New Cashless Media Trading Platform Opens Huge Advertising Possibilities For Smes

(MENAFN- Pressat) A new advertising trading platform has been launched that allows huge numbers of companies access to game changing advertising opportunities previously closed to them. It also enables media owners to recycle hard to sell advertising whilst benefitting charities and other good causes.

Following successful trial, the full rollout of the platform by creators QPQ Media, lets businesses exchange unsold stock and service capacity at full sale price for advertising in a wide variety of consumer and B2B facing media. It is expected to appeal particularly to SMEs otherwise constrained from advertising for financial reasons.

The platform operates based on non crypto digital currency BBX, which is pegged to Sterling. It was created by the QPQ's partner company BBX (The name of both currency and company.) in 1993, and is widely used across the World to facilitate cash free trading. All participating organisations are provided with a secure fully operational online BBX banking account facility, that complies with standard accounting protocol. This allows transfers to be recorded in profit and loss accounts to reflect positively on company financial performance.

Publishers, commercial broadcasters and outdoor advertising companies, can use the QPQ platform to trade advertising space and airtime at full price, allowing them to purchase from the traded in stock and services, or make donations of BBX to charities or environmental organisations, that in turn use the funds to select purchases from the excess stock and services.

For a broad spectrum of businesses, the platform opens up huge range of new advertising possibilities that were previously financially unattainable, particularly among the 5.51 million SMEs and micro companies that comprise the UK's biggest economic sector. By purchasing advertising with surplus goods or service capacity, they exchange redundant assets for commercial advantage leading to potential growth. It also reduces the need for discounting, and associated reduction in brand equity.

The benefit to media owners is three fold: They convert otherwise potentially lost or heavily discounted advertising inventory into spendable value; secondly, they can significantly boost Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Environmental Social Governance (ESG) ratings without cash costs; thirdly, they acquire new incremental customers. Media owners that have already utilised the facility during the test period include i-media, Readers Digest, Byline Times, C Screens, Elonex, Mash Media, City AM, Heathrow Hopper Buses, 360 Publishing and Phonetic Media.

The charities to benefit from donations include MacMillan Cancer Support, Shark Trust, Safe Steps, Helpful Hounds, Street Soccer Scotland, Food For All and The Cat Survival Trust.

'It is completely logical for us to use the QPQ service,' says Jon Lewis, CEO, of i-media, owners of the UK's largest network of outdoor full motion large format digital screens at motorway service stations. 'It provides a backstop for any excess inventory, and is becoming an important factor in developing ESG. It also introduces us to new advertisers. There is no downside.'

Byline Times is another publisher that views QPQ as a positive option.

'We have become firm adopters,' says Stephen Colegrave, co-founder of Byline Times. 'It is not often that advertising space looks like going unsold, but when it happens, having the opportunity to trade it rather than have it disappear worthlessly is clearly valuable. It doesn't take much consideration.'

QPQ is headed by Jeremy Whitaker, managing director, who was previously European managing director of global marketing services group, Brann Worldwide.

'We are opening up a vast array of advertising possibilities for companies previously constrained by cash flow, and we are working with an ever increasing portfolio of media organisations that recycle their otherwise wasted media into good causes or profitability,' says Whitaker.

'For smaller businesses in particular, QPQ enables unsold stock and spare capacity to be used to acquire advertising space or commercial airtime. We are also having a very positive impact on charities, environmental and social enterprises that gain from media owner nominations.'

QPQ was established in response to increasing demand for ways to mitigate waste from redundant media stock and unused services, to counter post pandemic charitable donation declines, and to provide an affordable means to advertise for medium and smaller businesses seeking growth.

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