The Drum Awards for Marketing - Extended Deadline

-d -h -min -sec

Technology People on the Move Programmatic

Former iAd chief Paul Wright steps into Iotec hot seat, after ex-BBC Worldwide VP Tom Bowman vacates in under 9 months

Author

By Ronan Shields | Digital Editor

October 10, 2016 | 4 min read

Adtech company Iotec has announced its second appointment of a new chief executive in under a year, with the recent arrival of Paul Wright, an industry veteran who steps into the role following the exit of Tom Bowman.

Industry veteran Paul Wright is now the CEO of Iotec

Paul Wright had previously headed up operations at Apple's iAd

The appointment of media veteran Wright, who previously headed up Apple’s mobile ad network iAd outside the US following earlier stints at Bauer Media, Omnicom, plus Sky and elsewhere, represents the startup’s second high-profile chief executive appointment in under a year.

Earlier this year, The Drum reported on the appointment of ex-BBC Worldwide vice-president Bowman at the adtech startup (then known as Intelligent Optimisations, or IO) who has since stood down, after a tenure amounting to just a number of months.

On top of his experience in the offline media sector, Wright has also advised a host of startups in the past, including: ad network Aurora Sports; 4th Screen Advertising (now part of Opera MediaWorks), and Brainient, which recently sold to Teads.

In a statement Wright said: “As an industry we are at a key moment of our markets [sic] development. Digital advertising needs to focus on concerns about its efficacy and this is where new companies, such as iotec, really come into their own.”

In the same statement, iotec chairman, Steve Hyde, added: “Under Paul’s leadership iotec is driving forward a business that excels in identifying and understanding customer intent using sophisticated machine intelligence to provide real tangible value to clients, their agencies and media platforms alike.”

The same iotec statement reporting the appointment of Wright confirms that Bowman “stepped down from the company earlier in the year”, although it does not elaborate on the reasons behind the brevity of his tenure.

However, industry sources consulted by The Drum claim the departure stemmed (in part) over differences over what direction to take the company. The UK-based startup effectively launched late last year, with a string of appointments of industry verterans, and pitching itself in the highly competitive demand-side platform (DSP) sector of the adtech world.

The company's works with media agencies, as well as directly with advertisers, with the company claiming transparency, as well as its own tech stack as its USP. Today’s statement pitches the company as offering innovative machine learning algorithms, as well as a self-serve platform offering brands and agencies to “take full advantage of the company’s unique marketing toolset across buying, planning and creative strategy.”

While the programmatic, or adtech sector on the industry is undoubtedly one of its growth sectors, the economic headwinds of the space are driving fierce competition among adtech players forcing a number into distressed exits in the last 12 months.

Speaking recently with The Drum, Terry Kawaja, chief executive of investment advisors Luma Partners, explained his theory that first party data is key for any party in the adtech space differentiating themselves in the space, ergo proving successful.

Technology People on the Move Programmatic

More from Technology

View all

Trending

Industry insights

View all
Add your own content +