CMI Media Group Unveils Dedicated Tech Division Ad Astra

The stars seem to be aligning for CMI Media Group’s technology and data innovation, as the health media and marketing agency on Tuesday debuted a new division to house that work. 

Dubbed Ad Astra, the new division will offer advertisers, publishers and media agencies in the life sciences industry a range of interconnected tools built around precision data, advanced ad tech and next-best-action intelligent orchestration capabilities, per CMI’s launch announcement. 

The WPP-owned agency has already honed the technologies over the course of decades for its own use across hundreds of campaigns. It’s now making them available to clients via self-serve and fully managed models, it said, slotting into existing ecosystems and replacing current collections of disconnected solutions. 

In doing so, the agency is aiming to help reduce inefficiencies, improve visibility around the customer journey and prove business impact more easily. 

“Business impact should never be constrained by technology fragmentation,” Jose Ferreira, CMI’s chief product officer, said in the announcement. “Ad Astra exists to help the industry move from disconnected systems to connected intelligence—where every investment is more informed, every engagement is more relevant, and every outcome is more measurable.” 

Ad Astra is helmed by Ferreira and Oleg Korenfeld, the agency’s group president of technology and platforms. 

solli’s Final Thoughts 

CMI’s newly minted tech and platforms division illustrates how advanced technologies are top of mind in pharma media—and, perhaps even more pressing, how the most efficient tech tools will be those that can seamlessly work together across functions. 

Agencies, publishers and brands are increasingly breaking down silos between teams to allow for greater collaboration and easier handoffs between steps of the marketing process. So too, then, do the new wave of AI solutions and data analytics technologies need to be able to communicate with one another to get maximum use out of massive data stores and achieve the greatest possible impact with the fewest interruptions.