MarTech Interview with Jeannine Shao Collins, Chief Client Officer at Kargo

Jeannine, please provide an overview of Kargo’s Multicultural Content Amplifier (MCA) program and its primary objectives.
Kargo’s Multicultural Content Amplifier (MCA) supports diverse content owners. It is one of the most exciting programs I’ve ever worked on and I think its purpose is crucial in the advertising industry. It’s good for business and it’s good for society.

When we conceptualized it we did so to address a problem of supply and demand by providing infrastructure, tech, SEO, and content creation. We wanted to create something truly unique to help diverse owned-and-operated publishers grow, scale, and monetize their sites. To achieve those goals, we have connected them with advertisers who were serious about reaching multicultural communities and eager to work with leading diverse voices to help bridge the gap.

Brands like Danone, Discover, and Unilever have missions to support diverse communities smart teams of marketers looking to reach broader audiences through content affiliation and storytelling, but many diverse-owned publishers are not set up for success due to the lack of resources plugged into the advertising ecosystem. To be able to work with these large advertisers – we provide the resources for publishers to connect and grow their business, not just attract ad spend. Therefore, the opportunity to make ad spend intentional through infrastructure with an innovative program such as Kargo’s MCA was an ideal partnership. Marketers who participate in MCA are affecting these publishers’ lives by helping them grow.

Diverse-owned publishers are providing a space for underrepresented audiences go to for content that uniquely speaks to their experiences. These consumers are not reachable through mainstream channels. By being a part of the MCA they are enrolled into Kargo’s Fabrik platform which allows for them to participate programmatically and scale as a content management system. Programs such as MCA and Fabrik have allowed publishers to accelerate their audience reach through content and bylines, boost engagement scores, and increase visibility of diverse content that typically goes under the radar.

When Kargo partners work with the MCA, they get the benefit of higher reach and higher incentive in paid ad and a portion of go to invest in creating content, and technology. There was a need from publishers to upskill and connect with brands looking to reach multicultural audiences and a desire from brands to level-up their audience engagement with diverse voices, beyond ad spend. This program is a true collaboration and labor of love from stakeholders who care about making a difference in the lives of underrepresented communities.

As the Chief Client Officer at Kargo, what inspired the development of the MCA program, and how does it align with the company’s broader goals?
I am a passionate advocate for equality and have dedicated a lot of my career to advancing inclusivity and diversity in our industry through content creation, whether it was when I was Chief Innovation Officer of Meredith or during my time producing a show at Girlstarter. And now I get the chance to do this in the tech industry. of inclusivity and diversity in our industry and have dedicated much of my career to changing the game. I’ve also held leadership roles in innovation for major publishers, so I know the resources and speed required to keep pace.

I know firsthand how complicated the business really is – from creating high-quality content to ad sales, to technology and reporting. It’s difficult for diverse publishers to scale up their sites while maintaining a steady stream of articles that will boost traffic and audience engagement. I know firsthand that they need resources and support. I also know that brands are eager to carve out ad spending if they are assured that their ads on diverse-owned publishers will be placed in content-rich sites that are brand-safe. The need that Kargo was filling in the marketplace was linking the two parts together and providing a path for them to find each other in a trusted ecosystem.

Kargo’s MCA program not only facilitates brands and links them with multicultural publishers who are entrepreneurial and creative, but goes much further by offering training workshops and upskilling opportunities for site owners of colors to be competitive and stay up-to-date with an ever-changing publishing landscape.

Could you elaborate on the significance of the Multicultural Content Amplifier program in helping diverse publishers and connecting them to major brands to achieve their DE&I goals?
The significance of the MCA is twofold: 1) Linking brands and publishers together, 2) amplifying that partnership by way of activation, audience engagement, and education. The significance is we are providing infrastructure. It is really about the tech so that they can scale and meet the supply demands.

For example, global brands such as Discover, Danone, and Unilever – who are leading the way in walking the walk when it comes to allyship – are not only investing ad dollars into sites owned by diverse publishers, but they are enhancing the capabilities of these publishers to produce more content, which in turn allows more stories and narratives to help increase visibility.

Beyond ad spend, we also provide training workshops on how to acquire certification and the principles of brand safety. These are key compliance regulations and guidelines that publishers need to comprehend and adhere to if they want to be viable business partners with advertisers.

The MCA program involves a multi-tiered engagement approach. Can you explain how this approach works and the specific benefits it offers to both advertisers and multicultural-owned media?
The various tiers of Kargo’s MCA program are as follows:

Funding: Through the brand’s ad spend with Kargo, companies commit a percentage of that budget to the MCA program, which goes directly to ad buys with its participating Publishers from diverse communities.

Training: On-going workshops and direct tech support to Publishers to help them build their publishing businesses and maintain a viable site to support brand spend

• Editorial: Training workshops on editorial brand safety, SEO optimization, social engagement, ad ops and more
• Website: Infrastructure set-up to facilitate functionality, upscaling volume, attaining the proper certifications, and adhering to brand safety
• Tech: Engineering support, including programmatic ad technology enabling the sale of inventory to brands at scale

Amplification: Kargo uses its own infrastructure to promote, publicize brands and publishers in the MCA program to create an ever-expanding eco-system of awareness and visibility.

Beyond ad spend, the training workshops and tech support we provide such as certifications and the principles of brand safety, are key compliance regulations and guidelines that publishers need to comprehend and adhere to if they want to be viable business partners with advertisers. Many Publishers, being so new at building their editorial enterprise, find this type of education and technical support invaluable as a resource to grow their sites.

Kargo has recently welcomed publishers like Gold House, equalpride, and PinkNews into the MCA program. What criteria does Kargo use to identify and select such partners, and what kind of support do these publishers receive?
We launched the program in partnership with BOMESI, an accelerator of black-owned and operated publishers whose mission is to unite and support black voices to position them to do business with that nation’s top advertisers. With co-founders Devon and Rhonesha, we were able to fine-tune the MCA program to offer the most pressing resources publishers needed: funding and training to grow the diverse-owned and operated ecosystem and build connections.

From there, we sought to broaden our impact into other underrepresented communities. Within months we signed on Gold House who created a collective of API publishers to be part of the MCA program (Brown Girl, Cold Tea Collective, EnVi Media, Mochi Magazine, Dorkaholics and Character Media), PinkNews as well as EqualPride to cover the LGBTQ+ communities, and expanding this year to include the Hispanic segment and women in sports.

Our impact with all MCA partners and their respective communities goes beyond support of each publisher’s website. We have organized events, hosted webinars for publishers and freelance writers, produced activations, and brought audiences out to gather together in conversation and spend time together.

Through panel discussions at CES, event sponsorships at gala dinners, and robust calendar of events throughout the year, we are building an MCA community of brands and publishers that are in constant collaboration with each other via Kargo’s network to build connections.

The program includes transformative investment into multicultural-owned publications. Could you provide examples or details on how this investment has positively impacted the growth and development of these publications?
This investment has made measurable impact for publishers of color and the stats thus far are below. The numbers keep growing and we are excited to keep building the program as we head into the 1 year anniversary in June.

• 36% Overall CTR
• 6% Overall Viewability
• 28 writers hired
• 4 writer’s workshops held focused on editorial best practices and search engine optimization
• 58M impressions across diverse suppliers in 2023
• 2000+ incremental articles created for diverse-owned and operated publishers
• 290 byline recognition articles

Kargo has hired 28 writers for the MCA program, with plans to hire around 100 more in 2024. How does the employment of creators contribute to the program’s success, and what role do these writers play in shaping the content standards?
One of the biggest challenges for independent publishers is scale. They have high-quality standards, and so do their audience – they aren’t going to just throw out a bunch of AI-created articles. We deeply understand the need to scale and deliver quality at the same time. By hiring talented writers, we can help our publisher partners create more content, which in turn creates more advertising opportunities for brands. It creates a positive growth cycle that doesn’t sacrifice integrity.

The MCA program offers editorial workshop training for publishers. How does this training assist publishers in areas such as SEO and social engagement, and what is its impact on the overall success of the program?
Digital advertising requires a lot of different skill sets. A big publisher can hire data analysts and technology experts, but smaller publishers have fewer resources. It’s an additive effect. Being able to design a web page to rank well on Google search drives higher traffic, which yields more advertising, which can be invested in better technology and analytics.

We level the playing field for our publishers by getting them on that track. With SEO, they can grow their site. With social engagement, they can amplify their voice and expand their business.

Kargo provides programmatic advertising technology to publishers in the MCA program. How does this technology empower publishers to sell inventory to brands at scale, and what role does it play in the overall ecosystem of the program?
Large advertisers work with global agencies, who are integrated with programmatic technology platforms to buy media at a huge scale. While brands want to reach quality diverse publishers, they are not set up to buy bespoke campaigns manually – they simply need automation. We help our publisher partners by providing a connection to the programmatic ecosystem. This allows brands to buy easily through the channels that they are already using.

Lastly, with millions of new people exposed to multicultural-owned media content and brands through the MCA program, how does Kargo measure the success and impact of the program in achieving its goals of diversity, equity, and inclusion in advertising and media?

There are quantifying ways to measure success, and there are qualifying ways to measure success. We take both into account and add an extra layer: emotional success. Kargo’s MCA program is the first of its kind therefore we know the data will be slow and steady to accrue and assess. We do know already that the amount of awareness we reaching, through each publisher, brand, and event is elevating the conversation and putting the issue of diversity forward to more and more people each time.

From a quantitative perspective, we’ve already written various articles, which have created millions of new ad impressions that our publisher partners can sell. We’ve trained teams and connected publishers to the programmatic market, unlocking millions in media spend from our advertiser partners.  It’s just the beginning, and with every step, we’re seeing that cycle of positive growth get bigger and bigger, which is incredibly exciting.