The Women In Programmatic Network was set up to represent women in the programmatic industry. To celebrate its work and its members, NDA is running a series of interviews with its members. Next up is Maya Venkatesh, Managing Director, APAC, at Affinity Answers.
Why did you join the Women in Programmatic network and what do you hope to get out of it?
To network with women in the programmatic space and gain knowledge, while also sharing knowledge from the market I am in.
What are the biggest challenges, and opportunities for women in the programmatic industry today?
Programmatic is in its nascent stage and there are a whole lot of opportunities for women to learn more in martech, especially in emerging markets. This is a niche area in marketing and advertising with the potential to grow multifold in the coming years. Challenges are in understanding the programmatic space and be tech savvy as well to benefit from them.
What does the industry need to do to champion women in the programmatic industry better?
Helping women get the right opportunities at the workplace is what every organisation should aim for. Orienting women towards technology based marketing and upskilling them in that area is a first step. This will help adoption of newer programmatic and digital technologies.
What are the biggest challenges, and opportunities overall for programmatic advertising this year?
Understanding of programmatic and how it can bring an advantage to the marketing ecosystem is key. Most organisations tend to maintain a status quo with traditional marketing techniques, or adopt digital marketing to the extent of search marketing or social media campaigns. Going beyond that and understanding the importance of data and how it can help you make informed decisions on your audience is what is the need of the hour.
Opportunities are immense in programmatic advertising and focus on shifting more of your media spend to programmatic campaigns can help tap this market. Especially in regions like APAC, there is a huge opportunity to expand martech and programmatic.
The impending cookieless landscape can be a deterrent for people to adopt programmatic advertising.
What is your biggest achievement in programmatic to date?
I joined Affinity Answers and started understanding marketing and advertising, more specifically the programmatic landscape. In 3 years, I have launched the business in APAC and we see steady growth in this region. That, along with me building my business development capabilities would be my biggest achievement.
