Matt Trotta is jumping from one buzz to another: The former BuzzFeed senior VP of agency strategy has joined interactive-content startup Playbuzz as GM of North America.
In the role, Trotta will oversee U.S. sales, business development and operations for New York-based Playbuzz, whose investors include Disney. The company’s offerings include interactive branded-content solutions for marketers and engagement-based solutions for publishers.
Prior to joining BuzzFeed in 2011, Trotta spent four years at Federated Media, most recently as director of East Coast sales, and before that worked at Turner Broadcasting in different digital research and sales roles.
Playbuzz’s marketing clients include Netflix, Unilever, Universal and Brita. The company distributes branded content across a network of tens of thousands of publishers, which include ESPN, CBS, Time and Turner, and its publishing partners also use the Playbuzz platform to create visual-first, data-driven editorial content.
“We are excited to have Matt on board, bringing his passion for storytelling and ability to identify future market trends and key industry pain points, to our U.S. partners,” Tom Pachys, co-founder and COO of Playbuzz, said in announcing Trotta’s hire.
Trotta commented, “As GM of North America, I look forward to building upon the existing solutions to ensure the industry understands the value of interactive, data-driven stories that users are compelled to engage with rather than avoid.”
According to a Nielsen study in April 2018 commissioned by the company, Playbuzz-powered branded stories attracted an average brand lift of 91% and found that its solutions also achieved a 29-fold lift in perception and seven-fold lift in intent to purchase than the global norm.
Playbuzz was founded in 2012 by Pachys and Shaul Olmert. The company has raised $66 million in funding to date, including a $35 milion round of strategic funding led by Viola Group with participation from existing investors Saban Ventures, Disney, 83North, Carmel Ventures and Firstime. In January 2018, Playbuzz named Rob Norman, former global chief digital officer at GroupM, to its board of directors.
