NDA meets Victoria Pindar, VP of Sales at Exit Bee to hear how a combination of unique micro-moment targeting, creative ad formats and measurement smarts make Exit Bee a force to be reckoned with in digital advertising…
Can you start by telling us about yourself and your career history to date?
My career actually began at university. Most people seem to ‘fall into’ our industry, but I did a Communication and Media Studies degree at the University of East London. At the end of the three years I won a university competition and was offered an amazing role at JWT, where I started out as a creative, but ultimately got to experience different divisions, including the media buying and planning department. This was about 2007, and ‘digital’ had just started to emerge as a platform.
Soon, I was recruited for a sales job at Hearst Magazines, where they were beginning to offer digital advertising as a standalone opportunity and solution, before moving to Mode Media. There I witnessed influencer marketing’s arrival as a significant force, and also the rise of YouTube vlogging. In 2016 I joined Playbuzz (now EX.CO), which at that time was an interactive technology platform, used by brands and publishers to enhance digital storytelling through user engagement.
From the beginning of my career, I’ve been lucky enough to work at the vanguard of digital media’s growth and witnessed its major milestones. As a result, it’s been a real honour to be involved in pioneering media buying and selling as the various sectors have emerged and expanded. But, I put creativity at the heart of everything I do and, ultimately, that’s what led me to Exit Bee.
What appealed to you about Exit Bee?
A cocktail of things really excite me about Exit Bee and its products. With the demise of the cookie, contextual targeting is the future for reaching an audience, so it’s a platform with real relevance. Exit Bee also offers a formidable mix of technical innovation and creativity, and this, combined with our high impact ad formats and micro-moment audience targeting, offers advertisers the opportunity to reach consumers through exciting narrative creativity.
I can’t think of another platform with such a unique, innovative offering. And combine this with the degree to which we can measure the performance of our campaigns, and subsequently use data to inform creative, makes our formats really potent. Also, the fact that the company is built on the pillars of creativity and technical innovation matches the trajectory of my own career, so Exit Bee feels like a great fit.
What are your hopes and fears for the digital advertising industry in 2023?
Well, the main worry at the moment is the financial downturn. But within that, our hope is people will look at solutions like Exit Bee, where a winning mix of accountability and creativity can drive efficiencies for brands, advertisers and publishers. That’s one of the hopes – that people start to move budgets into solutions and platforms (like ours) that really drive performance in a financially efficient, accountable way.
On a separate note, I think the recession is a great opportunity for platforms to come together strategically, share knowledge and information, and give everyone the best chance of navigating these turbulent times successfully. We’re stronger together, and as brands and advertisers look at alternate solutions to the Big Tech companies, there must be opportunities for us mid-tier platforms to exploit.
And what are your hopes for Exit Bee this year?
We’ve got a lot planned, but central to everything is maximising awareness of the micro-moment. A micro-moment is a short period of time in a consumer’s online journey in which their attention becomes available. We used the exit from a web page as a micro-moment in which to serve an ad, and this targeting method is so effective we can regularly achieve 100% ad viewability for our customers.
So this year is about making more noise about micro-moments, educating brands about what Exit Bee’s philosophy and technology makes possible, and we’ll be showcasing this on a UK agency roadshow, later in the year.
We’ll also be evolving and pushing our creative offering. Creativity is so important for brands at the moment, and for the industry as a whole, and Exit Bee’s unique approach offers limitless creative opportunities. This, combined with the data and analysis side of our business, provides a really potent tool for clients. And while we’re not entirely recession-proof, the unique nature and performance of our products is encouraging brands to invest in the efficiencies and engagement we offer, despite companies pulling back on marketing budgets.
And finally, how do you see micro-moments evolving in the future?
We’re still at the stage where we’re looking at how to maximise the potential of ‘the exit’ from a creative perspective. What can we do with video? Who can we partner with to introduce exciting, innovative creative applications? That kind of thing.
We’re also looking further up the marketing funnel and exploring opportunities there. We really want to be a part of a brand’s creative strategy as early as possible, rather than simply focusing on execution, and help them make the most of the unique opportunity the exit presents for their business.
