Reset Digital is setting up a programmatic marketplace for the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) that will allow its 200 Black-owned publishers to access national media investments previously inaccessible to them, the group and company announced today.

In an interview, Charles Cantu, CEO of Reset, compared the deal with NNPA to previous work Reset has done with the National Association of Black-Owned Broadcasters (NABOB) to make urban radio and associated digital inventory available to national advertisers.

“Marketers are clamoring for different supply, and their agencies are” also looking for ways to increase spending on diverse-owned media, Cantu said. But there’s a misconception that all websites can be monetized programmatically at a national level at this point, he said.

“A lot of smaller publishers are monetized for regional sales, for local and regional automotive groups” for example, Cantu said, but they can’t be accessed readily by national advertisers. Procter & Gamble Co. Chief Brand Officer Marc Pritchard has asked “how do we grow the pie” of diverse-owned media inventory, he said. “A big part is just enabling parts of the pie that have not been enabled.”

Cantu said he’s also heard from agencies interested in home page takeovers and video from NNPA members, but the first priority will be making display inventory available programmatically.

“Together NNPA and Reset Digital will help to bridge and close the digital technology gap that exists in Black America and other underserved communities of color in America by winning the dollars we deserve,” said Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., NNPA CEO, in a statement. “Together we will stand as the trusted multimedia voice of Black America and combine our digital assets and inventories to advance and increase economic sustainability in the communities that we mutually serve.”

Reset Digital works with brand marketers that include Procter & Gamble Co., General Motors Corp. and Verizon, and agency groups that include Dentsu, IPG Mediabrands and WPP’s GroupM. Its “neuroprogrammatic” platform aims to let brands reach omni-channel audiences based on “what motivates them as people,” generally using contextual rather than behavioral targeting and improving reach, according to Cantu.