The Very Relevant Story of Kirk McDonald and the Xandr Brand

McDonald39s rise from the world of magazines to heading digital companies even his recent nod as one of Ebony Magazine39s Power 100 is a compelling story alone but it39s capped off with a mustread tale of how he39s marketing the new brand and power of XandrEB Mossamp160 Kirk your bio opens with a poem about hard workKirk McDonald amp160And perseveranceamp160 You don39t have to be the smartest person in a room but you have to endeavor to put in the most effective work you39re capable of doingamp160 I think it39s also what differentiates businesses the ones that sit down and decide quotWe have to have a clear focus on what39s importantquot and then put in the hard work to get it doneMoss amp160At Condamp233 Nast your first job after college did that hard work meant getting in early or staying late for a chance to speak with editorsMcDonald amp160There were some executives who came in early and would sit and explain publishingamp160 Condamp233 Nast also built my love for storytelling and for the power of premium content and trusted brandsamp160 I carried that to Ziff Davis and then to CNET in the 3990s when computers were transformative to both businesses and also personal life amp160I started thinking what about that publishing industry that I39d loved so muchamp160 How was it going to be disruptive just as our personal lives had been turned over into this new opportunity afforded by the birth of the internetThen I saw the emergence of ad serving technology and the ability to bring machine learning and algorithms to how we make decisions about where ads would run and how it was going to transform the industryamp160 I went from heading digital sales at Time Incamp160to PubMatic and now I feel fortunate that all of that knowledge has afforded me the opportunity I now have working at XandrMossamp160 What39s your perspective on the media and ad environment then and nowMcDonaldamp160 The media and advertising industry39s quotmad menquot type era was filled with awe and mystery and artamp160 While that period included research it39s more so celebrated the power of the creative the imaginative minds that made having a Pepsi be all about having a life experience or car ownership being about freedomamp160 I don39t think that39s gone foreveramp160 It39s just now that we have data and insights those should be used to inform the instincts of the creatives how and when we execute in a world where consumers have so much choice that their time is constrained in such a way that you have to be more relevant to their moment to unlock a new story to be toldBut I don39t think we39ve got all of that right yetamp160 We39re kind of a little clumsy with all of the tools we have and must become expert at understanding and creating relevance in momentsamp160 There are a bunch of companies that have the assets and tool sets to do thatamp160 I39m excited because ATampampT39s evolution to a modern media company affords it an ability to put together some pieces to make that possibleMossamp160 How does Xandr fit in with ATampampT which now has so many media properties as well amp160McDonaldamp160 Xandr is an element of ATampampT39s evolution to connect people ATampampT Communications headed by CEO John Donovan our international operation run by CEOamp160Lori Lee Warner Mediaamp160the asset run by CEO John Stankeyamp160 And Brian Lesser leads this mission of Xandramp160 Those four CEOs of those independent businesses answer to Randall Stephenson the CEO and Chairman of ATampampT Inc amp160Xandr is sister to those other three entities and then we all work together towards the vision of the modern media companyMossamp160 At your kickoff event Brian Lesser called Xandr a new kind of advertising companyamp160 What does that mean McDonaldamp160 Today data technology and analytics are critical to informative and momentrelevant storytelling and the consumer has nearly infinite choice and availability of premium quality contentamp160 If you want to get good at advertising you have to stop interrupting a consumer39s pursuit for their entertainment or their pursuit for knowledgeamp160 You have to complement it via data analytics and technologyXandr can lean in to the ATampampT resources and history of innovation and turn the experiences of the 170 million touchpoints we have with consumers into something that is more valuable to each of them more effective for marketers who are trying to tell a story to that person and more efficient overall for the entire ecosystem that supports itWe just continue to have a maniacal focus on making it better for the consumer making it more efficient making it more effective all the timeamp160 I do think we benefit from this connective tissue that starts at ATampampTMossamp160amp160Donna Speciale here at CES made an announcement that Turner leveraging that connective tissue can now offer more relevance on both television and digital more attribution and here39s that story thing again more branded storytelling opportunitiesMcDonaldamp160 Exactlyamp160 The industry is in an inflection point where consumers are filtering for relevanceamp160 If they39re seeking a relevant story across all of our content CNN Turner Fullscreen our producers have to get more thoughtful about telling stories that matter at that momentamp160 We think we can bring technology and data to make advertising matteramp160 That39s the purpose statement of Xandramp160 So we39ll work with Turner and even the content developers to take the data that we get out of ATampampT Communications refine it so that we can support content intelligence and smarter ad delivery to make sure that we39re helping advertisers tell more relevant stories through the settop box or with addressable TV products through digital through our SVOD and AVOD services and make sure that the story of the brand is integrated in a way that39s natural and authentic for the consumer39s experienceIn the second half of the podcast we delved into the job of developing and communicating the Xandr brand itself and why a through line is key to this ambitious endeavor for ATampampTamp160 McDonald believes quotthe success at doing that is in the detailsquotamp160 It39s in the logo design and the missing letter in Xandr like not using the actual name Alexander as in Graham Bell to represent quota brand that borrows from the past but envisions a new future that39s capable on its own termsquotBut I wanted to know how you market change in an industry which ATampampT39s own Chairman described as quotchange averse and needing to pivotquot McDonald believes quotthere39s a welcome interest in 39how can I do this smarter than I did it before39amp160 We see what happens when industries decide to resist what is right in front of themamp160 We believe this opportunity is here again for digital publishing to continue innovating but for TV also look very differently at its futurequotFinally on advice for other B2B marketersamp160 quotWe forget that B2B marketing is still consumed by a consumerquot he saidamp160 quotThe businesses we market to are still run by individuals who need to be told a story The most effective marketing messages are ones that inspire We want to champion the best and brightest that actually take the experimental ride with us this year We want to make them the heroes of this story and this narrative Then we39ll tackle 2020 right behind thatquotClick the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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The Very Relevant Story of Kirk McDonald and the Xandr Brand

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