Nestle, McDonald’s and Virgin Media join JICWEBS' blockchain pilot program

Major food and media giants have joined a blockchain pilot program that aims to enhance trust and transparency in digital advertising.

Announced by the Joint Industry Committee for Web Standards (JICWEBS), the UK digital ad trading standards body, the initiative will initially focus on exploring the potential of blockchain technology in addressing the trust, transparency and inefficiency concerns faced by the online ads industry.

Campaign reported that Nestlé, McDonald’s, and Virgin Media are the first brands to join the pilot program. These companies are joined by their respective media agencies including Zenith, OMD UK and Manning Gottlieb OMD.

The participation from these companies comes after JICWEBS urged the media industry to join the project in May this year. It had announced its partnership with London-based tech business FIDUCIA for the pilot.

The pilot project will be lasting through this year and will basically be looking into the ways in which blockchain can help make ads more trustworthy. In the subsequent stages, it will also explore blockchain potential in the areas of operations and supply chain.

Speaking on the matter, McDonald’s senior media and budget manager Kat Howcroft appears particularly excited about the prospect of transparency regarding digital advertising, The Drum reports. At the very least, it will allow companies to see if they are getting their money’s worth from the ads they are paying for. This has long been a concern among companies regarding advertising.

“This technology offers us the opportunity to see a truly transparent picture of our investment across the digital supply chain. We are also eager to understand the potential impact that this may have on our ROI and efficiency,” Howcroft said.