Advertising firm Origin has hired Michael Rosen to serve as its Chief Revenue Officer and opened its first brick-and-mortar office in New York City.
Rosen will oversee Origin’s sales team and work to optimize the company’s existing revenue streams. He will also work across teams to develop new sales channels and refresh the company’s existing partnerships while forging new business-to-business relationships, Origin said.
The launch of the New York City office helps Origin secure a home in the world’s media capital, where advertising dollars have flowed down the streets of Madison Avenue for decades. It is also the first physical office Origin has opened in the city; for years, most of its team members worked remotely in locations between both coasts.
“Over six years and one pandemic, we’ve created a process and culture which has allowed a 100 percent remote team to build a successful company, and nothing will ever be able to diminish how unbelievably proud I am of the team for making this the case, because it is not always easy,” Fred Godfrey, the co-Founder and CEO of Origin, wrote in a statement. “However, and for the benefit of anyone reading this who might have thought otherwise, our ambitions are very real…and we are only just gearing up. Now, it’s go time.”
The moves are intended to help transform Origin from a boutique, CTV-focused ad tech company into a powerhouse firm that can grow at a more-accelerated pace.
Rosen will play a pivotal role in that goal: He brings more than two decades of advertising and technology experience from established companies like AT&T, Fourquare and the CTV firm Intersection. He recently served as the founder of his own advisory group and as the Chief Revenue Officer for Canadian venture Clue Digital.
Rosen said his long-held values will continue to guide him as Origin works to scale its operations.
“I’ll keep showing up with the same beliefs that have guided me throughout my career: Put people first, lead with honesty, deliver outcomes that matter, never lose sight of the ‘why’,” Rosen wrote in a social media post.
He continued: “Origin is doing something rare: Fusing creative excellence with performance-driven thinking in a category that’s rapidly changing. I’m excited to help scale what makes this company different: the team, the mindset, and the belief that great partnerships still matter.”
Rosen said he is particularly excited about the opening of the New York office, which “sends a strong signal about where we’re headed as a company.”
“We’re doubling down on the relationships, the markets, and the opportunities that matter most, and this move is just the beginning of what we have planned next,” Rosen said in a statement.
The New York workspace will allow Origin to establish proximity to some of its key clients, many of whom have offices in the city as well. It also allows Origin’s key executives to work closer to some of the industry’s leading events, including NAB Show and the New York phase of the TV of Tomorrow Show.
But employees will still be allowed to work remotely if they choose — that isn’t going away. Origin will continue to embrace a remote-first ethos while working to solidify its presence in New York, the company affirmed.
“Opening a New York office is a natural and necessary next step for Origin,” Stephen Strong, the co-founder of Origin, said in a statement. “We’ve always believed in doing things differently, starting with how we built the business from the ground up without external funding. But, as we grow, being closer where possible to our partners and clients in a city that’s central to the advertising world is a move that will allow us to better deliver on our promise of creative excellence.”
Origin’s core CTV ad solutions include Slingshot, which serves immersive, 15-second creative spots based on contextual elements in an effort to make audiences more attentive and ads more engaging. Slingshot ad formats include Focus, which transforms ad spots into engaging, interactive content, and Imagine, which overlays “toppers like games, quizzes and prompts during more-conventional ad spots.
Another solution, called Aperture, includes engaging formats like “hot corners” that tease viewers with compelling, dynamically-driven offers and various content boxes that offer information like the locations of a store closest to a streamer as well as phone numbers, websites and business hours, among other data.
Origin works with strategic partners like TVision, Loopme and Foursquare, and its various ad solutions have helped clients like Toyota, Macy’s and Visit Florida increase spot attention, store visits, purchase intent and consideration.
