Nov 2, 2015

Q&A with Monica C. Smith of i.Predictus



Monica C. Smith, CEO Founder of i.Predictus started her career at a strategic marketing firm in 1999 which was in the direct to consumer space.  But seven years ago she had the opportunity to look into TV advertising and found it fascinating. She says, “I then started my own company to make TV buying more accountable.”  Smith is very self-effacing but that belies her canny abilities with entrepreneurship and data. She has built her business from the ground up based on her conviction that the business of television can be done better. And she has proved it out with her firm i.Predictus.

In this fascinating interview, Smith talks about her company, attribution, cross platform measurement, set top box data, local vs national TV, work / life balance and where the industry is heading five years from now.

There are four videos below with the following topics and lengths:

Subject                                            Length (in minutes)
Background                                        (6:20)
i.Predictus                                           (8:04)
Predictions                                         (5:16)
TV, STB, Attribution and ROI           (10:56)

 
Charlene Weisler interviews Monica C. Smith, CEO Founder of i.Predictus who talks about her background, how she attains life balance and her advice to the next generation of media executives in this 6:20 minute video:




Monica C. Smith talks to Charlene Weisler about her company i.Predictus, programmatic TV and clients in this 8:04 minute video:






CW: Tell me about i.Predictus.

MS: i.Predictus is a media analytics platform, SaaS based, that uses a series of algorithms to use past performance of television advertising to predict the future of individual advertising airings. There are around 120 attributes that media buyers, analysts, planners use to make decisions on the best media airings to buy or plan for their clients. It is very similar in digital and somewhat similar in direct mail. What we have done is we have looked at the way those attributes interact with each other and created 3 million formulas that answer the questions that most media planners and analysts would ask of their data.

CW: What are some of these attributes?

 MS: They can be cost per point or Nielsen ratings, number of rotations, daypart analysis, seasonality, creative, competitive information – things that absolutely have an impact on whether a campaign is hitting its goals, will hit its goals or taking historical information that is really challenging today for the media agencies – to bring in all the data and to  use it appropriately. So in addition to not only the standard attributes that we are looking at to make decisions as to how we are doing, we are also taking historical information whether it is from a day ago, a month ago, a year ago.


Charlene Weisler interviews Monica C. Smith who talks about cross platform, local television, set top box data, attribution and ROI in this 10:56 minute video:



CW: What is the challenge with cross platform measurement?

MS: In cross platform, the challenge is that the data is not uniform so unless someone steps up and creates that standard for uniform data, the platforms most likely cannot communicate as well as they should. And there for you are left with humans to create that data ingestion process. Data purity is a multi-year journey but at i.Predictus we started with a standard and if our standard is accepted then cross platform will become a reality for many organizations.

CW: How do you achieve work life balance?

MS: I am asked that frequently. I am doing what I love but I also love what I do. It took me a couple of  years to get where I am as a person today, as a mom and as a business owner and as a social entrepreneur. So if you asked me that question two years ago, I would have punted and told you that I had it all figured out but life has set me straight on how I can best achieve balance. I tell people how I set my schedule and I don’t compromise on things that I think are important. So my kids come to work with me and my work comes home with me and I am supporting a household and hire employees that get it as well. And I allow everybody else to have that same lifestyle balance achievement.

Charlene Weisler interviews i.Predictus' Monica C. Smith who offers a look ahead - how the media landscape will look in the next five years in this 5:16 minute video:


CW: Monica can you give me some predictions of the media landscape in the next five years?

MS: I think television advertising and digital advertising will be held to a much higher standard, something much more accountable and it is right around the corner. This means that agencies will have to have a higher level of transparency on what they are buying, an understanding of what is driving them to make those purchasing decisions and what outcomes are expected. And I think technology and marketing automation will allow for all of that. My second prediction is that conglomerates such as the MSOs and their consolidation will essentially change how television is viewed. Consumers will ultimately be able to make more decisions on what they are viewing from an advertising perspective, possibly through individual servers at their house. Addressable advertising will be the next phase beyond programmatic and I think that agencies will prepare for a much more strategic buying practice than they are used to right now.


This article first appeared in www.Mediapost.com



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