Deseret Digital Media's BrandForge and Local Media Consortium Partner to Provide End-to-End Native Advertising to Thousands of Local Media Publishers

SALT LAKE CITY, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Deseret Digital Media (DDM) today announced that BrandForge, DDM's native advertising and content studio for local media companies, has entered into an agreement with the Local Media Consortium (LMC), a strategic partnership of leading local media companies. Through this partnership, BrandForge and the LMC will provide Consortium members and their more than 1,700 local media outlets across the United States with new tools to launch, scale and expand revenue from native advertising projects for their content marketing clients.

"BrandForge's services fit extremely well with our core value, which is to provide our members with the highest-quality partnerships and resources to efficiently grow their digital reach," said Rusty Coats, executive director of the LMC. "Through this partnership, our members – many of whom have small, local staffs – will be able to tap BrandForge's global expertise to further expand their mobile-ready native advertising services and revenues, without the need for new hires or overhead." Coats adds that more than half of the Consortium members' content is now viewed on mobile devices.

BrandForge was selected as an LMC partner following an extensive vetting process by Consortium members. The LMC selects the highest-quality service providers that mesh well with its members' needs. BrandForge joins the likes of Google, Yahoo! and Monster.com as approved LMC partners.

"The LMC plays a powerful role in supporting the sustainability of local media, and BrandForge adds to this portfolio by empowering local media to better access the power of mobile-ready advertising revenue," said Matt Sanders, Senior Director and General Manager of Deseret Digital Media. "We are pleased to join the ranks of a select group of LMC business-to-business service providers, and we look forward to working with Consortium members and their marketing customers to help them garner results."

Native advertising is a powerful new income source for local newspaper groups and other regional media companies in a rapidly changing industry. BrandForge (BrandForge.com) helps local newspaper groups and other small- and mid-sized publishers launch and scale native advertising projects for local content marketing clients, enabling these publishers to tap a revenue source previously out of reach for many local media operators. BrandForge consultants and content specialists help media clients develop their local product and pricing, and train them to secure content marketing clients, then create tailored sponsored content to publish, promote and monetize on their sites. BrandForge's end-to-end system for producing highly engaging sponsored content also enables media companies to maintain a strict, ethical wall between advertising and editorial staff.

ABOUT DESERET DIGITAL MEDIA

Deseret Digital Media is Utah's largest digital media company, reaching more than 20 million monthly unique visitors and more than 100 million global social follows, generating over one billion monthly ad impressions. The company operates the online properties of Utah's NBC affiliate, KSL, including KSL.com, the network's breaking news site, and KSL Marketplace, the only classifieds hub in the U.S. which locally outperforms national online classifieds competitors. Deseret Digital Media also operates DeseretNews.com and National.DeseretNews.com, the regional and national online editions of the Deseret News, Utah's first news organization and longest continuously operating business. The company also owns the FamilyShare Network, a global content platform in multiple languages offering practical advice for families, and Utah.com, the state's no. 1 travel and tourism clearinghouse. Deseret Digital Media also offers business-to-business services through BrandForge, its native advertising and content studio for local media organizations.

ABOUT BRANDFORGE

BrandForge (BrandForge.com) was initially created in 2013 to manage native advertising operations for Deseret Digital Media, its parent company and Utah's largest digital media company. It now provides native advertising and content services to a variety of outside partners. Today, BrandForge serves 30 clients representing more than 60 individual media organizations.  For more information, visit http://solutions.deseretdigital.com/brandforge.html.

ABOUT THE LOCAL MEDIA CONSORTIUM:

The Local Media Consortium is a strategic partnership of leading local media companies focused on increasing member companies' share of digital revenue and audience by pursuing new relationships with a variety of technology companies and service providers. The LMC was founded in 2013 to address the needs of advertisers seeking to reach high-quality audiences on brand safe local digital properties at scale. In addition, the LMC provides members with access to leading technology and content solutions by fostering key partnerships with companies including Google, Monster, Yahoo and others. The LMC membership encompasses more than 75 local media companies in top markets across the United States and Puerto Rico, and includes more than 1,700 publications. The LMC audience footprint currently spans 155 million unique monthly visitors and its member companies serve more than four billion page views to readers. More information is available at www.localmediaconsortium.com.

For further information, contact:

Thatcher+Co
Christina Gillham, 917-825-6990
[email protected]

SOURCE Deseret Digital Media