Detroit-based Waymark, a startup blending generative AI with video advertising, said Wednesday that it has now entered more than 90% of U.S. Designated Market Areas (DMAs).
Heading into NAB Show 2024 to try to secure even more business, Waymark is also touting new Spanish-language voiceover capabilities into its TV-commercial-making tools, as well as a new plugin that gives its growing list of media company clients the ability to integrate Waymark's advertising solutions into their own platforms.
Waymark makes software tools that allow small businesses to quickly, easily and cost-effectively produce their own TV and radio commercials using their existing creative — anything from photographs of their shop to logos and graphics they've already created for their website.
A demonstration given to Next TV showed how a TV ad for a small independent coffee shop can be produced in just a few minutes, complete with logos, voiceovers, synthesized stock footage and graphical effects.
“We make creativity accessible to every single small local advertiser, and we see that as a huge industry change,” said Waymark CEO Alex Persky-Stern in a call with Next TV. “Right now, in the TV industry, only about a third of advertising is local … So we just see enormous opportunity for broadcasters to activate more local businesses. So we’re just trying to open up those doors for all of our partners in the space.”
Waymark has secured partnerships with some of the largest media companies in the U.S., including the E.W. Scripps Company, Fox owned-and-operated TV Stations, Spectrum Reach, Gray Television, Beasley Media Group and Morgan Murphy Media.
Waymark has also expanded internationally through partnerships with Australia’s leading broadcaster, Nine, as well as UK-based multimedia publishing company National World PLC.
Waymark’s new Spanish capabilities enable users to create full video ads with on-screen Spanish copy and fluent Spanish voice-overs, including a wide array of regional, synthesized AI accents. Waymark told us more language options will be coming.
The plugin, meanwhile, is a turnkey solution allowing publishers to integrate Waymark's AI video creator into their own platforms. The plugin is the basis of a recent strategic partnership with Sweden-based DanAds, which provides global publishers and media owners with a fully automated, white-labeled self-serve advertising infrastructure.
Entering NAB, Waymark hopes the new product features only add to its momentum. However, the simple presentation of the coffee shop ad continues to be a powerful sales driver for the company
“From the seller perspective, they walk into that conversation, and can immediately show them this video,” Hayden Gilmer, VP of revenue for Waymark, said. “That changes the sales process completely, because we can have you up and running tomorrow.”
