Twitch, IAS, Xaxis, The Trade Desk: Meet The Drum Digital Advertising Awards USA 2020 jury
In the modern world, every business needs to be able to navigate their way through the digital minefield and produce work that gets results, which is why The Drum Digital Advertising Awards USA are back for 2020.
Members of this year's Digital Advertising Awards USA 2020 jury.
We want to unearth the talented individuals, teams, products and services that are making the biggest difference in the digital advertising world.
This year's judges include industry experts from Xaxis, Watsons Advertising, Croud, Bayer, The Programmatic Advisory, MMI, The Trade Desk, Twitch, Dentsu Aegis Network, Sparrow Advisers, KO Insights, Live Ramp and Integral Ad Science.
Below is a rundown on seven of our stellar judges:
Integral Ad Science
Lisa Utzschneider
chief executive officer
Utzschneider joined IAS as chief executive officer in January 2019, bringing more than 20 years of digital advertising expertise and tech-industry leadership experience to the role. Prior to this she held the position of chief revenue officer at Yahoo, Amazon’s vice president of global advertising sales and spent 10 years at Microsoft culminating in her role as general manager of the national sales and service teams.
It’s an important time for the digital advertising and media industries, and it’s crucial that we acknowledge industry leaders and innovations that are really pushing the industry forward. I am honored to join this dynamic group of judges for these awards this year, and look forward to seeing submissions that highlight innovative technology, compelling and thought-provoking campaigns.
LiveRamp
Jason White
vice president and head of publishers
White oversees the accelerated publisher adoption of LiveRamp’s Authenticated Traffic Solution. Prior to this, he was executive vice president and general manager of global programmatic for ViacomCBS and has held leadership positions at OpenX and FOX Audience Network. White has also served on the board of IAB Tech Lab, TrustX, was chairman of the IAB Programmatic Council and is an advocate for premium content and the democratization of information to keep the internet free in a post-cookie world.
I’ve always been particularly passionate about using advertising and data as a means to democratize data and keep the internet free, while putting individual choice and preferences at the center. It’s probably what has energized me the most throughout my 20+-year career in digital advertising and media. These awards embody the same sort of spirit, and drive at the heart of that narrative. I look forward to bringing my diverse experience – having served roles across advertising, ad tech platforms, publishers and consumer products – as a lens through which to judge these awards. It’s an honor to be able to recognize the companies and people who are defining excellence in creativity and strategy throughout our industry.
Xaxis
Sara Robertson
global vice-president, disruption
Robertston is global vice-president, disruption at Xaxis. She is responsible for the challenging the status quo through careful stewardship of ‘long-shot’ investments and experimental research and development that enhances the unique value Xaxis brings to its clients. Robertston also leads the global vision and execution of Copilot, Xaxis’ proprietary artificial intelligence technology, and advanced data science initiatives broadly.
It’s more important than ever for agencies and brands to create innovative campaigns that look beyond the traditional metrics and really drive business outcomes. As a judge, I’m looking to see how teams are harnessing the power of data and technology to impact a business or customer issue. Technology has developed to the point where creativity and customization in campaigns is limitless. It’s an honor to serve as a judge for The Drum Digital Advertising Awards and celebrate the best of our industry’s creativity and innovation.
The Programmatic Advisory
Wayne Blodwell
founder and chief executive officer
Blodwell was one of the earliest users of programmatic technologies in the UK and has since held various positions which have helped brands leverage the increasing importance of programmatic. He founded The Programmatic Advisory in 2016 to take this to the next level with a completely non-conflicted consulting service.
In the past year we have seen so much change with digital marketing – more channels are now enabled programmatically, data strategies have become more advanced and the end-to-end process has been increasingly automated. I'm really excited to see how entrants have adapted their strategies over the past year to accommodate these changes and how they have delivered excellent results with their marketing.
Sparrow Advisers
Ana Milicevic
principle and co-founder
Milicevic is an entrepreneur, media executive and digital data innovator. As principal and co-founder of Sparrow Advisers she and her team work with companies across adtech, martech, ecommerce, and media. Earlier in her career she held key leadership roles in companies like Adobe and SAS. Milicevic is a frequent speaker on topics of data management, cross-channel marketing analytics, customer experience, innovation, and emerging markets.
It’s always easy to spot examples of bad advertising and ‘what were they thinking’ campaigns; awards are a unique chance to highlight the great and the truly effective. I’ll be on the lookout for how effective entries were in driving revenue (and not just advertising KPIs) for their clients, examples of data influencing creativity, and examples of where choosing the right platform or partner can mean the difference between a ‘meh’ campaign and one worthy of being recognized as best practice.
MMI
Marc Goldberg
chief revenue officer
Over 25 years in the media industry, Goldberg has worked with the likes of J Walter Thompson, Zenith Media, About.com, Howstuffworks.com, Brand Safety Company, Trust Metrics and Method Media Intelligence. He currently serves on the advisory board for The 614 Group, IPC Pricing, Distributed Media Labs, Safeguard Privacy and Devcon. In addition, Goldberg participates as a mentor for Techstars NY, 500 Startups, and Entrepreneur Round Table Accelerators.
Hockey legend Wayne Gretzky said: "You miss 100% of the shots you never take." In advertising, Method Media Intelligence's Marc Goldberg says: "You miss 100% of the chance to win a Drum Award if you don't submit. You believe you have done good work, now show us.
The Trade Desk
Walker Linares
director, TV
At The Trade Desk, Linares manages the relationships with broadcasters like Disney and Sling, to enable their inventory to be available programmatically to The Trade Desk clients. He has been in the programmatic space for nearly a decade, previously working at various companies such as SpotX and AudienceScience, specializing in programmatic partnerships.
In today’s environment, it’s more important than ever for marketers to truly understand customers’ needs and engage them with relevant messaging through their advertising. Our world has evolved so advertising must as well. I’m excited to be judging The Drum Digital Adverting awards this year to see how brands are implementing more relevant, data driven messaging into their campaigns to ensure that they resonate with consumers in an engaging way.
The deadline for these awards is May 8, so download your entry pack now.