Acast Hires Dimitroulakos as Head of Automation, Americas

RADIO ONLINE | Wednesday, January 20, 2021

Elli Dimitroulakos

Podcast giant Acast appoints Elli Dimitroulakos as Head of Automation, Americas. She'll lead Acast Automated, the company's programmatic advertising arm, in the U.S., Mexico and Canada, enabling advertisers to use automated technology to more effectively and efficiently purchase premium ad inventory across its portfolio of more than 20,000 shows. Acast -- which represents podcasts from indie creators and major publisher partners like PBS NewsHour, CBC, A+E Networks, Vice, Dixo and the BBC -- saw its programmatic business grow 215% in 2020.

"Podcasting is home to some of the most talented creators and engaged audiences of any modern advertising channel -- and we've made it our mission to unlock programmatic advertising's clear potential here," said Dimitroulakos. "Acast has the infrastructure to harness programmatic ad buying, at scale, for advertisers across the Americas."

Acast's ad insertion technology delivers timely, contextualized, targeted podcast ads to listeners on any app, upon download or playback of its shows. Last year, the company launched contextual advertising technology that uses artificial intelligence and automated transcription to place targeted ads into topically relevant podcast episodes. This allows advertisers to reach audiences based on specific content parameters relevant to their campaigns and intended goals.

"Programmatic advertising is the biggest opportunity for the podcast industry, and Elli has the ideal mix of cross-channel experience and insight to roll out this emerging technology -- allowing advertisers in the Americas to realize its potential," said Acast Global Head of Automation Michael Bayston.

Dimitroulakos has 15 years' experience across emerging media, automation and data products, having begun her career in TV and video. She was most recently Director of Programmatic at Trusted Media Brands (formerly known as the Reader's Digest Association) where she was responsible for building the programmatic direct sales and operations strategy in the U.S. and Canada, as well as driving programmatic and data partnerships for the company's broad range of media properties and products.

Previously she was East Coast Director at Yashi, a premium video demand-side platform and programmatic technology company acquired by Nexstar Broadcasting. There, she partnered with agency holding companies to conduct API integrations and implement self-serve products into their video trading strategies across online video and connected TV.