Unravelling the Journey

For years, the in-stream vs outstream distinction has served as a beacon for video buyers to discern high-quality video inventory, while maintaining a scalable trading strategy.

Yet, like many systems, its efficacy has waned over time. A combination of high publisher yields for video players and the introduction of ‘audible & viewable on completion’ as health metrics led to an increase in video inventory that was technically in-stream, but lacked the quality that this classification had been intended to protect.

Small, floating ‘in-stream’ units flooded the market and delivered inflated video completion rates, without delivering much real value to advertisers. Essentially, media owner’s had found a way to game the system, and open-web video has suffered as a result.

Recognising the pitfalls,  the IAB and OpenRTB have intervened to restore integrity to the ecosystem.

A Stricter Definition

Prior to the shift, in-stream was broadly defined as: “advertising played before, during, or after the streaming video content that the consumer has requested.” 

This definition left a lot of room for ‘creative’ video player integrations that technically met this criteria, but not in the true spirit of ‘in-stream advertising’.

The new in-stream criteria marks a pivotal moment. No longer can mere technical compliance suffice. The new standards demand user-initiated starts, default sound-on settings, and a clear alignment of content with user intent. This evolution sets a higher bar for quality, ensuring that in-stream truly delivers on its promise.

Navigating the New In-Stream Terrain

With the supply of in-stream inventory now drastically reduced—estimated at a mere 10% of its former volume—buyers face a crucial decision. Do they overpay for scarce in-stream placements, or adapt to a new paradigm of quality assessment amidst the outstream deluge?

Enter placement targeting—a beacon of precision in a sea of uncertainty. By leveraging the granular data associated with each placement ID, advertisers can gain unprecedented insights into video quality. This approach transcends conventional inclusion/exclusion lists, offering a streamlined path to accessing premium inventory without the premium price tag.

The Future: Genuine Video Ad Quality 

The future of video buying lies not in lamenting the ‘disaster’ of in-stream scarcity but in seizing the opportunities that this change affords. 

Whilst placement ID video targeting might sound daunting, it can help you to avoid the newly inflated premium for the shrinking pile of in-stream inventory. Moreover, and perhaps most importantly, placement targeting offers advertisers a streamlined avenue to tap into truly high-quality video placements, ensuring positive ad experiences for your audience.

Eager to delve deeper into the realm of placement ID video targeting? Don’t hesitate to reach out: Nick@picnic.io

The post Why AdX’s new in-stream classification provides opportunity, not disaster appeared first on Mobile Marketing Magazine.

Research suggests that up to 43% of digital ad spend goes to waste in some markets, with a number of global estimates putting ad waste figures at nearly a quarter ($20bn) of programmatic ad spend – a massive amount, by any measure, and a clear wake-up call to the industry to prioritise quality rather than chasing low-cost, low-value impressions. 

But how should we define ad waste when it can take so many forms, from non-rendered, non-viewable or low-attention impressions to made-for-advertising (MFA) sites and ad fraud?

At Picnic, we define ad waste as ‘any impression failing to drive a meaningful outcome’. In our view, an impactful impression must be genuinely seen and engaged with by real users, leading to some form of meaningful brand impact. Anything other than that may be considered a wasted impression.    

The three buckets of ad waste management 

Defining ad waste is one thing, but measuring it is another. We advocate a nuanced approach, which categorises ad waste into three distinct ‘buckets’ – each requiring a tailored strategy for measurement and mitigation.

1. Objectively measurable: non-rendered and non-viewable ads

At the core of our measurement strategy are tracking pixels, which serve as beacons in the fog of ad impressions. Non-rendered and non-viewable ads are objectively quantifiable, using the IAB’s definition of viewability, which requires 50% of pixels to be visible for one second or more, providing a baseline for ad waste metrics.

Yet it’s important to understand that a ‘viewable’ impression does not necessarily guarantee that an ad has actually been seen. Other, more nuanced conditions, focused on the user’s experience and ad attention, must be met in order to measure the quality of views. 

2. Subjectively measurable: low-attention impressions and MFA

While we are yet to reach a consensus in the industry on how we should define and measure attention, there is a growing acceptance of the fact that a creative needs to achieve a certain threshold of a user’s attention to have a real impact.

Attention vendors allow us to estimate the likelihood that a given ad placement will generate sufficient opportunity for attention. This helps to reduce instances of great creatives being delivered into wasteful, low-quality placements.

Another ad waste indicator is the presence of made-for-advertising (MFA) sites that have become synonymous with low-quality media – those built purely to generate revenue, without thought for content quality or user experience.

MFA sites are often spoken about in binary terms – a site either is MFA, or isn’t – but in reality it is not that clear-cut. Our own MFA model is probabilistic in nature, ingesting relevant page signals to give an estimate of how likely it is that a given page is built solely to generate ad revenue. 

3. The enigma: ad fraud

Ad fraud – the elusive phantom haunting the digital ad landscape, defies easy measurement. It is generally a catch-all term for online actions undertaken to deceptively represent views, clicks or engagements with an ad, enacted by bots, malware, humans or some combination of the three.

As the industry engages in a perpetual cat-and-mouse game, and fraud detection becomes more sophisticated, fraudsters in turn develop new ways to go undetected. Yet recognising and discussing the issue is a key component in tackling ad waste. 

Emptying the ad waste buckets for a cleaner, more efficient advertising ecosystem 

As we navigate the intricate landscape of ad waste, our priority should be to highlight and define the metrics that matter, paying attention to the various buckets of ad waste and focusing on how we can empty them. 

The necessary strategic vision involves not only the more traditional and objectively measurable criteria but also a close understanding of less traditional metrics such as media attention and how MFA sites work – as well as a vigilant stance against the ever-evolving threat of ad fraud.

Together, we must apply insights from these nuanced measurements of ad waste to inform industry practice, and develop actionable insights from that data. By doing so, we can make real movement towards maximising the transparency, quality and impact of digital advertising investments.

The post The Ad Waste Buckets: a nuanced approach to defining and measuring ad waste appeared first on Mobile Marketing Magazine.

Picnic CEO and Founder Matthew Goldhill explains how the company’s new Domain Reputation Scoring tool helps advertisers assess the true reputability of publisher sites.

So we’re talking about Domain Reputation Scoring – what exactly is that?
 It’s an Inventory Score for domain reputation, scored from 0 (poor) to 100 (good).

Why is it needed?
Across the industry, the term ‘premium publisher’ has been thrown around like a frisbee for years. But rarely have we actually stopped to ask how we define or measure premium, other than by making a very subjective judgement. To address this issue, Picnic has developed a meaningful new way to measure a publisher’s reputation objectively, in a way that goes beyond a simple qualitative human judgement.

So how do you measure it?

Publisher sites are measured on three criteria. The first is domain authority. We identify both the quantity and quality of backlinks to a site – in other words, all instances of other sites linking to the publisher’s site. As an example, lots of sources link to Wikipedia, so Wikipedia has a high domain authority score. This process is similar to how Google ranks a website’s search engine ranking. Also taken into consideration is the average domain authority of the backlink sources; a site with lots of backlinks from credible sources, such as .gov, .edu, will achieve a higher authority score.

The second criterion is content quality. Here, we use language analysis to help us to determine the quality of the content on a site, taking into account factors such as political leaning and the sophistication of the language used. 

The third criterion used to measure a domain’s reputation is clickbait. Here, we use machine learning models trained on thousands of headlines to determine what percentage of a domain’s articles are clickbait.

Who benefits from using the Domain Reputation Scoring tool?

It will benefit any brands or advertisers currently delivering across our PIQ (Picnic Inventory Quality) site list – those that care about quality and brand safety and want their ads to be seen in quality, brand-safe environments. 

At the same time – domain reputation scoring will reward publishers sharing high quality, reliable content, as we will naturally push more ad spend towards their sites versus those who score lower. 

There’s a big push towards sustainability in advertising and reducing ad wastage – does this have any part to play in that?

Yes, the two things are intrinsically linked. Domain reputation is just one score from our wider PIQ (Picnic Inventory Quality) product, which is an inventory intelligence tool that uses media quality signals to assess a web page’s suitability for effective ad delivery. 

PIQ enables advertisers to look beyond top-line performance metrics to more considered page quality measurements, such as page load speed; ad density; carbon emissions; and placement level attention. PIQ’s granular focus on page quality empowers advertisers to deliver their creatives with the best-possible user experience. This, in turn, drives greater attention opportunity for brands; initial tests have shown 88% higher media attention for PIQ pages vs non-PIQ pages. 

From a sustainability perspective, one of the core use cases for PIQ is waste reduction. By preventing the delivery of ads across sites with poor user experience (such as ad-dense made-for-advertising domains) PIQ reduces ineffective advertising and unnecessary carbon emissions. In addition, we filter our marketplace for low carbon-emitting pages, using an emission threshold that’s 20% lower than the Scope3 benchmark.

The post Defining ‘premium’: Picnic’s Matthew Goldhill on a new tool to objectively measure publisher reputation appeared first on Mobile Marketing Magazine.

Leading user-first media platform Picnic has announced the launch of PIQ (Picnic Inventory Quality), a first-of-its-kind inventory intelligence platform capable of assessing a webpage’s suitability for effective ad delivery. 

Initial tests have demonstrated that PIQ-passing domains achieve 88% higher media attention versus non-passing domains. The tool can be leveraged to deliver creatives across sites which ensure a great user experience – in turn delivering high attention opportunities and improved brand outcomes.

The end of clickbait?

Media quality has long been impeded by the prevalence of industry performance metrics, such as clicks and view-ability, which incentivise low-quality industry practices, such as high ad density and intrusive ad formats. As a result, the ad-funded web is inundated with poor user experiences. 

Recent research from Picnic/YouGov confirms intrusive and excessive ads can negatively impact consumer perception of a brand and reduce the likelihood to purchase. Addressing this issue of wasteful – or even harmful – ad impressions, PIQ enables brands and agencies to make sure every ad impression counts.

How does PIQ work?

PIQ analyses a webpage’s suitability based on a range of quality signals such as:

• Ad density: the percentage of a webpage taken up by ads 
• Domain reputation: a measure of reputability and trust based on inputs such as the number of backlinks to a domain, and where they come from, as well as content and headline language analysis, determining factors such as clickbait content. 
• Page performance: a set of performance metrics, powered by Google’s Core Web Vitals scoring, that evaluate the load speed and visual stability of a webpage.
• Processability: a measure of cognitive load – i.e. the amount of information contained within an image or frame, and the associated mental effort required to understand and engage with an ad – based on the complexity of content, design, and messaging.
• Attention: this includes both historical domain attention and placement level attention measurement – providing media attention opportunity, in addition to creative attention for maximum effectiveness. 
• Emissions: Picnic’s marketplace is filtered for low-carbon-emitting pages, using an emissions threshold 20% lower than the Scope3 standards benchmark.

Commenting on the launch of PIQ, Matthew Goldhill, Founder & CEO, Picnic, said: “We believe that a focus on media quality is an important step to secure the future of the ad-funded web as an effective, more sustainable media channel.

Goldhill continued: “The approach is two-pronged – measuring the quality of both the creative and the media. After all, investing in a great creative but delivering it on a poor-quality web page is akin to investing in the Mona Lisa and displaying it on a cluttered gallery wall in your living room. It may technically be viewable, but it’s not going to garner the same attention as it would in a prime spot at the Louvre.”

Key benefits of PIQ

• Inventory quality at scale: objective and measurable assessment using a combination of machine learning and human expertise, guaranteeing brand safety and unrivalled media quality at scale. 
• Genuine ad attention and improved outcomes: making every impression count by focusing on media attention – not just creative. 
• Enhanced targeting and control: greater user privacy and improved trust in programmatic decision-making

Deeper insights: granular understanding of the content and placements of media, alongside meaningful analytics that look beyond traditional metrics.

The post Picnic launches inventory intelligence tool to drive a more user-friendly ad-funded web appeared first on Mobile Marketing Magazine.

Merkle elevates Wagner and Komasinski to presidents
Margaret Wagner has been promoted to President EMEA, while Michael Komasinski has been named President Americas, at customer experience management company Merkle. The appointments will take effect 1 January 2021.

Wagner is being promoted to the dual role of President, Merkle EMEA and leader of the Dentsu CXM LoB in EMEA. As chief growth officer in EMEA for the past three years, she has been working side-by-side with Komasinski with a strong focus on gaining, growing, and solidifying client relationships. Prior to Merkle, Wagner was Chief Marketing Officer at Rapp and held executive positions at Wunderman.

“I am excited about the opportunity before me to lead Merkle EMEA, and to continue as part of a company that is reimagining the customer experience and what it means to provide value in an increasingly digital world,” said Wagner. “The future is one where data and relationships will play a central role, and I am eager to help Merkle realise opportunities as consumers and brands evolve.”

Komasinski is moving up into the dual role of President, Merkle Americas and leader of the Dentsu CXM LoB in the Americas. Over the past three years, he has been leading Merkles European business as President, Merkle EMEA and CXM LoB lead for Dentsu in EMEA. Before that, Komasinski ran Merkle’s US Digital Agency business and, prior to Merkle, he served as Chief Operating Officer at Razorfish and President at Schawk Retail Marketing.

“I am so proud of all that we have accomplished in EMEA over the past few years. This year, I have been especially inspired by our team and our ability to come together as a company and make great strides with our business,” said Komasinski. “Looking ahead, I am eager to take on my new role and return to the US to focus on the Americas region in the next development phase of our company.”

Nasard takes to helm at Kantar
Data and insights firm Kantar has chosen Alexis Nasard as its Chief Executive Officer, effective 30 December 2020.

Nasard joins Kantar with almost 30 years’ experience in the FMCG and retail world and is currently CEO of Bata. Prior to that, he spent six years at Heineken, culminating in the position of President of Western Europe Business and Global Chief Marketing Officer.  Earlier, he worked for 17 years with Procter & Gamble in a variety of marketing and general management roles.

“Throughout my career, Kantar has been a trusted advisor. Kantar’s data, insights and advice informed many of the strategies, as well as communication and commercial plans my teams and I led. As much as I understand Kantar’s heritage and reputation today, it is our future that excites me most,” said Nasard.

“The combination of Kantar’s deep understanding of consumers around the world, our proprietary data sets and our growing expertise in advanced analytics and artificial intelligence puts us in a leading position to reshape the insights and consulting market, whilst offering clients superior analytics they can monetise. This will be all the more relevant in the volatile and fluctuating environment we are living in as a consequence of the COVID-19 health and economic crisis, as clients need to operate on very steep learning curves.”

Instacart makes two executive additions in Hall and Bardin
Christina Hall and Ariel Bardin have joined online grocery delivery company Instacart as Chief Human Resources Officer and Senior Vice President of Product, respectively.

Hall, who has more than 20 years of experience, will oversee the company’s human resources, recruiting, and diversity, equity and inclusion functions. She will help support the companys teams across North America with a focus on building a holistic people and talent strategy designed to attract, retain and develop employees. Hall most recently served as Chief People Officer at LinkedIn and, previously, held key human resources role at Facebook and Intuit.

“Instacart has forever changed the way people connect with the retailers they love to access the groceries and goods they need. Instacart has enormous meaning to me personally as a customer and as a family member of shoppers who rely on the service as a flexible earnings opportunity,” said Hall. “Im proud to join Instacart during a time when people leaders play a more important role than ever before in scaling a performance-driven culture while supporting the health and wellness of employees and amplifying the voices of underrepresented groups. I look forward to working with the team and continuing the companys efforts to foster an inclusive working environment where employees can thrive.”

Bardin will oversee the company’s consumer, enterprise, and advertising product teams and development. He arrives at Instacart following more than 15 years at Google, where he most recently oversaw YouTubes full suite of creator products as Vice President of Product Management. Prior to YouTube, Bardin was responsible for product strategy and business development for Google Payments, and spent nearly a decade as a leader for Google AdWords.

“As more people make online grocery delivery part of their weekly routine, the role that Instacart plays as an essential service for consumers, retailers and brands has never been more clear. Im thrilled to join the team at such a pivotal moment and help increase the value we deliver across our platform through exceptional product experiences,” said Bardin. “Instacart has an opportunity to bring to life online the inspiration, product discovery and retailer affinity that consumers experience when shopping in-store, and Im excited to get started with Apoorva and the team on that work.”

Kleveno becomes Tinuiti SVP
Performance marketing agency Tinuiti has appointed Kolin Kleveno as its first Senior Vice President of Addressable Audiences. Reporting to Executive Vice President and Head of Media Obele Brown-West, he will oversee the innovation, integration and synergy for the addressable audience division.

Prior to Tinuiti, Kleveno spent over 15 years at 360i, most recently as SVP of Addressable Solutions, where he founded the agency’s Addressable Solutions and Programmatic Buying Group. He has worked with clients including Capital One, Shiseido, Pernod Ricard, CarMax, Ben & Jerry’s, Chili’s, and Fossil.

“I was drawn to Tinuiti for its people-first culture and entrepreneurial spirit, but after an immersive onboarding, Im even more blown away by the talent and how well-developed the performance offering is; each team has true depth of knowledge and experience,”Kleveno said. “I am excited to build upon such a strong foundation and help advance the use of identity-powered addressable targeting and measurement solutions for our clients.”

Mediaocean promotes Dorman to CPO
Stephanie Dorman has been elevated to the position of Chief People Officer at omnichannel advertising platform Mediaocean. She has been tasked with prioritising diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I), spearheading employee initiatives, and has already promote Nicole Brown to Vice President of DE&I.

Dorman has worked with Mediaocean for ten years and held senior roles in client services and customer experience.

“I’m both excited and gratified by the opportunity to build on Mediaocean’s extraordinary team and culture,” said Dorman. “In the short time since I started at this position, I’ve already seen an enormously positive reception to our efforts to make our team even more vibrant, supportive, and representative than it already is.”

Brown, who has been with Mediaocean for more than 15 years, will have direct accountability for Mediaocean’s DE&I efforts and outcomes. She will also oversee the company’s learning & development team, which oversees onboarding and internal skills training – efforts that are critical to DE&I efforts, as well as the growth of all team members.

Jones takes up BSO residency at Brand Safety Institute
The Brand Safety Institute (BSI), a non-profit advertising industry initiative, has selected Louis Jones as its next Brand Safety Officer in Residence. He will become the second person to serve the six-month role, succeeding BabyCenter programmatic chief Christine Desrosiers.

Jones, a consultant advising major companies, was formerly Executive Vice President of Media & Data Practices for the 4A’s, managing the associations thought leadership and standards efforts across brand safety, ID resolution, measurement, accountability, and attribution. Prior to that, he was CEO of Maxus North America. Jones has also served in a range of senior roles at Havas and other agencies.

“Brand safety is not a one-size-fits-all problem, as each brand has its own unique identity, opportunities, and needs,” said Jones. “Thats why BSI gives brand safety professionals the expertise, best practices, and relationships they need to understand and manage the complicated challenges facing each individual brand. I am excited and honored to be serving in this role, and I look forward to working with brand safety officers across the industry to help understand and address their needs.”

TPN names Water as CFO
Kayla Waters has been appointed Chief Financial Officer at TPN, a creative commerce agency. Effective 1 November, she will work alongside the leadership team, continuing to enhance operations and workflow, deliver cost-effective results, drive profitability and help the agency and its clients achieve success.

Waters has more than 20 years of experience in the finance industry and has served in various roles at TPN over the last 15 years, including Financial Analyst, Accounting Manager, Vice President & Corporate Controller and, most recently, Senior Vice President of Finance.

“Ive certainly had an amazing example of female leadership as Ive watched Sharon foster and grow this agency into what it is today. She is very committed to promoting women into top roles” said Waters. “I have also learned so much from Mike and will certainly leverage all of the efficiencies and processes that we built together as I step into this new role. My hope is to continue building an impressive service organization that not only drives results but has a bit of fun along the way.”

Cunningham joins Unlimited as CTO
Integrated agency group Unlimited has recruited John Cunningham as its Chief Technology Officer. Reporting to CEO Tim Hassett, he will be responsible for evolving Unlimited’s digital offering including adding firepower to its data, technology, and transformation capabilities.

Cunningham, formerly EMEA CTO at Wunderman Thompson, has held key technology positions at companies including Possible, Razorfish, Rosetta, Pixelpark, and Yahoo! UK & Ireland. He has worked with brands such as BT, GSK, Shell, Nestle, Adidas, Bayer, PMI, BAT, Audi, Aston Martin, Microsoft, HSBC, O2 Telefonica, and McDonald’s.

“It’s a really exciting time to be at Unlimited right now and I’m already seeing the agency go from strength to strength,” Cunningham commented. “What Tim and his leadership team have built is impressive; they have the talent, the momentum, and most importantly, their client-centric approach is one of the reasons I wanted to join. The Human Understanding Lab is an incredibly powerful offering for clients, and I’m thrilled to be part of such a dynamic team of neuro and behavioural scientists.”

Vibes appoints Rivera as CRO
Richard Rivera has been named as Chief Revenue Officer at mobile marketing firm Vibes. He is tasked with expanding and accelerating the use of the company’s engagement platform among enterprise brands, while helping these customers prepare for an increasingly mobile-centric future.

Rivera most recently served as CRO for Monetate, helping steer the company toward a sale that tripled its value. He has also held prominent revenue-generating roles at Medallia, Dialpad, Fuze, and Bladelogic.

“Ive worked with enough large global enterprises – across marketing technology to customer experience — to know that consumer-centricity is the foundation of a great company. My mission is to help brands realise the value of building and nurturing personal consumer relationships, while also optimising their existing digital marketing strategies. Mobile is the optimizer of digital engagement.” said Rivera. “Its rare to find a company with the unquestionable validation Vibes has across multiple verticals and the analyst community. My passion and expertise is in driving hypergrowth for a market at its tipping point. Mobile engagement and Vibes are at an inflection point and will disrupt and win.”

Filiberto and Naci arrive at VidMob
VidMob, a creative analytics platform, has announced Jeff Filiberto as its Head of Marketing Transformation Practice and Susan Naci as Client Partner, Beauty and Luxury Lead. Both will report to Head of US Sales Lisa Manowitz Rowley.

Filiberto will develop and helm the company’s strategic consulting practice to help enterprise brands improve their creative operations by leveraging VidMob technology. He joins from CAA Brand Consulting, where his teams developed marketing strategies and often digitally-led 360° programs for brands including Mondelez, Electronic Arts, Bose, Pizza Hut, HBO, JP Morgan Chase, and Tissot. Prior to that, Filiberto held roles at PepsiCo and Kraft Foods.

Naci will oversee US sales and brand partnerships within beauty and luxury. She joins from Amazon, where she led advertising for the CPG and beauty sectors.

“We’re excited to have Jeff and Susan join VidMob to help us broaden and deepen client relationships,” said Rowley. “Their understanding of advertiser needs and objectives, plus their proven track-records in driving results, will make them great assets to our company. We look forward to having them on-board to ensure that brands understand and leverage the power of creative intelligence to increase marketing ROI.”

Lab’s Verj selects Duda as UX head
Sabrina Duda has been appointed Head of User Experience at Verj, Lab Group’s behavioural science special agency. She will lead the agency’s user experience offering, overseeing design, delivery, and innovation and creating a bridge between research and creative implementation of insights.

Duda has more than 20 years’ experience in UX roles, with particular expertise in user-centred product development and user research. She has previously held positions at the Very Group, the UK Ministry of Justice, and Experian.

“I am very excited to be joining Verj and Lab Group. The group’s unique human approach and its combination of creativity, behavioural science and technology make this role the perfect match for me and my background,” said Duda.

“As a psychologist with over 20 years of experience in UX, I bring the user perspective to everything I do. Uncovering users hidden psychological motives, and observing and analysing their behaviour and pain points, creates successful products that fulfil users needs. When user needs drive product development, you can achieve the best possible outcome for customers and businesses alike.”

Betteridge welcomed as director at Picnic
Picnic Media, a mobile advertising company, has hired Saint Betteridge as its Commercial Director. He joins to help Picnic clients deliver high-impact, social-style ad formats and further raise the profile of the company across the UK advertising landscape and beyond.

Betteridge was previously Commercial Director at Unruly, where he led the UK agency sales teams in maximising revenue for the marketplace’s premium publisher video and CTV supply. He has also held roles including Managing Director of Advertising at Time Out Europe, Chief Revenue Officer Europe at Circus Street, Group Advertising Director at Dennis Publishing, and Ad Director at Emap Advertising.

“Picnic Media’s offering is unique in its ability to expand the high-quality ad experiences of social media to the open web. It’s also a great place to work – full of talented individuals who are passionate about this industry and great minds keen to develop innovative solutions,” said Betteridge. “I can’t wait to get started and help to raise awareness of Picnic’s offering amongst key decision makers in the UK, maximising its exciting value proposition and assisting in the development of its programmatic offering.”

Bazaarvoice brings in Hill as SVP EMEA
Ed Hill has been named as Senior Vice President EMEA at social commerce company Bazaarvoice. He will focus on executing company strategy and accelerating growth in the company’s EMEA business and client base.

Hill spent the last year and a half at Tibco as their UK and Ireland General Manager, where he worked to help transform the local brand to drive growth in customer acquisition and expansion. Prior to Tibco, Hill spent over five years at SAP running the UK sales organisation, driving innovation and business transformation, making it into one of SAP’s most established markets.

“The Bazaarvoice platform is hugely relevant and valuable to consumers, brands, and retailers alike, increasingly so in the current climate.” said Hill. “To join such an innovative and market-defining business at a time when it is partnering with the world’s leading brands to transform eCommerce from a solely transactional service into a personalised browsing and shopping experience was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. The exciting, dynamic nature of the business is a testament to the culture and leadership team that I am so thrilled to work with.”

Stelmach appointed Stadiumred president
Marketing collective Stadiumred Group has welcomed Jeff Stelmach as its Group President. Reporting to Founder and CEO Claude Zdanow, he will oversee core initiatives to support the company’s global growth vision, including agency finance and planning, agency operations and performance, new business and client relationships, and talent functions.

Stelmach has spent more than 20 years growing marketing firms, including Mosaic, Opus, Geometry, and EMI. He most recently served as President of Opus.

“I have been fortunate to have played a leadership role for multiple companies that have transformed the marketing agency landscape on a global level,” said Stelmach. “I see the same exact ingredients in Stadiumred that will pave the way for another important transformation in the global agency holdings model, including great vision, innovation, and a relentless commitment to creating true differentiation for talent and clients.”  

Adverttu opts for Hajas to lead growth
Annamaria Hajas has been hired as Head of Growth & Marketing at out-of-home advertising company Adverttu. She will lead Adverttu’s performance and brand marketing strategy and grow the company’s user base using its own on-car advertising and digital solutions.

Hajas joins from Yolt and has experience at technology startups and media agencies including MediaCom, Artefct, Geckoboard, GVC Group, and Perkbox.

“Adverttu’s culture is what any performance marketer dreams of – the freedom to experiment, impressive traction and the scope to scale rapidly,” said Hajas. “I am excited to join the team and get stuck in. Adverttu has an engaged, passionate driver community and these brand advocates are the perfect foundation for us to springboard from.”

Pair of business development hires made at Bango
Mobile commerce firm Bango has appointed Man Pham as its Regional Vice President of Business Development ASEAN and Keisuke Kishida as Account Director for Japan.

Pham, who joins from Fortumo, will work with Bango customers and partners to expand coverage and increase customer acquisition activities worldwide.

Kishida will lead new business development in payments, resale, and data monetisation for Bango in Japan. Before joining Bango, he introduced authentication services to banks and telcos, including NTT Docomo and Rakuten Bank.

“Online merchants working with Bango acquire, retain and monetize more users than they could outside the Bango circle,” said Bango CEO Paul Larbey. “Man Pham and Keisuke Kishida bring experience and leadership to the Bango Asia team. We look forward to welcoming many new merchants to the Bango Platform in 2021, and accelerating their growth across Asia.”

Mediafly opts for C-level reshuffle
John Evarts has been promoted to President at sales enablement company Mediafly, while Andrew Miehl has been named Chief Customer Officer.

Evarts, current Mediafly Chief Operating Officer, joined the company in 2010. During his stint, he has provided guidance and expertise in strategy, operations, administration, and financial management. Adding President to his COO title, Evarts will continue to work closely with Mediafly CEO and founder Carson Conant to support internal teams, while executing strategic initiatives for the company.

“As we continue to grow, it’s time for us to reassess and readjust as needed to meet the needs of our customers and our employees,” said Evarts. “Working at Mediafly for a decade, I have a good understanding of where we’ve been, where we are today and where we want to be in the future. Stepping into the role as President gives the executive team clear swim lanes to catapult Mediafly into the next phase of growth.”

Miehl previously served as Vice President of Sales at Instructure. Before that, he spent 12 years at CareerBuilder, where he served as Vice President of Software Sales, focused on increasing market share and creating customer-focused strategies.

“Mediafly’s dedication and commitment to providing customers with the best experience for their sales teams, going the extra mile to create unique features specific to the customer’s needs, shows they are passionate about every customer’s success,” said Miehl. “The team has already built a great foundation for me to start with, and my goal is to continue pushing Mediafly upward and onward in the sales enablement industry.”

Three hires made at Fingerpaint
Fingerpaint, a healthcare-focused marketing agency, has brought in Daniel Schroen, Danielle Bedard, and Krystal Gomola.

Schroen, who has a decade of experience in strategic business development, product management, and multichannel marketing, will serve as Head of Photo 51, a consultancy focused solely on advanced therapeutics.

Bedard has been named Director of Corporate Communications and Business Development, where she will ensure Fingerpaint offerings are cross-integrated for brand success. She previously served as Managing Director for Client Development and Organic Growth at Syneos Health.

Gomola arrives as bicoastal Lead Recruiter, with a mission to ensure personnel excellence as the agency continues to expand their business. She brings over 10 years of experience in health and wellness industry recruitment and joins from Tag Worldwide, where she was a Talent Acquisition Lead for New York and Los Angeles.

HelloDone recruits Gough and Sherwin-Smith
Andrew Gough has been named Vice President of Sales and Sean Sherwin-Smith as General Manager for Post purchase at HelloDone, a conversational AI platform. Both have joined from Narvar.

Gough, who has over 25 years of international enterprise sales experience, was Sales Director at Narvar. Before that, he was part of the commercial teams for Clicktale and IBM.

A 30-year eCommerce and logistics veteran, Sherwin-Smith served as Operations Director for EMEA at Narvar. He has also held senior positions at InPost, Pall-Ex Group, and CEVA Logistics.

“The arrival of Andrew and Sean is a real coup for us. It’s testament to both the quality of the engineering team we’ve already built and the size of the opportunity in front of us,” said Ed Hodges, HelloDone CEO. “As well as bringing a wealth of industry experience, they share our belief that conversational AI will not just deliver a better customer experience from order confirmation to arrival at their front door, it will completely transform the way brands transact with consumers.”

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Using Picnic’s Stories format, PlayStation is the first brand to run a Stories campaign on TI Media platforms which includes video. Other brands amongst the first to trial the format include Microsoft, Betway, Tetley Tea, Ford, and Taylor Made.

“TI Media’s partnership with Picnic couples amazing mobile creativity with premium brand safe AMP inventory – engaging audiences with a familiar story format,” said Andy Sophocli, head of commercial innovation at TI Media. “With no ad fraud possible due to Google’s AMP page verification process, this provides the optimum advertising environment for any brand.”

Picnic’s Stories format is built for Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) and has been designed very much in the image of the stories social formats found on Snapchat and Instagram.

The first TI Media campaign using the format came from Microsoft to support the launch of the Surface Go. According to Picnic, engagement rate was almost five times higher and dwell time over six times higher than the industry standard for similar mobile units.

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