- SRAX has launched a Stock for Ads Program, allowing clients to pay for media solutions through stock payments
- The company also offering customers subscriptions to its SRAX IR platform, helping publicly listed companies track shareholders’ behavior and manage investor outreach
- In spite of sharp increase in online audiences, major advertisers have been forced to slash marketing budgets, leading to drop in ad prices
As of April 18, nearly six out of every ten people around the world were forced or urged to stay at home, measures which have contributed to a stunning fall in global consumption (http://ibn.fm/xmBTk). In the United States, retail sales plunged by 8.7 percent in March (http://ibn.fm/nCAZD), the biggest decline on record – prompting major corporations to respond by slashing their marketing expenditures. With the ongoing situation in mind, digital marketing pioneer SRAX Inc. (NASDAQ: SRAX) has launched an innovative Stock for Ads Program. The initiative is designed to support their clients through this critical period by helping them procure media solutions in exchange for stock payments as a way to help businesses continue to engage with their customers and conserve cash (http://ibn.fm/plFRd).
Consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, yet economists are predicting that consumption could decline by as much as 41 percent in the second quarter, relative to the same period last year (http://ibn.fm/VxURU). However, U.S. ecommerce sales have been a bright spot within the sector, with online spending increasing by over 40 percent year-over-year since the state of national emergency was declared (http://ibn.fm/iXJXU). In fact, February marked the first month in US retail history where online shopping surpassed that carried out within ‘brick and mortar’ stores (http://ibn.fm/IHjWn).
Companies hoping to capture a portion of these sales are handcuffed by budget restraints, however. According to the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), which represents companies such as Unilever, Coca-Cola and Visa, 81 percent of large corporate advertisers are opting to defer ad campaigns, with over 57 percent of members revealing they had been obliged to reduce budgets “greatly or somewhat” due to the virus outbreak (http://ibn.fm/VjBaA). SRAX has stepped in to address this unmet need through its stocks for ads program, being able to assist businesses capitalize on the significant captive audiences currently confined to their homes by helping companies increase their online presence without compromising their fiscal health.
“We understand what it means to be a publicly traded company and we want to help businesses continue, not halt their marketing efforts,” SRAX CEO and founder Christopher Miglino stated in a news release (http://ibn.fm/cZTHp). “With our custom media plans, businesses can attract and engage customers with digital ads, covering expenses up to a year in exchange for stock of their company.”
In addition to its marketing services, SRAX has offered its publicly traded corporate clients subscriptions to the Company’s investor intelligence and communications platform, SRAX IR. The platform, which enables companies to monitor their shareholders’ buying and selling behavior, carry out virtual investor meetings and develop insights which can be used to engage with current and potential investors, has become increasingly relevant given the heightened volatility in global markets.
Online advertising has been embroiled in an extraordinary paradigm this year. Facebook recently publicized that time spent by users across all of its apps has risen by 70 percent over the last few weeks (http://ibn.fm/IsDm6) while Snapchat reported a 50 percent increase in video calls through its app. However, and in spite of the increase in online audiences, the sheer breadth of companies freezing ad campaigns has led to a steep drop off in revenues for digital media platforms. Expedia and Marriott have been the latest companies to announce that they were slashing their marketing expenses, the former announcing an 80 percent cut in its annual ad spend while Marriott has halted all of its marketing efforts entirely (http://ibn.fm/BQAQr). This has led to digital ads costs declining sharply as Google, Twitter and other online ad companies have found themselves saddled with too much inventory.
In the brief history of digital media, there has never been a situation where a rise in online audiences has been met with a decline in advertisers seeking to attract their attention. Rather, companies have traditionally sought every opportunity to increase their marketing with research firm IHS Markit revealing that each dollar that companies spent on advertising in the United States last year led to $9 in sales (http://ibn.fm/QGoHm). Through its Stock for Ads program, SRAX has provided companies who would otherwise have been forced to reduce their marketing in a bid to conserve cash an invaluable opportunity to bolster their online presence during a tenuous time for the industry.
For more information, visit the company’s website at www.SRAX.com
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to SRAX are available in the company’s newsroom at http://ibn.fm/SRAX
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