In addition to joining its board, Jeff Pullen has been hired as President and COO of AudienceScience, the company announced. Read the release.
Pullen discussed his new role and recent experience in the online advertising economy.
AdExchanger.com: Where do you begin when putting together a company’s strategic roadmap? In regards to creating AudienceScience’s roadmap, where do you begin?
JP: I have worked with many companies at various stages of their development, and my experience has taught me that the approach is similar regardless of the size of the company. You start with a critical assessment of strengths, weaknesses opportunities and threats. Communicating directly with the team and compiling the collective experience of the organization, usually leads to a pretty clear path to pursue. I am joining AudienceScience in the middle of a period of significant growth, so I’m looking for what I can do to continue to drive that growth, with primary focus on the internal processes and resources necessary to scale. Jeff Hirsch as CEO handles the outward expansion efforts. I’m beginning by assessing the needs of the various teams here—technology and development, marketing, business intelligence, operations –to find out what resources I can provide them to maintain their current upward momentum.
Given your CEO experience at US Search, one might conclude that AudienceScience will be targeting the search market. Will it? And, why is search marketing a good fit for platforms which enable audience buying through display advertising?
US Search is only my most recent engagement. I have held executive positions in several different industries and my most relevant experience is in online marketing, having served as CEO and COO two well-known players in ValueClick and Commission Junction. But, I’ve been working in the Internet space since 1998 and my early career was in consulting so I’ve developed solid skills in helping drive success in many companies.
As online audience buying continues to evolve and mature, when do you expect to see larger, brand dollars to move online?
We’re already in the midst of that shift pattern, and based on the record growth AudienceScience has seen, that trend shows no signs of slowing. The larger brands are looking for straightforward execution and demonstrated value, which audience targeting has been able to show. A recent NAI study found that targeted advertising leads to higher conversions than standard run of network ads. As media continues to converge and the number of digital opportunities available increases, we have significant growth potential.
By John Ebbert
