Horizon Continues to Lead Data and Analytics Efforts Driving Client Outcomes, Engages Catalina to Provide In-Depth Shopper Intelligence for The Hershey Company

NEW YORK and ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Sept. 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Horizon Media, the largest U.S. media agency according to AdAge Data Center 2022, has selected Catalina as its purchase-based data insights provider, strengthening its proprietary blu. data platform and support of CPG clients that rely on SKU-level sales data. Through blu., drawing on broad range of consumer insights, Horizon Media is able to develop and deliver on marketing campaigns with CPG brands tailored to individual consumer's purchasing habits while preserving privacy. Catalina, offering deep shopping behavior insights on virtually all U.S. households through a combination of rich, real-time transactional data as well as third party enrichments available via its anonymized shopper intelligence platform, integrates seamlessly with blu. and provides Horizon Media with more sophisticated targeting capabilities.

Horizon Media won The Hershey Company's business last year, including brands Reese's, KitKat, Jolly Rancher, Twizzlers, Ice Breakers, and Pay Day, based in large measure on the capabilities and flexibility of blu. The platform taps data on more than 288 million individuals tied to unique personal blu.IDs to ensure privacy and can integrate data from a host of different sources.

"In conducting our media agency review last year, the strength and scope of each competitor's data platform was a critical consideration. We were impressed then with Horizon blu. and are thrilled that Catalina has further fortified the blu. platform to provide an unmatched level of data to inform, accelerate and measure the effectiveness of our marketing efforts," said Lynn Hemans, VP Consumer Intelligence & Analytics at The Hershey Company. 

The Hershey Company and Horizon have expanded the Catalina relationship, seeking additional data beyond its core confectionary business to encompass newer snacking categories/brands in its portfolio.

"Catalina set itself apart with its scale, granularity, and the real-time speed in which they refresh the data," said Laura McElhinney, EVP, Chief Data Officer at Horizon Media. "Catalina provides us with purchasing insights that are refreshed daily, which enables us to mine actionable insights, model audiences, and activate and measure the effectiveness of marketing campaigns."

"Horizon has led the charge on the agency front to develop a clean room environment that shares aggregated data sources, while protecting an individual's privacy, and we are thrilled to be forging a relationship with them," said Christine McGovern, VP, Media & Data Solutions at Catalina. "We're grateful that Horizon helped open doors for us with a world-class marketer like Hershey, a relationship we're already building upon, and we look forward to establishing relationships with more of their clients in the coming months."

Horizon Media, Inc, the largest U.S. media agency according to AdAge Data Center 2022, delivers data-driven business outcomes for some of the most innovative and ambitious brands. Founded in 1989, headquartered in New York, and with offices in Los Angeles and Toronto, the company employs 2,400 people and has media investments of more than $9 billion. Horizon Media's fundamental belief is that business is personal, which drives its approach to connecting brands with their customers and engaging with its own employees resulting in industry-leading workplace satisfaction levels (Glassdoor). The company is consistently recognized by independent media outlets for its client excellence and has earned several "Best Workplaces" awards reflecting its commitment to DEI and the life and well-being of everyone at Horizon Media.

Catalina is a leader in shopper intelligence and highly targeted in-store, TV, radio, podcast and digital media that personalizes the shopper journey. Powered by the world's richest real-time shopper database, Catalina helps retailers, CPG brands and agencies optimize every stage of media planning, execution and measurement to deliver $6.1 billion in consumer value annually. Catalina has no higher priority than ensuring the privacy and security of the data entrusted to the company and maintaining consumer trust. Catalina has operations in the United States, Costa Rica, Europe and Japan. To learn more, visit www.catalina.com or @Catalina on Twitter.

SOURCE Horizon Media