As the Affiliate Leaders Summit approaches, taking place alongside the SBC Summit on September 25-26, 2024, we sit down with Sebastian Paris, COO of bwise Media, to explore the company’s unique approach to bridging the gap between publishers and operators.
With a mission to enhance efficiency and drive innovation, bwise Media has established itself as a significant player in the industry.
In this interview, Paris discusses the company’s strategies in traffic monetisation, the launch of their new ad tech platform, and what attendees can expect from their upcoming exhibition.
SBC: Hi Sebastian, and thank you for agreeing to this interview. Let’s start by talking about bwise Media. What inspired you to join bwise Media, and what has been your most rewarding experience working with the company so far?
Sebastian Paris: At bwise, our mission has been to bridge the gap between publishers and operators, enhancing efficiencies for both.
Operators often deal with complexity and high manual workloads in media buying, especially when entering new markets, where they need to screen and negotiate every partnership from scratch.
Similarly, our publishing partners, who possess excellent properties, sometimes lack the experience in understanding operators’ needs or do not have a well-connected sales team to fully monetise their properties.
Our goal at bwise is to address this gap by leveraging the global iGaming expertise of our team, which has decades of experience in performance and brand marketing. This helps both operators and publishers achieve their goals.
The most rewarding part of our journey so far has been the long-term partnerships we’ve built with both operators and publishers. The initial partnerships we established over five years ago remain among our most significant today. This enduring success demonstrates the trust and satisfaction our partners have with our team and services, which have sustained these relationships over the years.
SBC: The company focuses on monetising, managing, and growing traffic. Can you explain how your services are designed to achieve these goals?
SP: Bwise works closely with handpicked publishers and our own affiliate sites to manage campaigns globally on behalf of operators.
We focus on working with publishers to maximise ad positions and act as a sales function. By analysing performance across a variety of properties, we manage yield for optimal operator performance and work directly with publishers to enhance their offerings for operators. This year, we launched our own ad tech, which streamlines ad delivery and maximises performance, in addition to adding more ancillary services and expanding our owned and operated publishers.
SBC: What is bwise Media’s unique value proposition compared to other companies in the same space?
SP: Since starting bwise over five years ago, we’ve grown significantly. Our business is built on trust—a principle not unique by itself, but rare in the way we apply it.
We work on behalf of both operators and publishers toward common goals.
Additionally, we are extremely ambitious and forward-thinking, continually striving for improvements and innovation at all levels. This relentless drive for progress and our collaborative approach set us apart in the industry.
SBC: Can you elaborate on the strategies bwise Media employs to monetise traffic more effectively? How does your approach differ from traditional traffic monetisation methods?
SP: Traditional traffic monetisation often relies heavily on programmatic revenue and a few selected direct sales campaigns.
At bwise, we take a holistic approach to monetising traffic for our publishing partners while achieving superior campaign performances for operators. Our in-house ad tech stack is the cornerstone of our strategies and partnerships, enabling us to deliver better campaign performances compared to standard ad creatives.
Our vast network and experience in direct sales maximise the monetisation of ad traffic, while affiliate partnerships with publishers provide additional significant opportunities for increased revenues.
SBC: What current trends do you see shaping the future of digital media? How is bwise Media positioning itself to capitalise on these trends?
SP: The only constant in our industry is change, and bwise continuously seeks new opportunities within performance marketing and emerging markets.
This year, we are launching our proprietary ad tech platform and adding new services to our portfolio for our partners. Although we can’t reveal too much at this moment, the future of bwise looks very promising for 2025 and beyond.
We are positioning ourselves to be at the forefront of industry trends by staying adaptable, innovative, and committed to delivering exceptional value to our clients.
SBC: Bwise Media is going to be exhibiting at the Affiliate Leaders Summit, part of the wider SBC Summit. What convinced you to invest in this event in the form of a booth?
SP: We’ve always found tremendous in SBC events and look forward to Lisbon. The event will have some great panels and keynote speakers, as well as key decision-makers from major operators and suppliers. We continue to be impressed by the wide scale of SBC events.
SBC: What are you looking forward to at the summit in Lisbon? Who do you hope to meet, and what do you want to get out of the event?
SP: There are so many things to look forward to. Firstly, SBC attracts a wide variety of attendees and key decision-makers, making it a fantastic opportunity to learn about upcoming trends and have good conversations with both new and existing clients. It’s also a chance for our Global Sales team to come together. Finally, SBC Summit (Lisbon) allows me to indulge in Pastel de Natas and a glass or two of Beirão.