Today we’d like to introduce you to Scott Marden.
Scott, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I joined Captivate in 2009 and have been Chief Marketing Officer for the past several years. I manage content, research, creative, sales development, lead generation, communications and real estate marketing.
Prior to Captivate, I spent over 12 years at Vertis Communications (now Quad Graphics) where I ran research for the direct mail, adverting inserts and database marketing teams.
My interest in advertising and marketing started at WCVB-TV where I served as an intern while at UMASS Boston.
I am originally from Holliston and currently live in Amesbury.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The commercial real estate and advertising industries are rarely ever a smooth road. Investments are unpredictable and can be impacted by the economy, politics, consumer behavior, client perceptions and whims.
However, the key to my success and the success of the companies I’ve worked for is to hire good people and let them do their jobs, use data to support your decisions, and be a consultative seller and sustaining resource to your customers.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Captivate – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Captivate was founded in Boston in 1997 when our founder, Mike DiFranza, had the idea to install video screens inside office elevators to cure the awkwardness that passengers felt during rides (especially when riding with strangers). The news and information entertained riders, improved tenant satisfaction for property owners and advertisers benefited from a captivated audience whose B2B and B2C decisions could be influenced in real-time.
In 2013, we were acquired by Generation Partners and our CEO, Marc Kidd came on board. Since then, we’ve rebranded the network and invested further into our technology capabilities to maintain the expectations of today’s ever-changing workforce.
At Captivate, our main objective is to bring life to work by providing the best tools and services for our clients to engage at-work consumers. To do that, we spend a lot of time consulting with clients, surveying them, testing new products and measuring the success of their programs. In addition, our sales and marketing staff, operations, and customer support teams are all under the same directive which is to put customers first, make their lives easier, have a high sense of urgency, and deliver high quality solutions.
What sets us apart from others in the advertising industry is our engaged audience.
You’d be hard pressed to find a more attentive viewer than ours. Proxemics research shows that 9 out of 10 people in confined spaces like an elevator will stare straight ahead at a fixed object on the wall (exactly where our screens are). What differentiates us for property managers is our content. Celebrating 20 years of serving the office environment, our editorial team curates the news from hundreds of world-class content partners (like the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Forbes, Billboard, NBC Sports and Accuweather) to assure its relevant and safe for the workplace.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Captivate is North America’s leading location-based digital video network. We will continue to grow and serve the real estate and advertising communities in the top markets throughout the U.S. and Canada. In addition, we plan to expand our distribution with hotels and residential high-rise buildings.
We have been developing new products to meet client demands and our future plans include more product innovation. For example, advertisers were looking for ways to reach professionals on our screens but also on their cell phones. To meet that need we developed the largest office mobile network where advertises can now re-target our audience on their phones with banner ads and digital video. In addition to mobile advertising we have begun testing APPS, facial detection, voice activation and advertising triggered by behavioral data.
For real estate customers, we have upgraded our content management system to improve message delivery, provided measurement tools for building traffic and introduced a tenant directory product that allows buildings to easily update and list tenants. The most important real estate product development has been our ability to provide safety and emergency messaging for tenants trapped in elevators or other situations that require security personnel to override our screens.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.captivate.com
- Phone: 888.383.3737
- Email: info@captivate.com
Image Credit:
Captivate LLC, The Muse
Getting in touch: BostonVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
