Welcome back to Beyond the numbers, where we explore the minds shaping media and marketing. This episode features Damian Garbaccio, Chief Commercial and Marketing Officer at Affinity Solutions, the leading consumer purchase insights company. Driven by a desire to “make ads better” Garbaccio found his calling in the evolving world of ad tech.
At the core of Affinity Solutions is granular, 100% consented consumer purchase data. Garbaccio emphasizes that "a purchase is an outcome. It's a true outcome. It's not a proxy for something; it's something." This powerful dataset, capturing 150 million credit and debit cards, allows for daily, real-time campaign optimization when fed into platforms like Madhive. This moves beyond static reports, enabling immediate improvements and greater "efficiency of spend."
The synergy between Affinity's data and Madhive's platform is key. Data alone isn't enough; it requires "phenomenal tech" to be truly effective. This partnership creates a "crystallized" view of the customer journey, helping businesses understand how to improve and achieve optimal outcomes.
Affinity is actively exploring the evolving landscape of AI and its potential impact across the business.This includes opportunities to support AI companies through data partnerships, as well as leveraging AI internally to streamline operations and enhance workflows. One of the most pressing questions for the company—and for partners like Madhive—is understanding how much of the media buying, planning, activation, measurement, and optimization will ultimately be handled by AI. In a landscape where advertisers seek maximum return and definitive outcomes, Affinity's robust purchase data, combined with innovative platforms, empowers businesses to not only track sales lift and measure incrementality but also continuously optimize their marketing strategies.
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