IAB Europe is excited to release the new Digital People's Poll.
The Digital People’s Poll reveals what's really happening in the digital advertising industry by asking you, the digital people, a short set of questions to gain your thoughts and expertise.
Every quarter, we will poll the digital advertising industry on a hot topic of the moment.
To wrap up Q1, we are looking at Retail Media and asking you whether you see it as a key growth area for digital ad investment? Let us know your thoughts in the short poll below.
On the 28th of March, IAB Europe hosted the first Great Debate of 2023 where we saw over 250 attendees tune in as we discussed and debated how we can advance and achieve sustainability in digital advertising.
This virtual event brought industry experts together to discuss the state of readiness of our industry today. Speakers explored what is currently available to help drive the reduction of carbon emissions produced by the delivery of digital advertising and dived into what else needs to be done in order to achieve a sustainable future for our industry.
In this post, you will find an overview of each of the sessions as well as links to the video recordings for you to view in your own time. Enjoy!
Keynote Presentation: Sustainability in Digital Advertising – Andrew Hayward-Wright, Programmatic & Sustainability Advisor, IAB Europe
In this keynote presentation, Andrew Hayward-Wright, IAB Europe's Programmatic & Sustainability Advisor shared an overview of our industry to see where we are and how far we have progressed in our journey toward sustainable digital advertising. He also revealed why the time for us to act is now.
View the State of Readiness Report here and watch the session recording here
Panel Discussion with Audience Q&A: What’s Happening at a Local Level? Current Initiatives from National IABs
A panel of National IAB representatives shared some of the latest initiatives worked on at a local market level and discussed how we can bring these initiatives to a European and Global level.
Watch the session recording here
Panel Discussion with Audience Q&A: State of Play: What Are Corporate Companies Doing Today?
In this session industry experts shared some of the great work and initiatives they have seen in our industry to ensure sustainable digital advertising to date. They discussed current examples and different advertising techniques & technologies that are or are working towards being environmentally and socially responsible, while also being economically viable.
Watch the session recording here
Keynote Presentation – Confronting the Climate Emergency: How can the Media do Better – James Fleetham, Head of Client Sales, The Guardian
Watch the session recording here
Panel Discussion with Audience Q&A – How Do We Advance Sustainability in Digital Advertising
A panel of industry experts rounded up the above-mentioned initiatives and discussed what needs to happen next as we aim to advance and achieve sustainability in digital advertising.
Watch the session recording here
If you're keen to learn more about sustainability in digital advertising and want a quick 101 overview from those most in the know why not check out our new Explainer Video here.
Ever wondered how you can discover everything you need to know about the hottest topics in digital advertising today, in a matter of minutes? Well with the help of experts from our Programmatic Trading, Brand Advertising, Policy, Research and Sustainability Standards Committees you can.
The ‘IAB Europe Explains’ video series has been created by industry experts from our membership to provide you with simple explanations on different industry topics, challenges and emerging trends from those most in the know.
The short videos share key overviews and explanations that will help you make sense of the latest topics and trends in our ever evolving and changing ecosystem. From Retail Media and Sustainability to CTV and Disinformation dive into the hottest topics and trends and become an industry expert today.
The MIXX Awards Europe recognises and showcases the best digital advertising campaigns in Europe. The winners will be celebrated at IAB Europe’s flagship event, Interact on 23rd-24th May, in Madrid.
Meet a key member of the MIXX Awards Europe Jury, Kate MacKenzie
Kate MacKenzie leads TikTok’s European B2B Marketing & Communications function and is responsible for building the TikTok for Business brand in the region through innovative and creative marketing content, channels and campaigns.
Kate is a strategic marketing leader with extensive experience in entertainment and tech marketing, working for major media brands and high-growth startups, like 20th Century Fox, Sony Pictures Television and the viral Hooked app. Her expertise is in digital & brand marketing and building high-performing teams.
We caught up with Kate to get her thoughts on our 2023 MIXX Awards Europe competition and what she is looking for in winning entries.
Q1. Tell us about you and your role
I lead B2B MarComms for TikTok across Europe and Israel, so my team is responsible for building the TikTok for Business brand in market through content, owned channels and campaigns. My background is in entertainment and tech marketing, having worked for over a decade at major media brands/studios and high-growth startups. Outside of work, I'm a Canadian transplant in London so love getting outdoors whenever I can.
Q2. Why did you join the MIXX Awards Europe Jury?
One of my professional resolutions for 2023 was to spend less time focused on my concrete to-do list and more time on big picture education and inspiration. Being a juror is a great way to keep my finger on the pulse of industry best practice, see and celebrate some incredible work, and ultimately bring that inspiration back to my team to elevate our approach.
Q3. What are you looking for in terms of creative execution?
I'm looking for ideas that feel very current and culturally relevant, and where there's a clear connection between the creative concept and the strategy. Ideas can sometimes be a dime a dozen. The real magic is in how they were executed and whether they worked.
Q4. Did you attend the Gala Dinner last year and if so what was your highlight?
This is my first year as a judge and will be my first time attending the Gala but I'm really looking forward to it and to celebrating all the great winners.
Taide Guajardo, Senior Vice-President Brand, Europe, Procter & Gamble and Alexis Marcombe, Managing Director, Carrefour Links are among the first speakers to be announced for IAB Europe’s flagship Digital Advertising and Marketing Conference, Interact.
IAB Europe has announced the first confirmed speakers for its flagship annual event Interact 2023. In partnership with IAB Spain the latest edition of Interact will take place on the 23rd - 24th May in Madrid, Spain. Leading European advertisers, industry experts, agencies & media owners will gather to inspire and share best practices on the hottest digital advertising topics of today.
Over the two days, speakers from Axel Springer, Carrefour Links, Google, Integral Ad Science, Magnite, Microsoft Advertising, Meta, P&G, PMX Global (Piblicis Groupe), Samsung Ads,Teads and many more will take to the stage to address Innovation, Sustainability and Growth, as the industry looks to become privacy first, tackle sustainability, and drive growth through innovation in the digital advertising.
Taide Guajardo, Senior Vice-President Brand, Europe, Procter & Gamble, will take to the stage on Day one to share how P&G is advancing and leading key marketing innovations and driving sustainable solutions in Europe and beyond. Gujardo has over three decades of experience working in marketing for P&G where she leads a team of over 1,300 talented marketers and partner agencies across 49 countries, investing amongst the top advertising spenders in Europe.
Alexis Marcombe, Managing Director, Carrefour Links will also take to the stage on day one to discuss how as a leading Retailer in Europe they are advancing the Retail Media phenomenon Globally. With over 10 years of experience working in digital sales, Marcombe runs the digital sales house of Carrefour in 9 countries to develop its retail services and to improve the ability for its partners to leverage its data through an omnichannel precision marketing approach.
The two-day conference will consist of keynote speeches and panel discussions from outstanding industry experts, agency representatives and publishers who will share their experiences, inspirations and solutions on the Interact conference stage.
Join to hear from the following speakers and more:
Alexis Marcombe, Managing Director, Carrefour Links
Michelle Perelman, Standards & Partnerships Director, PMX Global (Publicis Groupe)
For more information on Interact 2023 and to view the first line up speakers, please visit the event website here.
Registration for the event is available here. Tickets are selling quickly so secure your place today!
Opportunity to Get Your Work recognised at a Pan-European Level
IAB Europe will also celebrate the winners of our annual MIXX and Research Awards at Interact during the Gala Dinner on the evening of 23rd of May. The awards offer a unique opportunity to gain pan-European exposure in front of industry leaders. Find out more about both competitions and enter here.
IAB Europe is pleased to announce the election of Arthur Millet, Director General, Alliance Digitale (IAB France) as the new Chair and Steffen Hubert, Associate Director & Sustainability Lead, ProSiebenSat.1 as the Vice-Chair of the Sustainability Standards Committee. The committee elected Arthur and Steffen in the most recent meeting on 8th March 2023. In their newly appointed roles, they will lead the new committee’s work to help reduce the amount of energy consumed and emissions produced by the delivery of digital advertising and will focus on the demand for ESG standards for the industry.
Representing IAB France, Arthur has extensive digital advertising experience and has been actively involved in the sustainability agenda for several years. Even more so since the French government published a new "Climate and Resilience Law” in August 2021, which obliges the advertising sector to respond to the challenges of the climate transition. Commenting on his newly appointed role and vision for the committee, Arthur said “I am grateful to be elected and trusted by fellow members to Chair the new Sustainability Standards Committee. The climate crisis is now impossible to ignore and with new and upcoming regulations coming into action it is imperative that the digital advertising industry acts to tackle key issues of sustainability. For over a year, IAB France has been working collectively with our members and other trade bodies to produce a common measurement framework, and I’m excited to bring this experience to the committee. We have a vital role to play as a committee and I look forward to working closely and collaboratively with the diverse members of this group to ensure we deliver key and valuable outputs that help to reduce the overall impact our industry has on the planet.”
Steffen Hubert represents the Seven.One Entertainment Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE, and also brings great knowledge on the topic of Sustainability, having led and evolved ProSiebenSat.1´s well-established Corporate Sustainability Strategy into the digital advertising side of the business. Sharing how he will support Arthur in his role and the work of the committee, Steffen commented, “If the interfaces of the digital advertising industry are to meet high ecological, but also social and societal demands, there is still a lot of discussion and exchange required between all market participants. With the background of several years to accompany the sustainable transformation of a large publisher, I am well aware of many of the small hurdles and Gordian knots that need to be overcome. I am very grateful to be elected Vice Chair and looking forward to contributing my experience and to openly debating solutions.”
The Sustainability Standards Committee is a multi-stakeholder group that aims to bring the industry together to create new standards for the delivery of sustainable digital advertising. Both are active members of the Sustainability Standards Committee. Now, as Chair and Vice-Chair, they will help drive the agenda and create connections that enable all committee members to contribute their knowledge and expertise.
Information on the committee can be found here. For any members of IAB Europe that would like to get involved in the committee, please contact Lauren Wakefield – wakefield@iabeurope.eu
About Arthur Millet, Director General, Alliance Digitale (IAB France)
Arthur Millet is an expert in digital advertising. Since the early 2000s, Arthur Millet has mainly worked in the media world. He was notably the Director of Digital Advertising at Le Monde and for Amaury Media Group, and Managing Director of La Place Media, before becoming Director of Operations at Realytics (RTL Adconnect). He joined IAB France at the beginning of 2022 to take over the general management.
About Steffen Hubert, Associate Director & Sustainability Lead, ProSiebenSat.1
Steffen Hubert has spent his entire professional career in various facets of communication. The spectrum ranges from own copywriting & editing to political communication, to comprehensive media responsibility in the spirits industry, to the Seven.One Entertainment Group, where he has been employed for six years and has been anticipating the sustainability concerns and demands of the advertising market and translating them into business for years now.
The IAB Europe Research Awards recognise and showcase the great European digital research projects and the contribution they have made to the development of the digital advertising industry. The winners will be celebrated at IAB Europe’s flagship event, Interact on 23rd-24th May, in Madrid.
Meet our Research Awards Jury Chair, Kristanne Roberts
Kristanne is a Product Management Director for Kantar. She has over 10 years’ experience in marketing, PR and research, managing global clients and measurement practices. In the last 9 years with Kantar Kristanne has held various roles from project management to sales, and is currently responsible for the development of media and creative solutions on Kantar’s automated research platform Kantar Marketplace.
We caught up with Kristanne to get her thoughts on our 2023 IAB Europe Research Awards competition.
Q. After judging the awards in previous years, what made you want to get involved again?
The awards are a great way to look back on the previous year and all the great work that has been done. It's a really positive thing to be involved in, and great to see so many teams wanting to share all of their hard work.
Sometimes it can feel like we are so focused as an industry on what's next, and how to improve, that we forget to take stock and celebrate what has been achieved. The IAB Research Awards are a great way to take that step back and celebrate with peers.
It's also really nice to be able to get together with the other judges, collaborate, and share views on the work submitted. It helps to promote conversation around best practices, and around new and emerging methodologies, to make sure we are focused on progress as an industry.
Q.What are you most excited to see in the 2023 IAB Europe Research Awards competition?
It's really exciting to see some of the new ways of thinking and approaches which come through each year, as well as some of the innovative campaigns which are measured.
Q.In your opinion, why should people consider entering?
The IAB Research Awards are a great platform for agencies and teams to showcase the hard work and expertise from the past year. The awards can provide industry recognition to the winners and runners up that the work achieved is best in class.
Q.Given your expertise, what are you hoping to see from entries this year?
It's always great to see the variety in the entries and the new and emerging methodologies. Mostly I'm hoping to see some entries which clearly show the value added by the research, and how brands have used the results to inform decision making. It's so important that we focus on the outcomes of the research, and don't get too caught up in the complex designs which may not have practical outcomes.
Don’t miss the chance to get your work recognised at IAB Europe's awards on a European level.
Key Dates
| Early Bird Deadline | Final Deadline | Shortlist Announced | Winners Announced |
| Friday 17th March | Friday 14th April | W/C 15th May | 23rd May at Interact in Madrid |
Entry Links
Enter now to inspire others, reward your team and gain pan-European recognition for your digital advertising campaigns or research projects.
IAB Europe Research Awards Entry Link
Outstanding Contribution Entry Link
Get in touch with us via email if you have any questions:
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - 15 March 2023: IAB Europe confirmed today that the APD has voluntarily suspended the six-month implementation period of IAB Europe’s action plan.
IAB Europe’s action plan was unexpectedly validated by the APD on 11 January 2023, with a six-month deadline for implementation (11 July 2023). The validation occurred while outstanding points are being examined by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), further to IAB Europe’s appeal against the APD decision of February 2022 before the Belgian Market Court.
As a result, IAB Europe lodged a second appeal before the Belgian Market Court against the APD decision to validate the action plan and requested interim measures. This formal challenge turned out to be indispensable to prevent the APD from preempting the CJEU’s response and avoid implementation of changes to the TCF that may need to be rolled back when the CJEU’s ruling is rendered.
IAB Europe is pleased to confirm that the APD has decided as a result of IAB Europe’s appeal to suspend voluntarily the implementation period of the action plan. The Belgian Market Court’s ruling on this second appeal is expected at the end of Q2 or beginning of Q3 2023. If it then upholds the APD’s validation decision of January 2023, despite the fact that this validation decision was taken while the appeal against the February 2022 is pending, the implementation period will resume at that time. This would postpone the deadline for implementation to Q4 2023 instead of 11 July 2023.
“The APD’s validation of the action plan was a welcome confirmation of the legality of the TCF, but its timing had raised legitimate concerns,” noted Townsend Feehan, IAB Europe CEO, “many organisations in the sector have shared their surprise that the APD imposed a deadline for implementation despite the referral of key questions to the European Court of Justice.”
“Given the impact of that referral on the foundations of the APD’s decision of last year, and by extension on the action plan, that deadline in practice could have robbed the referral of its utility,” continued Feehan. “The voluntary suspension by the APD of the implementation of the action plan will enable the release of sustainable improvements to the TCF pending the decision of the Belgian Market Court.”
As the deadline of 11 July 2023 ceases to apply, IAB Europe will move forward with various iterations to the TCF that are less directly impacted by the CJEU procedure, including some that could not be contemplated in the allocated time. More information regarding such iterations and their timing will be provided at a later stage, so as to enable TCF participants to prepare for them.
An updated FAQ regarding the TCF can be found on IAB Europe’s website, here.
Back by popular demand! We are excited to announce the opportunity to purchase Interact 2023 tickets and submit entries for the MIXX Awards Europe & IAB Europe Research Awards at a discounted rate has been extended to Friday 17th March. Check out the details below and secure your discount today.
About Interact 2023
Meet leading European advertisers, industry experts, agencies & media owners on 23rd-24th May in Madrid, Spain for Interact 2023. In partnership with IAB Spain, we will be hosting two days of unmissable keynote speeches, panel discussions, and networking opportunities, as we focus on ‘Innovation, Sustainability & Growth,’.
A must-attend event for everyone in the digital advertising and marketing industry, it’s the perfect place to meet, discuss and debate the most pressing topics in our industry today.
Key topics on this year’s agenda include, but are not limited to:
Plus we have some fantastic speakers lined up too, so keep your eyes peeled for more details on that coming soon.
Find out more about Interact 2023 here and get your Early Bird tickets here.
About MIXX Awards Europe & IAB Europe Research Awards
On the evening of 23rd May, we will also reveal the winners of our MIXX Awards Europe and IAB Europe Research Awards. Both are open and accepting entries from talented and hard-working teams that have created some of the best digital campaigns and research projects in Europe.
This year, we are excited to introduce a new Outstanding Contribution Award, dedicated to a team or an individual who has demonstrated an outstanding contribution to the digital advertising industry over the last 12 months, along with new Retail Media and Sustainability categories.
If you think you’ve got what it takes, why not take advantage of the early bird discount rate to enter?
For more information on the awards and to make the most of the early bird offer, submit your entries here for MIXX Awards Europe and here for Research Awards.
Privacy, transparency and sustainability are now more of a challenge than brand safety
9th March 2023, Brussels: IAB Europe, the leading European-level industry association for the digital advertising and marketing ecosystem, today announced the findings of its 2023 Brand Safety Poll. 157 industry professionals from across the digital advertising value chain gave their opinions on how brand safety has been tackled over the past 12 months, providing insights on what action needs to happen in 2023.
The results highlight how seriously the industry is taking brand safety, and show how the ecosystem has changed in the last couple of years to place more emphasis on ensuring brand safe environments. 67% of respondents agree or strongly agree that brand safety was a key priority for the industry in 2022 with 53% of respondents further agreeing that the industry has done a good job of tackling brand safety over the past 12 months. This is up from 36% in 2019. 71% cited technology innovations as helping to solve brand safety concerns. This is up from 65% in 2019.
Helen Mussard, CMO, IAB Europe, commented: “The poll results highlight how seriously the digital advertising industry takes the safety of brand advertising investments and how improvements have been made in tackling this over the past couple of years. Furthermore, it is encouraging to see stakeholders recognise the importance that technology plays in tackling brand safety and suitability. We will continue to work with our members to highlight advances and best practices in this area, to enable brand safe experiences for both advertisers and consumers.”
Privacy and Sustainability Now More of a Challenge than Brand Safety
When asked to rank brand safety alongside other industry challenges, the majority of respondents (50%) said brand safety is the same in terms of challenges compared to last year. The challenges that have increased are privacy, transparency and sustainability. 57% of respondents said that privacy concerns are more of a challenge than last year, only 8% said it was less of a challenge. 44% of respondents said that transparency and sustainability are more of a challenge than last year compared to 39% that said brand safety.
The Rise of Brand Suitability
78% of respondents agree that there has been greater demand for brand suitability over the past 12 months More than 80% of respondents also cited that brand safety requires a bespoke approach to each client’s needs.
Brand Safety in 2023
Looking at what needs to happen in 2023 to further tackle brand safety and ensure trust for both advertisers and consumers, responses focused on creating new rules for news creators; Safeguarding customer privacy, More technical support; More verification and Content control.
The full results of the poll can be found on IAB Europe’s website here.
In Celebration of International Women’s Day, we caught up with key female leaders from the Women in Programmatic Network and our network to understand what it ‘s like to be a woman in digital advertising, what some of the biggest opportunities and challenges are and how they look to inspire the next generation of women in our industry.
Contributors:
Alice Miller, Head of Programmatic & Display, MGOMD
Alison Harding, VP Data Solutions EMEA, Lotame
Paige Power, Client Partner, Kepler
Isabella Benayoun, Account Director, Kepler
Federica Migliardi, EMEA Senior Sales Partner, Semasio
Stacey Delaney, Regional Director, Northern Europe, Taboola
Carolyn Watt, Vice President Global Client Partnerships, Double Verify
Q1. What does International Women’s Day mean to you?
Alice - “IWD provides an opportunity to acknowledge the progress we’ve made towards gender equality while still recognising the ongoing challenges faced by women worldwide. I think it’s important to take the time to reflect on the contributions that women have made and, for me personally, it’s always such a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the importance of gender diversity within our workplace and wider industry.”
Alison - “It means a great deal to have a dedicated day to stop and celebrate the achievements of women across the social, economic, cultural and political landscape. Of course, there is much progress yet to be made on both a local, country-wide and global level. Women’s rights are far from equitable in many places around the world. I hope that the day serves as a platform for women to confidently raise their voices on the issues that matter to their livelihoods — economic, health, and otherwise — and even more so, moves organisations to take concrete actions to empower and support women.”
Paige - “Every year, IWD would come around and whilst I have an appreciation for a day to recognise the past and continued efforts made, the day has always been a reminder that the work is not yet done and we are different in more ways than recognised. It is a celebration of successful, accomplished and inspiring women for me. With a focus on women who have not only been successful within their career but done so while bringing up a family of their own. The day reminds me that the work is still there to understand that showing up, doing your best and positively impacting others both men and women can make you a remarkable woman and we are defined by societal elements of what makes a woman great.”
Isabella - “IWD gives us an opportunity to celebrate how far we’ve come as an industry and recognise all the amazing women who have helped us get here. I am constantly inspired by all the women I work with on a day-to-day basis and love to use IWD as a day to thank them for their support, encouragement, and hard work! There’s definitely still much work to be done to create a truly equal and safe work environment for all women, but it’s nice to take some time to reflect.”
Federica - “IWD is an opportunity to remember the importance women have in our society, not just in the professional but also in the personal sphere, as well as across the globe.
To me, it is an opportunity to recognise and celebrate all the great women in my life - from my mum to my close friends - and to reflect on what I can do to make myself and them more and more proud of being a woman every day. In my opinion, Women should be celebrated every day - not just on IWD - because they accomplish little miracles every day, without most people even noticing.”
Stacey - “IWD is an opportunity to look around and acknowledge and appreciate all the incredible women around us who are constantly working to make things happen. They often don’t get the appreciation or the limelight they deserve, and International Women’s Day is a reminder to celebrate them, acknowledge their accomplishments and consider what can be done to make their lives better.”
Carolyn - “IWD is a chance to reflect on my personal journey working in the industry for over 25 years. It is an opportunity to consider my own experiences, challenges and opportunities and to ask myself:
Today is an opportunity to remember all the women who have supported and inspired me along the way and to ensure I ‘pass it on’. “
Q2. Can you tell us what it’s like to be a woman in digital advertising?
Alice - “I’ve always felt very empowered working as a woman in digital advertising. It’s a traditionally male dominated environment so in my opinion you have the opportunity to stand out!”
Alison - “I love it! Ad tech is well known as a male-dominated industry, therefore it gives me a great sense of pride whenever I am invited to contribute to articles or I am one of only a handful of women at a senior event. Women in the industry have the opportunity to make a positive impact and pave the way for future generations to succeed in this field.”
Paige - “It’s been a rollercoaster in both the best and some terrible ways. I am grateful to be a part of an industry which has recognised the systemic gender inequality it fostered in the past and collectively chose to do something about it. However, being a part of an industry which is still struggling to rid itself of historic trauma it imposed on both men and women, is also hard as you can find yourself constantly struggling to see ways to help. Incredible safe networks exist like ‘women in programmatic’ & ‘women in tech’ which are so unique in their supportive and inclusive design for a group which historically cultivated an overly competitive culture.”
Isabella - “I’ve been fortunate enough to work at an agency that’s always surrounded me with strong female leaders and mentors, so from my early days, I already had role models of who I might want to be. This made being a woman in digital advertising fun! While there have been challenges I’ve had to overcome that my male counterparts may not have had to, tackling them alongside my strong support system of women (both above and below) has made it rewarding.”
Federica - “ Advertising is a very dynamic and ever-changing industry and in my almost 10 years’ experience in the sector I have always had the chance to not only work with progressive companies (with strong D&I policies) but also with stakeholders who respected my opinion, even though I am a European, non-UK native woman.
I feel the advertising sector offers more flexibility to women in comparison to other male-dominated sectors (such as Finance) and has improved in recent years, notably with the work flexibility brought by the COVID Pandemic.
Kudos to women’s networks such as TWIPN or Bloom that foster and empower all women in advertising from a young age. I feel immensely proud to be part of these communities!”
Stacey - I’m proud that in the advertising industry in the UK, there are many incredible groups and thought leaders who both acknowledge how much the industry has to work on, and how far we have already come. Even though our industry isn’t perfect, I think the fact that those conversations can be had openly and regularly, and are encouraged by leadership teams across many companies, makes it a great industry to work in. Joining in on the conversations being had within the TWIPN, Bloom, NABS and others is a must.
Carolyn - “It’s a privilege. I love the industry and I am proud to work with the very best, most progressive brands in the world as part of a team that is collaborative, inclusive, diverse and constantly striving to serve our brand and agency partners.
The industry has changed hugely in the last 25 years in terms of providing equal opportunities for women.
And in this post COVID world it’s great that so many companies offer flexible working practices; this is hugely beneficial to women (and men) with young families. .”
Q3. Are there any leaders in the industry that have inspired you to get to where you are today?
Alice - “One of my very first managers was a lady called Kate Byrne who is now a media manager at Tourism Ireland. She was the first manager I had who wasn’t afraid to give me tricky feedback, and I really credit her in helping me to elevate my career. I found the way she was able to navigate tough situations with the rest of the (all male) senior leadership team very inspiring.
I am loving that in my new role at MGOMD I get to work under my first female CEO - Natalie Bell! She is widely recognised as an inspiring leader in our industry, and I feel very fortunate to be under such fantastic female leadership. You can really tell that she leads the agency with empathy and a people first mindset, those values are very apparent at MGOMD.”
Paige - “I’m now in a fortunate position where I can choose roles within businesses that have strong leaders either men or women. Joining Kepler was in no small part a testament to the leadership we have and the strong female examples in both Mal Simmonds & Marie Turk.
Through my interviews with them both, we talked openly about DE&I at Kepler and how they have a passion for building a strong leadership team of women and men.
They both uniquely, are examples of women in leadership who are unapologetically remarkable in their own ways whether in or out of social norms and celebrate that.”
Isabella - “From my very first internship in advertising to my almost 6 years at Kepler, I’ve had the privilege of working with amazing women, each of whom has left me with a different message of what being a woman in advertising is. My shoutouts go to Dina Bank, who got me my first media internship as SVP of Finance at Havas as well as some of the many inspiring women I’ve worked with at Kepler both in the US and the UK - Carli Jurczynski, Liz Meola, Remy Stiles, Marie Turk, Mallory Simmonds, and my current manager Jess Haley!”
Federica - “I had the chance to meet a lot of inspiring women throughout my career in advertising.
Just to name a few: Tiama Hanson Drury (Founding Chief Member of Chief) and Debi Hart (VP Product at Forsta) because they mentored and encouraged me to make my first public speech at an important Conference a few years ago.
More recently, Kate Herbert (Senior Director Strategy at Oracle and Mentor at The Forem) who was my inspiring mentor and taught me how to apply the “extreme ownership” principles to every walk of life.
I am also more and more inspired by the co-founders of Bloom and TWIPN, always coming up with brilliant initiatives to empower us.”
Stacey - “I’m constantly inspired by the women around me at Taboola - we’re proud that our EMEA leadership is made up of 50% women, and I just have to look around the room to see half a dozen amazing role models. The women on our team step up to the plate every day, juggling, managing large teams, meeting clients and answering to the business. Many of them are doing this alongside their roles as mothers and partners. They inspire me on a daily basis.
Carolyn - “Honestly, in the first stages of my career there were very few women in leadership roles. Those that were present tended to adopt rather dominant and ‘traditionally male characteristics’ - something I didn’t relate to.
There are many women who inspire me, not necessarily in advertising - Sharon White, Anne Boden, the BBC journalist Orla Guerin, the climber Alison Hargreaves. I generally love stories of people who triumph in the face of adversity from all walks of life.”
Q4. Do you think there is something we could do as an industry to open up opportunities for female leaders in digital advertising? Or Encourage more Women to this industry?
Alice - “Firstly I would say that companies need to address their unconscious bias and increase overall diversity in hiring. Strategies such as blind hiring practices at the assessment stage can be effective to reset the gender balance within interviews. Also ensuring we have a diverse group of interviewers, both to make the candidates feel more comfortable and also to ensure varied viewpoints when assessing candidates.
Outside of work, I am a mum to an 18 month old boy, Freddie, and now more than ever I understand the importance of promoting flexible work arrangements – particularly for women who still (typically) take on more of the parental load. I am extremely fortunate that MGOMD is incredibly flexible for parents, and I have felt very supported since joining. On top of my own personal experience, OMG have just expanded their parental leave policies and at MGOMD we’re working on an enhanced program for women coming back from maternity leave.”
Alison - “Women are more likely to enter a male-dominated industry if they can see other women who have been successful in that field. Therefore, it's important to highlight female leaders and provide them with opportunities to share their stories. We need to address bias: it's important to identify and address any biases that may be preventing women from entering or advancing in the industry. This can be bias in recruitment, performance evaluations or leadership development opportunities. Companies need to create a workplace culture that values and supports diversity and also offers flexible work arrangements. Women are often responsible for caregiving and may require more flexibility in their work schedules; this shouldn’t put employers off as often the same outputs of work apply just done to different timescales.”
Paige - “Starting with statistics and having more businesses share data publicly so, we as an industry and as businesses can be held accountable for the change we make.
At a more human level, we do need to recognise that women in leadership positions now, are statistically more likely to have ‘generational trauma’ impacting how they act as women. Recognising our leaders had to fight to get where they are through the male dominated industry at some of its worst points. This means that these behaviours may still exist; we're ultimately trying to remove from our industry, so change really does start at the top.
Encouraging more women should be done in the right way as ultimately, we have improved but are by no means done with what we need to change. Having honest leaders that can mentor women who join is important to ensure we teach the new generation the history but also, how we can create a better future.”
Isabella - “Representation and nurture.
Seeing women in leadership roles can signal to other women that our industry is progressive and open, and that growing in this field as a woman is possible. This type of message can encourage women to join, knowing that they have a bright and fair future ahead of them.
Nurturing women in digital advertising with the proper support systems, networks, and mentors is also key to ensure they have what they need to grow. Receiving this type of support is what helped me grow in this career and giving the support back to newer team members is what has helped me stay in this career. It may not be easy work, but it is extremely rewarding and fun!”
Federica - “What is stopping us, women, from breaking the glass ceiling? Statistically women are “less bold” than men.
For instance, women apply to a job only if their qualifications 100% match the job description, as opposed to men who apply when there is a 60% match.
Therefore, we need to be bolder, for ourselves but also for the overall ecosystem, because DE&I has a real business impact for companies.
Some stats: Companies with Women as Board Directors show 53% greater performance and 35% greater financial returns vs Companies that do not.
How can we open up more opportunities for female leaders? Start by removing any gender bias in every company process, create mentoring programs, encourage participation in networks such as TWIPN, offer flexible work practices and environments and attend/spread the knowledge of programs such as #IAM REMARKABLE.”
Stacey - “Firstly, I think it’s important we continue to have open conversations about our experiences and what needs to be done - not just during Women’s History Month, but consistently.
But talking isn’t enough. Every company needs to take a good hard look at where their shortcomings currently are, and set specific goals to improve on these, making ourselves accountable on a quarterly or annual basis, just like any other business goal.
For example, at Taboola we acknowledged that we weren’t always getting a diverse set of candidates to interview for all our positions, so we launched a campaign to ensure that 50% of candidates being interviewed for all roles are women.
Finally, one of the best things we can do to encourage women to join and stay in our industry is put in place inclusive policies that enable women to grow their families without sacrificing their careers. This doesn’t only mean giving paid maternity leave and supporting flexible working schedules, but crucially, also enabling men to be able to take parental leave and take on their share of childcare responsibilities. We’re super proud to have revamped our parental leave policy last year to give primary caregivers 26 weeks of paid leave and secondary caregivers to take 8 weeks – globally.”
Carolyn - “Absolutely. Together we should do more.
We know that women are underrepresented in leadership positions. Only 1 in 4 C-suite leaders are women and only 1 in 20 are women of colour (Source: McKinsey Women in the Workforce 2022).
We know that women leaders are leaving their companies at a higher rate than men. There is also increased churn after women have children.
In the US 43% of women leave the workforce after having a baby. In the UK 27.6% women dropped out of the labour market last year (ONS). Of the 1.75m people who dropped out of the labour market in 2022, 84% were women citing child care as the reason.
We also know that women want to advance but they face stronger headwinds than men.
Women leaders are more likely to report that personal characteristics such as their gender or being a parent have played a role in them being denied or passed over for a raise or promotion (Source: McKinsey 2022)
Women are more likely to seek a meritocratic culture and flexible working. And the next generation of women care even more about the opportunity to advance.
Companies that don't take action may struggle to recruit and retain the next generation of women leaders.
Diversity and inclusion is part of DV’s DNA. But we never rest on our laurels.
Listening and understanding the challenges and obstacles women face is key.
Here at DoubleVerify, we also work hard to foster a culture of support and connectedness between the women of DV across all geos and all teams - top to bottom. We also offer very flexible working practices for all our teams.
We strive to ensure that women have a support network - particularly when they return from work after maternity leave which I know from personal experience can be a challenging transition.
We also focus on education. So much of gender bias is subconscious and positive discrimination is often unwelcomed (and in Europe unlike the US it's illegal).
But we need to keep talking and educating our teams to be aware and negate bias - of any kind.
It’s a great industry and I would also champion it. But we must always strive to make it better for everybody.”
Q5. How do you like to inspire and support other females and those entering our industry for the first time?
Alice - “I love seeing young women succeed in an arguably male dominated environment. Through my career I have been fortunate enough to mentor many young women starting in ad tech, and help them propel their careers forward, which has been hugely rewarding. This year I’ve joined the OMG Women’s Advisory Group so I am looking forward to working on many exciting events and projects to inspire Omnicom women! I am also a member of TWIPN, and I have loved being a part of such a collaborative group of women who are passionate about making change in our industry.”
Alison - “Inspiring and supporting other females is not just about promoting individual success, but about creating a more equitable and just society for all. I try to be a role model where possible in my career by setting an example of excellence, resilience, and compassion. I am always happy to share my story, along with the struggles I have faced and overcome along the way. One of the most valuable gifts you can give to another female is your time and expertise. I would recommend anyone joining the industry to become part of a supportive community such as TWIPN. Women often face isolation and discrimination in male-dominated fields or environments. By creating a supportive community of females, we can offer a safe space where women can share their experiences, learn from each other, and encourage each other to succeed.”
Paige - “I believe supporting others starts by supporting yourself so, showing up openly and proudly to everything I do but, also talking about the harder side. It may be as simple as a reaction to their Linkedin post or slack post but, doing my best to support everyone, but women historically have not been supported. Encouraging others to ask the right questions so they can find the right businesses with the right values so hopefully, more women can find environments like we have at Kepler and not have to learn through experiencing harder times in their career but, through hearing others experiences.”
Isabella - “The best form of mentorship is establishing a relationship that goes both ways. Keeping an open mind and listening actively when working with younger women has enabled a 2-way mentorship for me, where I can share my experience and knowledge, but often leave having learned something new about myself and my relationships. I’m a big believer in this and have found that it’s usually what makes the most out of the rapport for all parties involved.”
Federica - “Firstly, I believe every change starts from talking about it, so thanks to IAB Europe for giving us a chance to express our opinion on this important and often neglected topic.
Beyond that, I am a mentor for an ESCP EUROPE Master student based in Paris, an active member of Bloom and TWIPN and my next goal is to fulfil my role as new #IAM REMARKABLE facilitator to foster women empowerment in the workplace. “
Stacey - “As a woman in leadership, I have a seat at the table and have the power to push for change in big and small ways. I try to champion causes that will make things better for the next generation of female leaders, and to be honest with the men that I work with about the things we need to be doing better. Over the years I’ve also been really proud to be involved with mentoring schemes like Bloom, working with individual women to provide a sounding board and help them grow in their careers.”
Carolyn - “I have been lucky enough to work with a number of mentors throughout my career. I am both a mentor and a mentee and I encourage everyone - male or female - to find a mentor (or two) to help support their personal learning and development.
I have also found mentoring schemes in the workforce work really well and help foster that all important culture of support and connectedness between women.
Find a mentor - someone that inspires you. Someone that will help you become the very best version of yourself. That’s my advice.”
In this week’s member guest blog post we caught up with Anthony Lamy, VP of EMEA Client Partnerships at VidMob. Anthony discusses how making sure you have the right creative fit for a platform can make a digital advertising campaign more successful. With so many platforms needing to be considered in creative, Anthony helps you to navigate this challenge. Keep reading to find out how.
Brands are facing a double creative control headache. While adhering to their own brand and creative guidelines is challenging enough, ensuring assets align with different social media platforms’ best practices is an even harder task — and one that’s getting tougher as goalposts constantly shift.
Adding to these challenges is the prospect of economic uncertainty. Many brands are therefore under high pressure to use resources more wisely and fuel stronger ROI. Consequently, there is no room to waste precious budget on advertising creative that isn’t fit for its corresponding platform.
To get their creative house in order, marketers need a smarter approach that allows them to consistently find the fastest path to effective creative that’s on brand and fit for the platform. To do this, brands should embrace the practice of creative scoring to ensure their creative consistently performs by aligning it with platform and brand best practices.
Time to achieve creative excellence (effectiveness, efficiency, impact) at scale
Although marketers have no control over a platform’s algorithms, one area that falls within their remit is creative quality. To date, businesses’ tendency towards internal, manual processes around brand governance has driven varied inefficiencies, with content feedback, reviews and approvals absorbing hours of time for marketers.
The biggest drawback of manual monitoring though is that labour-intensive analysis can’t function at the scale needed to run effective cross-channel advertising or stay in sync with fickle platforms and user preferences. At a time when social trust is fragile, running out of touch with target audiences poses major hazards for brands aiming to forge meaningful engagement via social media. Thanks to advances in creative analytics technology, however, there is scope to streamline quality assurance techniques. Innovative new creative scoring processes can continuously assess content across a broad spectrum of criteria including — by brand, platform, market, and objective — and track adherence to best practices across every asset automatically, with any discrepancies instantly flagged so they can be quickly adjusted. This means marketing teams can hand over the complicated work of manual tracking and analysis to sophisticated technology, without losing the insights. And that’s just the start.
A deeper window into performance
Aside from saving valuable time, smart scoring tools ultimately enable marketers to leverage best practices. Automatically flagging discrepancies, marketers can now turn benchmarks into actionable metrics and automate fast, accurate, and always-on evaluation. The majority also provide similarly useful core functions including pre- and in-flight assessment, to help minimise wasted spend on ads that fall below key standards and prevent ads from underperforming.
More sophisticated platforms also harness subsets of artificial intelligence (AI) such as computer vision to offer comprehensive, real-time measurement. When it comes to scoring, this gives them the power to instantly analyse every creative element against unique standards: such as where brand logos are placed, objects in the foreground and background, colour use, the emotion expressed by featured talent, and the cadence of speech and edits.
In addition to determining whether assets adhere to brand standards, scoring assessment helps pinpoint the effect of specific creative elements on social ad performance; providing a clear view of which best practices to prioritise. For instance, Neutrogena has become one of many leading brands to apply intelligent scoring for slick monitoring and adjustment. Analysis of ad variations across Facebook and Instagram for their German campaign quickly identified that an emphasis on visuals was highly effective; especially imagery featuring celebrities and its Bright Boost product on a human hand. Optimising delivery to focus on creative including these elements fuelled a 30% rise in views past the first three seconds and a 188% hike in total viewability.
The key takeaway here for marketers is that deep-diving analysis not only helps keep tabs on their creative assets but also establishes how they should be best used on social platforms. As an additional advantage, the ongoing assessment also means they can gain a persistently refreshed understanding of what is driving performance and impact in their creative across channels.
The digital space isn’t due to get any less complicated. What sparks audience attention and inspiration will always be subject to change, especially on rapidly evolving social platforms. Savvy marketers will accept the uncertainty and ensure a firmer grip on the areas they can control. By embracing smart creative assessment, they can use best practices to protect and preserve brand governance, increase creative performance and effectiveness, and find the balance between what is the ideal fit for users, platforms, and their brand.
