How many people work at Media Place Partners?

Media Place Partners has 18 in-house media planning and buying experts, all based in West Michigan.

About Media Place Partners | Our story since 1999

How MPP got here

1999 - Today

1999

Joe Cartoon, and the idea that became Adtegrity

Media Place Partners traces back to 1999, when Scott Brew was working in telecom and helping clients get their websites online. One of those clients was Joe Cartoon, the Flash animation site behind viral hits like “Frog in a Blender” and one of the biggest independent properties on the early internet. Joe’s site had grown too fast for its own hosting budget, and the ad revenue to cover it wasn’t there yet.

Scott had an idea. If Joe sold ad space on the site and let Scott manage it, the hosting bill would take care of itself. It worked, and it turned into a good, lasting relationship. It also gave Scott a bigger idea: if one client had this problem, plenty of others probably did too.

That idea became Adtegrity. The name came out of a conversation with his wife, Emily, about what it means to run a business with integrity, and it became the standard Scott built the company around from day one. He left his job, brought on people he trusted, and started managing ad inventory for a growing list of publishers and clients.

2005

One of the first US companies on the Right Media Exchange - account ID 3

Adtegrity moved fast into territory most agencies hadn’t even heard of yet. When Right Media launched the first ad exchange in the industry in 2005, Adtegrity was one of the first US companies on it, account ID number 3. The team spent those early days working directly with Right Media’s leadership, suggesting changes and testing new ideas as the exchange model was still being figured out.

2007

Yahoo! buys Right Media; Appnexus recruits Adtegrity as a partner

When Yahoo closed its acquisition of Right Media in 2007, Right Media’s CTO, Brian O’Kelley, left to co-found AppNexus. He recruited Adtegrity to join as an early partner, remembering the work Adtegrity had done at Right Media. Adtegrity worked directly with AppNexus from there.

2008

An early adopter of the DoubleClick Ad Exchange

Adtegrity was also one of the earliest adopters of the DoubleClick Ad Exchange, the platform Google acquired in 2008 and that now operates as part of Google Ad Manager.

2018

AppNexus becomes Xandr, then part of Microsoft Advertising

AppNexus sold to AT&T in 2018 for $1.6 billion and became Xandr, which Microsoft acquired in 2021 and still runs today as part of Microsoft Advertising.

2005

Building real buying expertise

A gap was also opening up across West Michigan’s advertising market. Agencies had plenty of creative talent, but true media buying, the kind built on planning, negotiating, and stewarding ad dollars, was often an afterthought. In 2005, a firm formed to close that gap under the name Media Place Partners. Tracy Unger, already a ten-year veteran media buyer, joined early and helped shape the planning and buying practice that would define the firm for years to come.

2017

One company, one name

By 2017, Adtegrity had grown into an established digital media company and saw the opportunity to add serious media buying expertise to what it had already built. That year, Adtegrity acquired Media Place Partners and adopted the MPP name for the combined company. Tracy Unger stayed on and today serves as Chief Media Officer, still leading the buying discipline that gave the firm its name.

Adtegrity

Founded 1999

Media Place Partners

Founded 2005

Acquisition closed 2017. One company, kept the MPP name.

Media Place Partners, operating today

TODAY

MPP today

In-house media planning, buying, and creative experts

West Michigan

Headquartered in Grand Rapids, serving clients nationally

Digital + Traditional

Full-service planning, buying, and reporting

Today, Media Place Partners is a full-service media planning and buying agency based in West Michigan. A team of 18 in-house experts, led by CEO Scott Brew, plans and buys across digital and traditional channels for clients around the country, backed by Orbit, MPP’s marketing operating system, and HelloMPP, its client analytics portal.

The story is still being written. Every year brings new clients, new channels, and new problems worth solving, and MPP is still built the same way it started: on the idea that media done right takes real expertise, real accountability, and real integrity.

Frequently asked questions

Who owns Media Place Partners?

Media Place Partners is owned and operated by Adtegrity, the West Michigan digital media company Scott Brew founded in 1999. Adtegrity acquired Media Place Partners in 2017 and now operates the combined company under the MPP name.

Is Media Place Partners the same company as Adtegrity?

Yes. Adtegrity acquired Media Place Partners in 2017 and adopted the Media Place Partners name for the combined organization. They are one company operating under the MPP brand today.

When was Media Place Partners founded?

MPP's history goes back to 1999, when Scott Brew founded Adtegrity. The Media Place Partners name comes from a separate media buying firm founded in 2005, which Adtegrity acquired in 2017.

Who is the CEO of Media Place Partners?

Scott Brew is the CEO of Media Place Partners. He founded Adtegrity in 1999 and has led the combined company since acquiring Media Place Partners in 2017.

Where is Media Place Partners located?

Media Place Partners is headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and serves clients across the country.

Say hello to MPP.

MPP delivers transparent media planning and buying with a system you can understand and results you can measure. Orbit, the Hi-5, and Core vs. Explore keep decisions accountable. HelloMPP dashboards keep performance visible. If you're ready for a partner that makes every dollar defendable, that's exactly what we do.

Let's get to work.

3351 Claystone Street, SE
Suite 102
Grand Rapids, MI 49546
616-285-5429

About Media Place Partners