Hasta La Creative!

Rocket Fuel made headlines Friday when shares from its initial public offering immediately more than doubled when trading opened. But even before making its market debut, Rocket Fuel had been working hard to get the public’s attention.

The company’s sales and marketing expenditures surged to $41 million in 2012 from $17 million in 2011. In 2013, the pace picked up further, with $34 million spent on sales and marketing in the first six months, according to an SEC filing. Rocket Fuel is sponsoring seven conferences this month.

A number of ad-tech players, including YuMe, Millennial Media and Marin Software, significantly bumped their sales and marketing spending in the year before hitting the stock market. AppNexus, OpenX and PubMatic all have either recently hired senior marketing executives or stated plans to increase sales and marketing budgets.

Continue reading at AdAge.com