Tom Rolfe is Director of Publisher Development, EMEA, Openweb. He was formerly Head of Media Partnerships at UM and is the host of 10 Deep, a weekly(ish) video series featuring interviews with media and creative leaders.
Who is your digital hero?
Francis Turner- co founder of Adyoulike.
What has he done to win hero status in your eyes?
It’s two things.
First, building AdYouLike in a highly competitive adtech market and scaling it to the point of acquisition by OpenWeb. That takes consistency over a long period of time, not just a good idea.
Second, his commercial instinct and ability to connect with people. He has a natural way of building relationships that’s hard to teach, and it’s genuinely infectious. People want to spend time with him and do business with him.
You see it first-hand at industry events. Walking through a conference with him, he’s constantly being stopped by people wanting to catch up or explore something new. It says a lot about the reputation he’s built over time.
On a personal level, he was also part of my interview process. He gave a really clear view of the vision for the business and, importantly, where I would fit into that journey. That made the decision to join straightforward.
How has their heroism helped drive digital?
What stands out is how he works day to day.
He keeps things open. If you have an idea, you can bring it forward and you’ll get a fair hearing. More importantly, people are trusted to take ownership of it.
He also puts a lot of emphasis on meeting people across the industry. It doesn’t matter how big or small the company is, if there’s potential value, he’ll make time for it.
He’s often the first person sharing new partners we should speak to, and he’ll follow through to see if there’s something there.
That approach creates momentum. A lot of opportunities in digital come from conversations that others might overlook.
What are the biggest challenges in digital we need another hero to solve?
One of the biggest challenges is perception.
Digital advertising often gets a bad reputation, but the reality is that a large part of the open internet is funded by it. People have access to a huge amount of content for free because of advertisers and the technology behind it.
We haven’t done a great job of explaining that value exchange.
If you compare it to TV, people understand that advertising funds the content. Online, that connection isn’t always as clear.
There’s an opportunity to communicate that more simply and transparently.
What is your most heroic personal achievement so far in digital?
At a high level, being in a position where I can contribute and have my opinion considered in a large industry is something I value.
More specifically, seeing a publisher go live with OpenWeb’s community products and watching users engage with it is always rewarding.
You start to see real conversations, repeat engagement, and a sense of community building on the site. That’s when the work behind the scenes starts to feel tangible.
