With a passion for disrupting traditional industries with new and emerging tech, Amanda Dorenberg has played a significant part in evolving the traditional industry of out-of-home (OOH) marketing—an industry that was stagnant for decades. She transformed OOH from static posters &walls capes to static inventory with analytics and a breadth of insight, through to beautiful digital OOH powered by big data. Now, she is transforming unoccupied real estate into immersive real-time content and advertising delivery opportunities paired with analytics and programmatic technology, as Partner and Chief Data-Tech Officer of FrontRunner Technologies.
As a standout woman in tech and marketing executive, Amanda’s work has been featured in Forbes Tech and Wired Magazine, among other national and international media outlets. She is a recent nominee of Canada’s Top 40 under 40 and is a member of the Forbes Tech Council &TechTO. Here she speaks about her amazing journey, how she paved her way in the marketing-technology industry, and what’s next for her as a key player at FrontRunner Technologies.
From 2017-2018, I was the Technology & Marketing executive to the publicly traded company OUTFRONT Media Canada—this was following the acquisition of start-up company, Dynamic Outdoor. At Dynamic Outdoor, I had spent close to three years developing a first to market proprietary digital out-of-home audience intelligence platform, the company’s Data Management Platform, and programmatic integrations of the company. Prior to that I spent 4 years with another OOH giant turned start-up after selling its Canadian assets where I developed a first to market mobile and OOH offering. It was in these years that gave me a keen pulse on the lack of intelligent analytics in the DOOH space and the ability to spot a gap in the market to develop a solution.
I’m constantly humbled when people want to interview me about what I’ve done, I feel as though I’m just getting started, so this is a difficult question for me. I think, to date, I’m very proud of the part I’ve played in transforming traditional OOH into what it is now and what it’s soon to become. What started as static posters and wallscapes has evolved into DOOH powered by big data and, is now growing to utilize windowfronts of vacant real estate as a brand-new platform for real-time immersive content and advertising. I’m so proud to be a partner at FrontRunner, to have the opportunity to bring my technology and DOOH experience to help us scale our business as we leverage vacant real estate and create this new category of scaled, immersive DOOH. It’s an innate desire within me to continue to disrupt. We’re bringing real-time content and advertising opportunities to urban cores at street level, paired with new wave analytics and statistical modeling which providers a more accurate ROI for our clients and partners.Interactive tech like binaural sound and WindowShopping™ with tap-to-pay capabilities, and extending reach though programmatic ad delivery solutions –it’s truly being part of building a new genre of DOOH. I’m so honored to be a part of this process and am highly grateful to those who have supported and encouraged me throughout my career.
Funny story actually-- I’ll quote Nathan Elliott, the Founder & CEO of FrontRunner Technologies, from when he first announced I was joining the team: “When you know, you know.”
DPAA Toronto Summit is to thank for how I came to run with this incredible team. After meeting Nathan and Matthew at the conference in 2018, I was immediately intrigued by the business model, and moreover by the humility and drive of these two individuals. You can ask literally anyone who knows me professionally; I love to disrupt business, stand out amongst the crowds, and offer something compelling, driven by data, transparency and insight. While I knew the FrontRunner business model was highly disruptive and checked all my ‘business boxes’, what really pulled me into this was the people. This group of partners are some of the most intelligent, humble, driven and kind individuals I’ve had the pleasure of working alongside. I’ve built a number of start-ups but this one is different; it’s like going to work every day with family, people you know you can trust your business to and who will always be looking to your better interest and moreover, our clients and partners’ better interests. I’ve never met a team so inclined to always do the right thing. That starts at the roots. Nathan’s ability to foster culture and appreciate talent is incredible. The business model speaks for itself; but what I think really allows FrontRunner to flourish is this rare combination of team. When you know, you know, and I knew I wanted to be a part of this.
FrontRunner is uniquely and perfectly positioned at the intersection of PropTech and MediaTech. The Window Front Matrix’s ability to offer a highly scalable solution to the plague of empty real estate provides a window of opportunity, quite literally. The property owners and managers win by our ability to illuminate an otherwise desolate space, drawing eyes onto the space. Moreover, real-time data is collected. These analytics help our real estate partners understand the audience of the neighborhood, ultimately aiding in faster lease rates.
On the advertiser and brand side, FrontRunner is bringing full 100% share of voice advertising opportunities into neighborhoods which otherwise have no DOOH—and often no OOH at all. It’s like the Uber-ization of DOOH – wherever you want to be, we are.
There’s so much I’m excited for! FrontRunner’s exponential growth potential—for one thing—but also, the exciting launch of our FrontRunner Factory—a play on Andy Warhol’s iconic New York City studio. The Factory will serve as a new tech innovation hub, allowing tech experts a space to connect, create, and collaborate in a cutting-edge studio.
