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Martech Future of Media Work & Wellbeing

Unilever outgoing global media lead David Porter explains why he is postponing retirement

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By Shawn Lim, Reporter, Asia Pacific

January 25, 2022 | 4 min read

David Porter, the outgoing vice-president of global media at Unilever, will join the attention measurement platform Amplified Intelligence (AI) once he steps down from his current role.

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Porter wants to address old challenges and help brands understand which half of the budget is not wasted

Having spent more than a decade at Unilever, Porter was keen to retire but was persuaded by Karen Nelson-Field, co-founder and chief executive officer, and Phil Townend, chief growth officer, to take on an advisory role at AI.

“I had a good long think for at least two seconds before making this new plan. Karen is one of a very short list of marketing academics who understand the business of communication and who can make a difference,” Porter told The Drum.

“I hope my grey hairs and a large collection of full passports will help me to bring more than one perspective. I have been in full-service and media agencies, as well as working brand-side, across Europe, Asia and all points between.”

He added: “Perhaps the brand perspective has a broader perspective beyond basic trading metrics of price, reach and so forth, and takes a longer-term view than just being concerned about immediate performance. Great brands keep a firm eye on their brand power.”

At AI, Porter, who also holds the position of vice-president for Asia Pacific at the World Federation of Advertisers, wants to address old challenges and help brands understand which half of the budget is not wasted, or to turn a great piece of creative work into advertising by putting it in front of the right people at the right time.

He points out these questions are even more of a challenge since digitization, which has introduced more opportunities for bad actors to muddy the waters through invalid traffic, and so forth.

In addition, it has brought more metrics than many people know what to do with – not all of them are helpful.

“To be fair, there has been real progress in the fight for brand safety, reducing ad fraud and addressing viewability issues,” said Porter. “But we have the potential to do even better still. This is not a short-term program, but a chance to reform and modernize how we measure the way that paid media work for brands.”

Addressing Porter’s appointment, Nelson-Field said: “I’m delighted that someone of David’s incredible experience, know-how and clout within the industry is joining Amplified Intelligence. He’s been an influential figure within the media ad industry for over three decades and at the forefront of driving real change across adland.

“As we continue to lead the way in changing the ad landscape for the better, making attention the gold standard for ad success, having one of the industry’s most influential and passionate media reformers to help drive us forward will be invaluable as we scale our industry-leading solutions around the world.”

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