Interviews, insight & analysis on digital media & marketing

Celebrating Women in Programmatic: Jess Barrett, Associate Trading Director at The Trade Desk

The Women In Programmatic Network was set up to represent women in the programmatic industry. To celebrate its work, NDA is running a series of interviews with its members. Next up is Jess Barrett, Associate Trading Director at The Trade Desk.

Why did you join the Women in Programmatic network and what do you hope to get out of it?

I was one of the first people to join the Women in Programmatic Network when it launched in the UK. I had recently moved from New York to London and was keen to meet new people and learn more about the UK’s programmatic market.

What are the biggest challenges, and opportunities for women in the programmatic industry today?

COVID has been the biggest challenge, as women are disproportionately responsible for things like unpaid child care, homeschooling, etc.

One silver lining from the pandemic is that we’ve proven that we’re able to successfully work outside of an office in the programmatic industry. This is an opportunity for women to improve work/life balance post-pandemic.

What does the industry need to do to champion women in the programmatic industry better?

Sharing knowledge, challenging outdated stereotypes, and identifying and removing biases are all things we can all do to help champion women in the programmatic industry.

Companies should encourage and make it easy for women to speak at industry events by providing tools/training that will help them feel comfortable doing so. Women should get recognised for their work and access to the same opportunities as their male counterparts.

What are the biggest challenges, and opportunities overall for programmatic advertising this year?

The biggest challenge is uncertainty. Uncertainty with COVID (lockdowns, layoffs) and uncertainty around the future of the internet (cookie deprecation, data regulation) is a cause for concern, but also an opportunity. Programmatic now includes many channels that don’t involve cookies, so there are plenty of opportunities to learn and innovate.

What is your biggest achievement in programmatic to date?

Launching the global programmatic team at the Financial Times was the most challenging and rewarding experience. I was so proud when the FT made AdExchanger’s list of Top 10 Programmatic Publishers in 2018.

Interviews, The Women In Programmatic Network

Related articles

Programmatic

Adform boosts team with new leadership hires

Adform, the global programmatic advertising platform has announced two new hires to its senior leadership team: Annabelle Dudman joining as SVP Commercial Excellence, and Paul Confrey as VP Global Agency Partnerships.

IWD 2023: Chasing Equity – Emma Newman, PubMatic

To mark International Women’s Day and our Digital Women Lunch 2023, we’ve been speaking to some of the industry’s leading female voices to get their thoughts on how digital can truly achieve equity. Next, we chat with Emma Newman, CRO, EMEA at PubMatic.