TRAFFIQ announced the appointment of Nick Pahade to the role of CEO. Pahade was most recently President of TrueAction, a GSI Commerce company. Prior to TrueAction, he was also President of Publicis Groupe’s Denuo and co-founded Beyond Interactive Inc. Read the release.
Pahade discussed his new role and the road ahead.
AdExchanger.com: How do you think your experience in both e-commerce and agencies will be important as CEO of TRAFFIQ?
NP: E-commerce companies have always led the way in terms of creating highly usable and efficient platforms. People tend to gravitate towards systems that improve their lives. Buying a book on Amazon for the first time, or booking your first flight on Expedia, was a game-changing experience. When you provide efficiency to an existing process, you create a lot of positive value. Because I know how agencies work and understand how platforms impact buying and selling behavior, I think I am well-positioned to help TRAFFIQ get to the next level of growth.
Where do you begin when putting together a company’s strategic roadmap? In regards to creating TRAFFIQ’s roadmap, where do you begin?
It’s about two things: the people and the product. Naturally, there has to be a great deal of focus on the product itself, especially in terms of making sure it’s competitive with the offerings out there right now. We need to have the features that agencies are demanding, help them innovate and continue to strike the right partnerships that bring future value. Behind every great company, there are great people. My hope is to give the current staff the resources they need to be successful, and to identify new people that can take TRAFFIQ to the next level as we grow.
Why is platform buying a good fit for media agencies today and in the future?
It’s hard to make money on media, and it’s very labor intensive. The AAAA’s recently reported that the cost of serving a digital media campaign can eat up to 33% of an agency’s net margin, compared with 3% for a broadcast buy. With all of the research and technology tools you need for digital media — never mind the expensive personnel and constant training going against a smaller spend — it’s hard to imagine that digital agencies actually make a profit. Clearly, there is a need to streamline and centralize the digital media process that takes some of the heavy lifting out, and lets agencies focus on what they do best: being a strategic resource for their clients.
That’s where we fit in.
By John Ebbert
