Too many businesses ‘overclaim’ their capabilities in ad-tech space, says former SMG boss Stewart Easterbrook as he takes strategic director role at Media iQ
Too many businesses “overclaim” their capabilities in the programmatic ad trading space, according to former Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG) boss Stewart Easterbrook, as he takes up his new role as strategy director at Media iQ.
Speaking to The Drum following his appointment Easterbrook said one of the main challenges in the ad-tech market is the fact many companies exaggerate their capabilities, which is leading to deeper confusion, and undermining the real potential of programmatic trading.
“The relatively technical or specialist nature of the market has meant that for many clients the market is difficult to understand and navigate. So the opportunity for the best businesses in this market is to become increasingly clear and easy to use, allowing them positive differentiation.
“One of the ramifications of this for businesses in the ad tech space is that they risk being thrown into an undifferentiated 'programmatic' bucket - the danger being that clients remain unaware of the huge value that some of these specialists could bring to bear on their wider business - a missed opportunity for all parties,” he said.
Easterbrook stressed the importance of clients using data to inform marketing and business decisions, adding: “Businesses such as Media iQ are sitting on a treasure trove of insight and it feels like a matter of time before this is much more valuably understood and used."
Previously Easterbrook was executive director of Performance & Digital Development for SMG, EMEA and prior to this was chief executive of SMG for over five years
In his new role he will work closely with Media iQ’s senior management across strategy, product and business development.
"When I moved out in July this year I had mentioned that from a personal perspective, this felt like the perfect time to explore new opportunities in an unprecedentedly fast-changing media communications world.
"I have first-hand knowledge of how significant Media iQ’s contributions are to the advertising technology industry. The ability for companies to manage data more intelligently, draw insight to make more informed decisions is going to reshape the future of marketing. They are definitely in the ‘watch list’ as a business for this reason, along with being one of the fastest growing, independent technology companies in the UK," he said.