While AI continues to be tech’s favorite buzzword, the real test for marketers isn’t hype—it’s whether the tech can actually trim waste and drive results. That’s especially true in local markets, where programmatic inefficiencies and ad fraud can gobble up limited budgets. With $26.8 billion in programmatic waste still rattling around the system, advertisers are rightly skeptical about AI’s promise to clean up the media mess and not just automate it.
Enter Jersey Mike’s, with a $2,000 CTV campaign to support a new store opening in Cambridge, Mass. The sandwich chain partnered with Blockboard and its AI-powered BlockVantage platform to serve targeted ads (yes, featuring Danny DeVito) across premium channels like HBO Max and Sling. The goal wasn’t scale—it was butts in seats and subs in hands. Result? Eighteen in-store visits tracked at a cost of $5.48 per visit, $378 in sales, and a 0.92% click-through rate. That’s not viral territory, but for a local spend, it’s measurable impact—and that’s the point.
BlockVantage focused not just on delivery, but on verifying performance in real-time to reduce fraud and prioritize actual foot traffic. For brands balancing national aspirations with local execution, this kind of transparent, AI-fueled efficiency might finally represent the next evolution in making media budgets behave.
Full story at Digiday.
