We’re asking some of our industry’s leading figures to nominate their digital hero and to explain what’s so special about them.
Matt Nash is MD of Scibids, the AI as-a-service technology business. He has been in the digital industry for twenty years, joining Scibids to launch the UK business from Neo@Ogilvy where he was UK MD. Previous roles included VP Europe, The Exchange Lab, and he founded one of the UK’s first social media agencies, OOSOCIAL.
Who is your digital hero?
My digital hero is Tim Webster, co-founder of The Exchange Lab.
What has he done to win hero status in your eyes?
There a lot of people in digital and advertising in general who are keener on self-promotion than anything else.
Tim is the exact opposite.
He’d rather sit behind the scenes building technology and businesses that create value. Some of the things he pioneered at The Exchange Lab, such as Supply Path Optimization (it wasn’t called that then), are now considered standards.
He has never once given me bad advice and always remains calm and focused whatever the situation. I’d always want Tim next to me in a pitch or meeting of any kind because he just gets it in a way most of us just kid ourselves we do
How has his heroism helped drive digital?
On top of creating great technology and businesses, the team that he and the leadership at The Exchange Lab built are now in influential positions throughout the industry.
He nurtured us and taught us what programmatic actually is and can do in a bullshit-free way.
What the biggest challenges in digital we need another hero to solve?
For me one of the biggest challenges is around measurement and effectiveness. In an era where some brands are questioning their investment in digital generally, we need to be able to prove beyond doubt that this investment is actually delivering real value.
Measuring performance in respect of the bespoke business outcomes brands care about, and the ability to prove incrementality, are increasingly important.
The one-size-fits-all metrics of success from the first era of digital won’t be acceptable any more.
What is your most heroic personal achievement so far in digital?
Now I’m considered something of a ‘veteran’, I think it’s about the impact I have had and will hopefully continue to have on people’s careers.
I have had the fortune to manage many hugely-talented individuals and nothing gives me greater pleasure than in seeing them succeed, whether that be building their own successful businesses, going on to be a CEO or MD or just really enjoying their career.
