Former Google and BrightRoll exec Bruce Falck has joined Turn as CEO, the company revealed Tuesday.
Most recently, Falck was COO of video marketplace BrightRoll, which Yahoo acquired last fall. Prior to that, he spent eight years at Google, where he was instrumental in expanding the Google Display Network and DoubleClick businesses.
His transition to Turn comes five months after longtime CEO Bill Demas’ departure and several executive shifts at the top of the organization. Like a number of ad networks and early demand-side platforms, Turn too was pressured to reach profitability, AdExchanger sources claimed.
Turn packs a DSP/DMP combo into its digital marketing hub. It competes with a number of platform hybrids, such as MediaMath and DataXu, which have expanded beyond a core DSP offering.
Turn has more recently turned up the volume on video, which could be supported by Falck’s background with BrightRoll.
Falck wanted to be a CEO, so Turn’s opportunity he said, was too good to pass up. Additionally, his background at Google and BrightRoll complements Turn’s direction.
Falck fleshed out Google’s DoubleClick and GDN businesses alongside Neal Mohan and Sean Downey and later joined BrightRoll to help scale its programmatic business. He expects to do the same at Turn.
That Falck came most recently from a video platform is indicative of Turn’s future.
“Obviously Turn has made a big bet on video in the last 12-18 months and I’ve spent a lot of time in the video space over the last year,” he said. “That’s where a lot of opportunity is going, and it’s safe to say we’ll double down on programmatic video in 2016. A lot of progress has been made in the product.”
The company under Demas’ direction had been expanding its brand-direct business. Falck said he doesn’t anticipate any major change of course, but did note big brand client wins prior to his arrival – Johnson & Johnson, L’Oreal US and Hewlett Packard among them.
“It is in everyone’s best interest to [help brands] get smarter about programmatic,” he said. “I like to say that that we are a participant in an industry and we’re all looking to grow the pie.”
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That said, trading desks will continue to be a key customer segment for Turn, as they were for DoubleClick Bid Manager and other major DSPs, Falck said.
In terms of Turn’s immediate focus, Falck said the company is hiring 60 new people and will continue to scale its engineering organization.
