By Staff Report Thursday, February 6th, 2014

Online advertising firm ValueClick has changed its name to Conversant and recalibrated its business model to focus on helping marketers better target individual consumers.

The Westlake Village-based firm said Feb. 3 that it is combining its businesses into one “integrated marketing personalization platform that helps brands connect with people as individuals at major scale.” Its ValueClick Media, Commission Junction, Greystripe, Dotomi and Mediaplex subsidiaries will each contribute data, technology and expertise to the new platform, the company said.

Over the last few months, Conversant has sold off its owned-and-operated websites including  Investopedia.com and PriceRunner.com as it refocuses on its core advertising technology business.

“We have made a lot of acquisitions over the years and have for the most part run those businesses on a standalone basis, for the most part because the buyers were making decisions on that basis,” Chief Financial Officer John Pitstick told the Business Times in November. “As more dollars get allocated to digital, and as advertisers get more sophisticated, they’re looking to have a more holistic view of their marketing spend.”

Conversant said its new platform will combine video and mobile capabilities, real-time bidding and customer relationship management infrastructure, offline measurement and device recognition to deliver one-to-one engagement at scale.

Commission Junction, the industry’s largest affiliate marketing business, will now be known as “CJ Affiliate, by Conversant.”

“The launch of Conversant reflects how we’ve brought together the strengths of each of our businesses to create a unified personalization company,” CEO and President John Giuliani said in a statement. “Now with one new brand everyone can see how our people and technology are working together to deliver the smartest personalization strategies and solutions for marketers. Our expertise in digital marketing is unparalleled, and as Conversant, we will lead the future of the industry through personalization.”

Conversant’s profits in the first nine months of 2013 were $56.1 million, down 14.2 percent year-over-year despite a 6.3 percent boost in revenue to $397 million. The company has about 500 employees in the Tri-Counties, according to Business Times records.

The company’s stock, which has previously traded under the ticker symbol VCLK, began trading on the Nasdaq under the symbol CNVR on Feb. 5.