We are excited to introduce our new blog interview series, LoopMe Listens, where we’ll be interviewing leading professionals in ad tech on relevant topics in the industry. Kicking off our series, we spoke with Joseph Olewitz, founder and CEO of Virtual Chief Revenue Officer, which provides revenue growth support to businesses of all sizes.

We were lucky enough for Joseph to break down the buzzword that is blockchain and it’s counterpart, cryptocurrency. In this blog Joseph will be covering misconceptions of blockchain, how it’s useful for marketers and advertisers, and what’s in store for this technology in 2019.

If you had to describe blockchain in 3 sentences in less, how would you describe it?
A blockchain is a permanent, encrypted record of information and transactions, distributed among a large number of diverse devices which approve and maintain the record by consensus.

Blockchain’s efficiency provides for cost and time savings in a trustable environment that will lead to transformative new ways of doing business and of handling critically important and sensitive aspects of our personal lives.
The technology is useful for storage and transfer of assets and information, it is different from existing systems because it uses algorithms and design to deal with trust instead of relying on external trusted third parties, plus the opportunities provided by the technology, including operational efficiencies and allowing access to underserved parties, are revolutionary.

What is cryptocurrency?
Cryptocurrency is a payment system based on complex mathematical formulas and puzzles designed to hide the solution from anyone who doesn’t have a unique key (cryptography). It works as a medium of exchange in lieu of commonly familiar checks, coins, paper currency and wire transfers.

In 2009, Satoshi Nakamoto, a still unidentified person or persons created the idea of cryptocurrency – a peer-to-peer digital cash system (no paper, no coins) that does not rely on the backing of a central entity like a government and a bank for transaction processing, and he designed it to be built on a blockchain.

Satoshi’s work was published in a relatively easy to digest nine-page white paper. As a result, Bitcoin became the first widely used application of blockchain technology in much the same way that email became the first widely used application of the internet.

How is blockchain useful for marketers and advertisers?
Blockchain will remove the middleman and give marketers direct access to consumers. This decentralization is a transformative event in promotion and advertising.

The ability to accurately track and report viewership, especially of video content, will greatly enhance understanding the ROI received from ad dollars spent. That same ability will empower agencies and application providers to prove ROI they are delivering to marketers, and to prove the targeted market is being reached, thus justifying campaign plans and subsequent results.
Fraud will be massively minimized and, in some cases, totally eradicated. Imagine completely stopping bots and other bad actors who misrepresent viewership in order to derail and redirect ad dollars.

Marketers will be able to build trust with consumers and be able to more accurately target the desired demographic without negative reactions. That will happen by requesting permission and sometimes by making payments directly to consumers for watching promotions (no middleman needed).

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