Blis

A London-headquartered advertising technology company that uses location data, without relying on personal data, to plan and buy digital advertising.

About Blis

Blis is an advertising technology company that uses location. It combines information about where groups of people go with other data sets so that brands can choose the audiences they want and measure results, from simple awareness to store visits and sales. It describes itself as an audience-first platform that does not rely on personal data, and as a privacy-first, location-powered programmatic advertising partner.

The company's pages do not give a formal mission or list of values. Instead they say it works to help large brands and media agencies reach their goals while keeping privacy at the centre. Accuracy, scale and transparency are the points it stresses most. Its Smart Platform includes planning, activation and performance measurement. Other tools include Smart Scale, which links Wi-Fi addresses to places, Smart Households, which builds household-level data, Smart Pin, which checks the quality of location data, and Smart Places, a database of more than 100 million points of interest.

Blis says it was established in the UK in 2004 and lists London, England as its headquarters. A press kit says it has more than 40 offices across five continents. The pages we read did not give a London street address or name other UK offices. A directory lists around 325 employees. Its named clients include Unilever, Samsung, McDonald's, HSBC and Mercedes-Benz, and it says it works with every major media agency.

Its website names a leadership team that includes Greg Isbister as chief executive, Aaron McKee as chief technology officer, Diane Perlman as chief marketing officer, Parm Dhami as chief financial officer, Dave King as global commercial officer and Amy Fox as vice president of product. The founders are not named on the pages we read. The company also publishes a consumer confidence report on household finances and spending.

The roles in a company like this include data scientists, software engineers, product managers, sales and account managers, campaign managers and finance and marketing staff. If you like maps, data and how brands reach customers, it is a good example of how location technology is used in everyday advertising. A Life at Blis employee booklet is published on the company's site if you want to see how it presents its culture.

What they do

• {'desc': 'Planning, activation and measurement based on location.', 'title': 'Smart Platform'}
• {'desc': 'A database of over 100 million places of interest.', 'title': 'Smart Places'}
• {'desc': 'Reach groups of people by where they have been, without personal data.', 'title': 'Audience targeting'}

Key facts

• Established in the UK in 2004
• London, England listed as headquarters
• Lists 40+ offices on five continents
• Chief executive: Greg Isbister
• About 325 employees (directory profile)

Website: blis.com