Technology Spotlight
A conversation with Shanil Chande, Commercial & Partnerships Director of Hawk by Azerion brought to you by Ultimate Asset.
“Simply put our USPs lie in our tech and our people.”
What is Hawk’s elevator pitch?
Hawk is Azerion’s Omnichannel Activation platform for Display, Video, CTV, DOOH, in-game and Audio media.
Hawk enables advertisers and agencies to execute unified, omnichannel campaigns through one single, proprietary activation point.
Our technology brings together best-in-class data, granular location targeting capabilities, creative excellence and robust measurement tools to provide our clients with an end-to-end solution for both upper and lower funnel marketing objectives.
What business problem does Hawk solve?
Fragmentation.
Today’s programmatic ecosystem is highly complex with more and more solutions entering the market every year.
This diversity brings many benefits, however, can also mean that navigating the ecosystem and understanding what is and isn’t working is becoming more and more difficult.
Hawk provides agencies and advertisers with a singular access point to help provide greater cohesion and unity, be that in planning, activation or measurement.
What sets Hawk apart from competitors?
Hawk was one of the industry’s first-movers in omnichannel meaning that we have a rich heritage and deep understanding of the space.
As a key part of the growing Azerion Ad Tech ecosystem, Hawk is now able to offer a full-stack or modular approach to buying with significant benefits associated with each.
With Azerion’s rich data asset, Infinity, now being ingested into Hawk, we offer clients the ability to target their omnichannel campaigns using granular and scalable 1st party data, but we still offer the flexibility for them to activate using any of their preferred data, measurement or supply partners too.
This malleability offers buyers with infinite opportunities for innovation and growth.
But such a nuanced full stack tech solution needs the human touch, and our team of programmatic experts are on hand to support our partners whether they choose our managed or self-serve options.
Simply put our USPs lie in our tech and our people.
Who is your primary target audience? What are their needs and pain points?
Our primary target audience is advertising agencies, with whom we have done so much great work since we launched into the UK back in 2015.
Our partnerships with our agencies run deep and with more tech assets at our disposal than ever before, we seek to understand the needs and goals of each to ensure we are working as collaboratively as possible.
Describe your company culture.
Our culture is built on 5 core values that we embody both as individuals and as a business more generally.
These are:
- Trust
- Action
- Enthusiasm
- Curiosity
- Growth
By looking at these guiding principles regularly, we are able to create an open, honest and fun environment for our people to encourage both personal and professional growth.
What are the most common misconceptions about your business or sector with tech?
There is an increasing misconception that there are fewer and fewer USPs between tech businesses within the advertising space. Whilst there are more companies now talking about omnichannel than ever before, it is important to take time to understand the USPs of each and how they can potentially add value to your overall goals.
What are some of the key consumer and industry macro and micro economic trends impacting your business?
Amongst the negative headlines surrounding high interest rates, stunted economic growth and political instability, there is cause for cautious optimism in 2025 and beyond. Most annual predictions believe that the UK advertising market will exceed the Global average with growth overall set to be between 5-7.5% depending on the source.
Whilst we continue to navigate one of the most complex and volatile economic eras, I like to believe that technology will help to drive both innovation and efficiency; be that via new products or better financial outcomes.
What are your predictions for the remainder of this year?
Greater collaboration be that through partnerships or consolidation (M&A). We have already seen evidence of it so far this year and I don’t believe that this will stop, especially in these economic times.
A conversation with Shanil Chande, Commercial & Partnerships Director at Hawk by Azerion
Technology spotlight is a series brought you by the team at Ultimate Asset. Our aim is to highlight brilliant technology across the advertising & marketing industries. From their elevator pitch, to the problem they are trying to solve, we hope you can take something new away from each interview. With over 50,000 new technology businesses incorporated in the UK each year, there will be something for everybody.
Ultimate Asset are a boutique global digital recruitment consultancy, specialisting in hires in adtech, martech, media owners, brands and media agencies. With over 20 years of recruitment heritage in media, we support businesses across the UK, Europe, Asia & North America.
Want to be part of the next Technology Spotlight? Get in touch with
Alex Swain, Managing Director via Alex@ultimateasset.com
