Episode 167: How Infillion Bought Catalina and How it Fits with MediaMath

Rob Emrich, founder and executive chairman of Infillion, joins to talk about the Catalina acquisition, why retail data matters, and how his company is building a full-stack ad tech platform through acquisitions and integration. The conversation touches on DSP strategy, data advantages, and how the industry is shifting toward outcomes-driven advertising. Takeaways Catalina evolved from coupon printing into a powerful retail data asset SKU-level purchase data is a key differentiator in advertising Infillion’s strategy is to integrate data, media, and tech into one platform DSPs are increasingly defined by proprietary data and a unique supply Acquisition strategy matters more than just collecting assets Retail media is a continuation of older data-driven advertising models Financial vs strategic ownership can shape how companies evolve Chapters 00:00 Intro and Catalina acquisition context 01:00 What Catalina actually is today 02:00 From coupons to retail media data 03:00 Why SKU level data matters 04:00 Digital products like Buyer Vision 05:00 How Infillion approached the acquisition 07:00 Why Catalina became available 08:30 Strategic vs financial buyers 10:00 MediaMath plus data equals full stack vision 11:00 Rob’s background and early company days 13:00 Pivot from rewards to DSP 15:00 Building through acquisitions (Gimbal, Drawbridge) 17:00 The “factory” approach to ad tech 19:00 Avoiding the “collection of assets” trap 21:00 Customer types and key verticals 23:00 Where Infillion fits in the market 24:00 IPO thoughts and employee ownership Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices