive video experience, putting the user in the cocpit. Once the ad unit is expanded, the first 360^° video plays and prompts the user to move his or her device to explore. Taking traditional video to the next level, this 360^° video lets each user tilt his or her device in any direction in order to move around within the video. (Desktop viewers tap left or right for the same 360^° interaction). While in the video experience, users are also able to tap to "Change Mission," which enables them to watch additional videos.

Predictive Audience (News - Alert) Targeting Drives Engagement and Time Spent

The primary goal for the campaign is to drive secondary actions and engagement within the ad unit, as well as time spent among the target audience of males, ages 18-24. Accordingly, AdTheorent uses its machine learning powered predictive targeting capabilities to target only users predisposed to take those actions. To date, CTR is strong: mobile is 242% higher than industry average and desktop is 286% higher than industry average. Secondary engagement is also very strong at 24.9% overall, which exceeds industry average by 116%. Also of note, users are spending, on average, more than 10 seconds within the ad, and the video completion rates are very strong at 50% for desktop (51.7% higher than industry average) and 49% for mobile (48.6% higher than industry average).

"We are thrilled to offer this 360^° Video ad experience to our clients. When paired with compelling creative, it provides an appealing, engaging and immersive experience for the user," said Yolandi Oosthuizen, AdTheorent's VP of Creative Services. "The Air Force's creative was perfectly suited for this execution and AdTheorent's machine learning platform is further refining the target to maximize engagement."

About AdTheorent^®

AdTheorent is a leading provider of predictive digital advertising technology and solutions for brands and agencies. The Company leverages Big Data and its proprietary machine learning technology, as well as cross-environment mapping to predictively connect advertisers with their optimal audiences, at scale. Barometric®, AdTheorent's cross-channel attribution SaaS (News - Alert) solution, maps disparate user IDs across numerous devices and environments to a single user, allowing brands to accurately track user engagement and path to purchase. For more information, visit: www.adtheorent.com.

About the Air Force

The U.S. Air Force is the number-one air force in the world. Our mission is to fly, fight and win in air, space and cyberspace. We live by three core values: integrity first, service before self and excellence in all we do. The Air Force offers hundreds of careers, from healthcare to engineering, in order to serve the American people and provide precise and reliable global vigilance, reach and power for the nation.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170328005913/en/

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