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 Vanessa Horgan, VP, Revenue Operations, FootballCo.
Why did you join the Women in Programmatic network and what do you hope to get out of it?
We all know that representation matters – it’s really important for women at all levels to be able to see peers and colleagues getting ahead and delivering great results.
Bodies like the Women in Programmatic network really help that to happen. I want help other women in programmatic to take their careers forward, and to learn and share knowledge with the other incredible women in the field.
I hope that together we can all raise awareness of the many talented women working in this industry.
What are the biggest challenges, and opportunities for women in the programmatic industry today?
The first thing is how we create more opportunities for women in programmatic to grow and touch various parts of their businesses and the wider industry – how to develop that wider mindset and credibility.
I hope initiatives like the Women in Programmatic network open opportunities like that, because doing so will really help drive individual and collective success.
Secondly, we have to foster the next generation of talent. How do we carry representation through to women/girls in the university setting or pre-career setting so they know there are opportunities in this field. We can look to the broader ‘women in tech’ field here, where there has been some really excellent progress.
Finally, one thing we can all do more of is shouting about our successes – whether being confident enough to shout about our own successes or to champion the successes of our peers. Doing that will feed into both of the above…
What does the industry need to do to champion women in the programmatic industry better?
Give women a platform to use their voice/opinions/ideas. That helps drive culture change within organisations. Secondly, champion them in a broader setting (ie conferences/speaking opportunities, etc). That will lead to better representation and visibility and clear successes attributable to the talented women in programmatic.
And finally, enable flexibility and openness to ensure having a family doesn’t stifle career growth. There are so many stories of talented women out there whose skills, experience and ability are missed by businesses who aren’t bold enough to be progressive.
·
What are the biggest challenges, and opportunities overall for programmatic advertising this year?
Where to begin – privacy & new data legislation, cookie deprecation, diversifying revenue streams, scalability.
