Students and parents looking for scholarships or grants through Sallie, a sister website of private student loan lender Sallie Mae, may soon start to see ads for cars or apparel brands.
In March, Sallie launched Backpack Media, an ad business that offers brands access to its data about Gen Z and Gen Alpha students. Advertisers use this data to target people across its properties as well as across the web and on streaming platforms. Marco Steinsieck, former head of Sephora’s retail media business, leads Backpack Media.
“We’re empowering Gen Z by knowing their financial, their educational, and housing attributes, and by knowing what life stages that they’re across,” said Munif Jaafar, senior director of strategy and revenue at Backpack Media, who joined the company in March from Macy’s Media Network, where he was head of ad sales.
