31 July 2024

Electric Guitar PLC

("Electric Guitar" or the "Company")

Electric Guitar establishes joint venture to build new AI-driven products

The Board of Electric Guitar PLC (LSE: ELEG), the digital marketing and advertising company providing first-party data solutions, is pleased to announce that it has agreed to launch Marcomms.ai as a UK joint venture with Exelia Technologies Limited ("Exelia"). Exelia is a Cyprus-based software development business with a specialised team of developers proficient in blockchain, machine learning, data processing and AI.

Marcomms.ai is a 50:50 joint venture that combines Exelia's technical capabilities in all forms of AI and data transformation with Electric Guitar's administration, sales and general commercialisation expertise, and the unique global dataset ("Global Data Store") owned by 3radical, Electric Guitar's principal operating subsidiary. In addition, the joint venture will benefit from 3radical's established clients in the marketing communications and advertising industry, providing valuable data and a ready market for the joint venture's offerings in the marketing communications and advertising sectors.

Marcomms.ai will harness the transformative potential of AI in the marketing communications and advertising sector to position the joint venture, and by extension Exelia and Electric Guitar, as a leading authority in AI-enhanced marketing and advertising solutions.

Marcomms.ai's first product development will use 3radical's Global Data Store, which contains over 1 billion data points, to create advanced machine learning algorithms to help clients increase consumer engagement and allow them to understand their audience at a new level.

Work on Marcomms.ai's first product has already begun, and the parties expect to start user acceptance testing with Electric Guitar's key clients in the autumn.

Exelia will fund Marcomms.ai's initial working capital in relation to data engineering and transformation, data analysis and dashboard creation based on the Global Data Store. Electric Guitar will fund the initial costs in relation to incorporation and administration of the joint venture company, access to the Global Data Store, and the initial productisation and introduction of the minimum viable product to its customers and prospects.

Market opportunity

The $800bn digital marketing and advertising industry is undergoing significant transformation, driven by privacy and technology. AI and other advanced technologies such as machine learning and blockchain present many potential opportunities to accelerate that disruption, offering unmatched personalisation, real-time data interpretation, and targeted audience outreach. This creates opportunities to increase the efficiency of media planning and procurement, providing advertisers with greater control and transparency over their advertising spending, as well as other applications across marketing communications and related services.

Combining Exelia's and Electric Guitar's resources and capabilities allows the joint venture to capitalise on these fundamental industry developments.

John Regan, CEO of Electric Guitar, commented: "AI is already causing significant disruption in the advertising industry, but marketers are learning that you need the right data for AI to work. 3radicals' Global Data Store contains over 1 billion data points which describe how consumers interact with 3radical's engagement tools. Being able to use this data to power our AI tools gives us a significant advantage."

Margarita Maimoni, CEO of Exelia Technologies Limited, added: "As long-term experts in advanced technologies like AI and blockchain, we know that marketers have barely scratched the surface of the benefits that AI has to offer. We are looking forward to creating groundbreaking products which help transform how marketing works."

For further information:

Notes to Editors

Electric Guitar PLC (AIM: ELEG) is the provider of first-party data solutions for the marketing and advertising industry, empowering businesses to realise the value of their first-party data. In an era of changing consumer attitudes towards the use of their data, tighter privacy legislation, and the demise of third-party cookies, first-party data is now the key to success in digital marketing. Electric Guitar's strategy is to acquire and scale businesses that help marketers maximise the value of first-party data by curating, managing, and deploying it, and in doing so making Electric Guitar the industry standard for first-party data solutions. As the first part of this strategy, Electric Guitar has acquired 3radical Limited, a company that utilises its Software as a Service platform, 3radical Voco, to enable organisations to engage individuals and request their data directly using interactive digital experiences.

For further information please visit www.electricguitarplc.com.

Exelia Technologies Limited

Exelia Technologies Limited is a Cyprus-based firm with a specialised team of developers expert in blockchain, machine learning, data processing and AI. Exelia's technical capabilities encompass the design and development of AI-driven tools, and it has already developed the proof of concept of an AI-driven procurement tool targeting the shipping industry, the base module of which can also be tailored for wide potential application, including for the marketing communications and advertising sectors. 

For further information please visit www.exeliatech.com.