How Jersey Mike’s demonstrated incremental value with AI-powered programmatic CTV

Despite the promise of AI-powered optimizations, advertisers still face major inefficiencies throughout the digital ecosystem. For many brands, the unanswered question isn’t whether AI matters, but whether it is actually eliminating waste or simply automating it at scale. 

Ad fraud and waste threaten performance, especially at the local level

At a time when every wasted dollar can significantly impact revenue and growth, marketers continue to grapple with invalid traffic, opaque supply paths and platform fees and other forms of performance dilution and fraud. 

According to the Association of National Marketers, buyers still incur $26.8 billion in wasteful spending in their programmatic media buying alone. This waste has an even larger impact on small and mid-sized advertisers, i.e., local advertisers, who have tighter budgets and fewer resources.

In this environment, some view AI as the solution to these inefficiencies while others worry that AI risks accelerating waste, rather than eliminating it. For instance, as Meta leans into automation, some marketers are concerned about the lack of transparency around its results. And the Trade Desk is facing a lawsuit for allegedly misleading advertisers as it implemented Kokai, its generative AI forecasting tool. There is much work to be done across the industry to fix these problems around transparency, as ad fraud and waste threaten performance, particularly at the local level.  

However, emerging platforms are going beyond simply using AI to optimize creative and audience delivery. Instead, they are pairing AI with technology designed to verify delivery, optimize performance and reduce ad fraud in real time. This approach is especially critical for the aforementioned local campaigns, for which programmatic buys often struggle to perform efficiently.  

Jersey Mike’s tests AI for store-level performance

To validate AI’s incremental value, Jersey Mike’s conducted a pilot campaign to promote the opening of a new franchise location in Cambridge, Mass.

The chain, which has more than 3,000 sandwich shops, tapped Blockboard to help drive measurable in-store visits and maximize a modest $2,000 budget for the new location. 

Blockboard’s new BlockVantage AI platform is built on top of its buy-side programmatic platform, creating an optimized and transparent supply path that prioritizes measurable outcomes, such as cost-per-visit, over scale.

The campaign targeted local audiences with existing creative, including a spot starring Danny DeVito, across premium publishers such as Peacock, HBO Max and Sling. 

For opening day at Jersey Mike’s new Cambridge store, BlockVantage delivered $378 in sandwich sales, 18 customers (per M1 Data & Analytics), a $5.48 cost-per-visit and a 0.92% click-through rate on commercials.

Among local advertisers and national brands alike — including Chipotle, Dexcom, Luxottica and now Jersey Mike’s — it’s clear that marketers want AI solutions that show proof and transparency.

Platforms that solve foundational industry problems, such as ad waste and fraud, while demonstrating real-world revenue impact, are poised to define the next era of advertising performance.

Partner insights from Blockboard