NDA’s Marketing the Marketers series talks to the marketing and comms leaders supporting the success of our leading companies. Next up is Lauren Saving, Marketing Director, EMEA, at Magnite…
What does your job involve?
Put very simply, my job is to tell the Magnite story in a way which resonates with customers and prospective clients across the media and advertising industry.
There is a lot which goes into this, especially as Magnite is the world’s largest independent sell-side advertising company, but the heart of my role is creating the Magnite marketing strategy for EMEA. This means collaborating with business leads and local teams as well as planning and executing across multiple disciplines, often all at the same time. I might be running a hosted breakfast event in Paris one day and drafting a creative brief for an educational video campaign the next.
I obviously couldn’t do this alone and I’m lucky in my position that I work with such a wide cross section of the Magnite business including specialist global marketers, product developers, our sales team and the executive leads. My favourite part of the job is bringing all of these different voices together to tell compelling stories and drive our business forward.
What campaign or piece of marketing/communications are you most proud of in your career?
Research is something I am really passionate about. It helps facilitate conversations with clients and informs businesses as they continue to navigate the ever-evolving digital landscape. It’s also critical for nascent markets which are still adapting to the programmatic and streaming evolutions. For example, our latest research in the Nordics, “The Rise of Streaming TV”, was the first data report of its kind for a region which often relies on other market analysis. The difference this can make for our team and their customers is invaluable.
Hosted events, while sometimes all consuming, are also hugely rewarding. We’ve just finished a European roadshow spotlighting the launch of Magnite Streaming, our purpose built streaming platform, alongside our latest streamer insights report. After a couple of years with no events, bringing together the industry, in some of the most amazing cities in the world, is such a joy.
Finally, I love encouraging smart and diverse spokespeople to step up into more prominent roles at Magnite. Supporting them as they develop their personal brands and skillset is so much fun and I love seeing them, particularly fresh off a stage, feeling so confident and empowered.
Who has been your biggest inspiration in your career to date?
My first boss in Ad Tech, Joanna Burton (now the Chief Strategy Officer at ID5) taught me so much. Not only is she an exceptionally skilled marketer, but the energy and passion she brings to her work is so inspiring. She taught me the value of networking and that it is people and connections that drive real results in business.
I also have to mention my parents who have both had their own successful careers; my mother as a teacher who instilled in me a lot of confidence and curiosity which I use every day in my job and my father, a COO at a football club, who taught me the importance of empowering smart, capable people who you trust; something I always try and emulate in my own teams.
What is the biggest challenge in your sector and how is your company helping to address it?
Being more sustainable is a challenge which many industries face. Ad tech is in a unique position to make a big difference here and the good news is, a lot of companies are putting careful consideration and investment into making their business models more efficient and reducing their carbon output.
At Magnite, we are focussed on developing technology which can help reduce our environmental footprint through operational innovation and strong energy management. This isn’t easy, and won’t happen overnight, but supporting cross-industry initiatives such as Supply Path Optimisation (SPO) means tech partners can help marketers consolidate budgets in a way which maximises their buying power while simultaneously reducing the number of steps between a buyer and a seller; an effort which naturally leads to less carbon emissions.
What is the biggest opportunity in your sector right now?
We can often become lost in the detailed technicalities of what we do, but ultimately, everything we are working towards is to create a better, more seamless digital experience for audiences across the variety of screens and streams they interact with everyday.
The media industry is experiencing a renaissance as traditional linear players adapt to an increasingly internet delivered world. Watching your favourite show, or reading the news on your preferred website, should be an enjoyable and easy experience, but in order to keep many of these services affordable, media owners need to diversify their revenue streams.
Advertising is a great way to do this and facilitating this in a way which doesn’t compromise on user experience continues to be one of Magnite’s key focusses. Our streaming platform, Magnite Streaming, launched earlier this year, was purpose built for media owners to maximise the value of their assets holistically across live and VOD inventory, CTV and OTT environments, and addressable linear, while gaining insights to more efficiently and effectively drive their businesses.
How important are the following in helping to promote your company?
The press – Journalists play a vital role in informing our industry and keeping everyone accountable. They are also an important way for Magnite to communicate with business leaders across the industry in an impartial way and working with them is a key part of our marketing strategy.
Events – There are a wealth of events in our industry which provide an opportunity to learn from and network with some of the most forward thinking and innovative minds in media and advertising. Increasingly, Magnite is hosting its own events to provide a more focussed and engaging experience for clients which complement many of the trade events which happen throughout the year.
Your company’s owned media – At Magnite we are lucky to have some of the best thought leaders in the business fuelling our own content. This, combined with our global scale, makes our owned media a powerful tool. Our blog, which was recently listed in Epom’s Top Ad Tech Blogs List, aims to give expert forecasts, advice and deep dives into often overlooked topics and our social media channels are a well used resource for up to date insights.
