With them, you can connect with the right brands, pinpoint people with buying power and deliver insight-driven pitches. However, the only way to realize these benefits is if the ad sales prospecting tool is backed by high-quality ad sales data.

Unfortunately, this is far from a given, with some tools on the market unable to answer the most pressing questions. How do you know if the tool has the reliable ad sales data you actually need? 

All you need to do is look for the six characteristics of quality ad sales data. 

What’s Ad Sales Data? 

Ad sales data provides sellers with insights into the prospect’s past and current advertising strategies. With these insights, they can build pitches that address the prospect’s business needs and challenges. 

For example, a prospecting tool with high-quality ad sales data could help a seller conduct a competitive analysis or understand the prospect’s use of advertising across formats. Sales intelligence software also provides data on spending shifts, creative campaigns, Master Service Agreements, programmatic partners and key contacts.

Though there are many different types of ad sales data to take into consideration when prospecting and keeping customers happy, quality ad data can be trusted if they have the following traits.

6 Characteristics of Quality Ad Sales Data

• High-quality sources 
• Consistency
• Verified by humans
• Comprehensive 
• Compliant 
• Customizable 

A Level Deeper: Understanding the Making of Good Ad Sales Data

1. High-quality Sources 

Most sales prospecting tools get their data from outside sources. While that may seem fine on the surface, by doing so, they’re sacrificing control, which opens the door to accuracy and timeliness challenges. 

For example, you may struggle to get updated data because the tool is still waiting on its source to provide insights. 

If you’re in a pinch looking to finalize a pitch before a meeting, you could be out of luck. 

This is why the best ad sales data comes from within the vendor’s walls.  

2. Consistent

The best ad sales data is consistent, allowing you to jump around the tool without worrying about accuracy issues. With consistent data, you can examine ad spend distribution from the same period, rank your leads in the most timely fashion and ensure that a competitive analysis actually reflects your current competitive set.   

3. Verified by Humans

Many ad prospecting tools rely on automated scripts and updates to validate their data. While there’s no denying the power of modern technology, that’s not always enough to keep the data fresh. The best ad sales data goes through a verification process that includes a human touch, ensuring that the review process keeps pace with the ad industry. 

At MediaRadar, we have our own internal team to research, compile and verify all of the data that comes into our system. We consistently ensure our data is of the highest quality by combining proprietary artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning with an in-house human verification process. 

4. Comprehensive 

The best ad sales data is comprehensive and gives you insight into the prospect’s ad strategy, their challenges and where they have the best opportunity to one-up their competition. 

For example, do you want to know if they’re using programmatic ads? The data should be able to tell you. How about if they’re investing in new ecosystems like OTT and TV Everywhere? Again, the data should give you the answer. 

These data points are your guiding light during pitches, so if the data isn’t comprehensive enough, you may be left in the dark. 

5. Compliance 

Industry standards are changing, meaning quality ad sales data must comply with the laws and regulations that tell you how you can source, handle and store data. Today, that means GDPR and CCPA, but more federal- and state-wide regulations are likely on the way and when they arrive, the data will have to meet these standards. 

6. Customizable  

No two pitches are the same, so the best prospecting tools give you access to data you can customize. With quality ad sales data, you can tailor the insights on a pitch-by-pitch basis, ensuring that what you’re presenting is applicable, contextual and timely to your prospects.

How Can You Use Quality Ad Sales Data? 

1. Rank Leads

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could rank your leads and determine the prospects to reach out to first? With good ad sales data, you can uncover brands that purchase ads programmatically, which DSPs, SSPs, exchanges or native platforms they’re using and find new leads by region or product category. 

Said another way, you can pinpoint the opportunities that’ll generate the most tangible impact on your company’s bottom line and dive into those first. 

2. Verify Contacts

Data decay is real, which is why so many companies are spending more to keep it clean. According to a 2020 study from Dun & Bradstreet, 73% of respondents reported that they’ve increased their investment in data quality. 

With the right data software, you can keep your contact data verified and ensure that you’re not wasting your time reaching out to someone who’ll never see your message or respond because they’re not in the market for your product or service. 

3. See Ad Spend Distribution 

The cross-channel nature of ad strategies can make it difficult to determine how a prospect thinks and where the opportunities lie. However, with the right data, this is easy. 

You can see trends, budget allocation, if digital is a large part of their buys or if they’re more focused on TV, print or social. You can then take this information and craft pitches that genuinely resonate.  

4. View Spend by Product 

Is a prospect investing more in the promotion of a particular product? Quality ad sales data lets you see this, helping you understand their priorities and go-to-market (GTM) strategy. 

With this information, you can personalize your pitch and suggest relevant opportunities that speak exactly to what’s on their mind. 

5. Identify an MSA 

An MSA (master service agreement) is an agreement between two parties. If there’s one in place, the door to that prospect is currently closed. As a result, it probably doesn’t make sense to reach out to them right now or for you to dedicate a ton of resources to nurturing them. A prospecting tool with quality data lets you know if an MSA is in place. 

6. Competitive Analysis

You can only gain an advantage over your competition when you have accurate, trustworthy and recent data on them. With the right ad sales data, you can view the entire advertising landscape, see which brands a prospect is working with, where your competitors place ads as well as how you can differentiate your pitch and prove your solution is superior.

“Great companies are built on great stories,” once explained LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman on his Masters of Scale podcast. 

What does that have to do with ad data? Data reveals part of your prospect’s story and those of their competitors. By understanding prospect and competitor stories via data (e.g. spending trends and creative campaigns), ad sales reps will have a clear path to building their pitch. 

Use Ad Sales Data to Get Closer toYour North Star 

Most prospecting tools offer a friendly means of interfacing with brands’ ad spend and media buyer content information. But only the best tools are backed by quality, consistent and accurate data that you can customize on a pitch-by-pitch basis. 

If you can find a tool with this quality of data, you’ll put yourself in the best position to succeed, one-up the competition and close more deals. 

It didn’t go anywhere—it just became Paramount+. 

On March 4, 2021, ViacomCBS launched Paramount+, the rebranded version of CBS All Access.

With the rebrand, Paramount+ began its uphill battle to attract both consumers and brands. But was it too little too late, especially for a streaming service on its second life? 

Maybe not. 

With 32.8 million subscribers at the end 2021 and $55 million in ad buys, Paramount+ might be onto something.

An Investment in Content Could Be the Saving Grace for Paramount+

Paramount+ knows that its content stands out. 

According to Paramount+’s Chief Programming Officer, Tanya Giles, “More than one in three new subscribers join the platform specifically to watch originals and other exclusive content.” 

So, it’s doubling down. 

“We’re looking for every show to be a tentpole show at this point in time while we’re building out the service,” said Nicole Clemens, President of Original Scripted Series at Paramount+. 

The investment in content seems to be paying off. Not only did total sales jumped 16% in the final quarter of 2021, but it’s one of the fastest-growing streaming services in the U.S., trailing only iQiyi and HBO Max. 

The rate at which Paramount+ is growing shouldn’t slow as it continues to invest in original content; its most recent hit coming from the prequel to Yellowstone. Access to live sports, including the NFL, should also accelerate growth. 

While content seems to be the saving grace of Paramount+, the less expensive, ad-supported tier that became available in June 2021 made the service more accessible. Plus it opened the door to more ad inventory. A win-win for Paramount+.

What Does Paramount+ Promise Brands?

For brands, the main selling point is access to ViacomCBS’ EyeQ, a tool that gives them a way to reach a unified, cross-product digital video ecosystem as well as custom creative campaigns and unique social integrations. 

“EyeQ provides advertisers the opportunity to capitalize on the consumer migration to streaming,” said John Halley, COO, Advertising Revenue & EVP, Advanced Marketing Solutions at ViacomCBS. “It’s a bridge to reach audiences that have become difficult to access through linear investments, who are watching less of the traditional platform and spending more time with OTT delivered video or social platforms.” 

It’s not just about features that should get brands excited. Paramount+ has built a subscriber base that rivals more established players, making it clear that it can be a force in OTT. 

As Paramount+ continues to establish itself, there’s no doubt the company will invest more in its advertising capabilities, giving brands more powerful ways to connect with subscribers. 

MediaRadar Insights on Paramount+

MediaRadar began tracking* Paramount+ advertising on May 1, 2021.

Since tracking began, more than 1,700 unique brands bought $55 million worth of ads on Paramount+, thanks largely to a 132% month-over-month  increase in December when 550 brands bought ads (406 brands bought ads in May). 

Like other streaming services, brands in Media, Retail, Finance and Tech all invest in Paramount+ ads. Additionally, Pharma accounted for 6% of buys.

Media accounted for 26% of the yearly ad spend, growing at 19% QoQ. Meanwhile, Finance, Tech and Retail accounted for 12%, 10% and 10%, respectively. 

On average, ad buys increased by 15% every month. And they’ve increased by 132% from when tracking began.

Note: Only compared Q3/Q4 based on when tracking started. 

Some Top Advertisers:

• Procter & Gamble advertised nearly 60 of its brands; top buyers were paper products, Charmin and Bounty. 
• Amazon advertises its online retail site, Prime as well as Alexa, Audible and some Prime programming.

Ad Analysis

Paramount+’s one-hour shows typically carry 30 ads, while marquee programs such as Picard and Star Trek Discovery have between 15 and 18 ads, despite running 45-65 minutes. 

The ad load on Paramount+ is 2x the nearest competitor, which may imply ViacomCBS is bundling more actively. 

Slightly over half of Paramount+ ads are 30 seconds long, a third are 15 seconds and the remaining ones range from 5 to ten seconds.

Are Paramount+ Ads a Smart Buy in 2022?

Paramount+ shows impressive growth, but you still have to ask the question: Are Paramount+ ads a smart buy for you? 

There’s not a simple answer. 

On the one hand, Paramount+ attracted a respectable $55 million in ad buys from 1,700 unique brands during the 8-month tracking period. For comparison, HBO Max saw $46 million in ad buys while Discovery+ saw $29 million during their tracking periods. (We tracked HBO Max for 6 months and Discovery+ for 4 months.) 

So, through this lens, it seems like Paramount+ ads are a smart buy. The fact that spending increased between Q3 and Q4 for top categories (Media, Finance, Retail, Tech, and Pharma) also points to that. 

At the same time, however, the high ad load is impossible to ignore. 

Paramount+ shows the most ads per hour and show (17 ads per show and 23.8 ads per hour). Hulu’s licensed content, which has the next highest ad load, shows 10.1 ads per show and 13.8 ads per hour. Peacock, the streaming service with one of the lowest ad loads, shows 4.6 and 8.7 ads per show and hour, respectively. 

To dig into whether Paramount+ ads are a smart buy for your brand or clients, use MediaRadar to quickly pull data on who is shifting dollars into OTT, where your competitors are spending and how. We’re here to partner with you as you look for new opportunities. Feel free to reach out with any questions.

See where your competitors are spending, how much and what creative they’re using. Use these insights to build your next campaign strategy. Paramount+ might be at the top of your list. 

Check out our latest OTT Trend Report for more insights on the streaming market.

*A Note on Methodology: Overall, MediaRadar’s data covers both standalone streaming platforms and TV Anywhere viewing from top linear networks. Standalone streaming services are sampled from the ad-supported streaming packages, across profiles in the 18-34 and 35-49 TV demos.

In the advertising industry, contacts change frequently and campaigns shift. Sales reps need to put quality time into researching their prospects and identifying whether they fit their ideal customer profile (ICP). 

When reps can easily find relevant and timely information on brands, they can prepare tailored pitches for more qualified prospects.

But ad sales intelligence isn’t only for ad sales reps: agency executives and marketers can use these platforms to optimize media spending, monitor competitors and uncover new opportunities.

Make sure you are choosing the solution that is right for your business. 

What is Ad Sales Intelligence Software?

Sales intelligence tools help sales teams gather information on prospects and customers. With these tools, sales leaders can better understand their markets, access buyer intent data and other account details that could help convert future customers.

Ad sales intelligence tools are tailored for ad sales teams, along with agencies and marketers. 

They address the specific needs of ad sales reps and other advertising executives because they give information on brands’ advertising spending, campaign strategies, contacts, contracts, media buying periods and more. 

Within these tools, users can create lists to organize their prospects and prioritize their biggest opportunities. 

Before making any effective sales pitch, sales reps need to do their homework on who they’re reaching out to. Ad sales intelligence software makes this process more efficient and effective.

Top 5 Benefits of Ad Sales Intelligence Software

1. Ad sales intelligence tools tell you who to contact

Ad sales intelligence platforms enable ad sales reps to effectively prospect for new business and connect with the right buyers. They issue reports on spending trends in major industries, allowing teams to uncover unique opportunities. 

Once a sales rep has identified the brand that fits their ICP, they can access the key contacts at that company. These contacts can be added to a list of prospects.

Quality software will provide accurate contact information for key decision makers representing the brand. The data should be regularly updated because contacts tend to change regularly.

2. They give you insights on when you should reach out

This type of software offers reps insights on brand media planning and buying periods. They help reps stay ontop of upcoming RFPs. Instead of being alerted of an upcoming RFP only a few days ahead of time, reps will have sufficient time for forward thinking.

3. They give you context to perfect your pitch

When reps have data on past spending data, information on cross-channel spending, big picture industry insigts and a brand’s creative approach, they have what they need to put careful thought into their custom pitch.

Instead of having to jump around multiple tools or do hours of manual research, ad sales intelligence tools bring all the latest data into one platform. 

You can see a wide variety of useful data, including recent creative, investment in high CPM campaigns (OTT, Podcasts, YouTube and Facebook) and campaign durations. 

You’ll have all the information needed to research, plan and pitch your prospects.

4. They help you leverage existing relationships

Within this type of software, you can see who holds the purse strings—and sometimes their past history. With this feature, you can leverage your existing relationships to write a compelling cold email that’s more likely to get opened. 

5. They enable you to outperform competitors

You can only gain the advantage on your competition when you have accurate, trustworthy and recent data at your fingertips. 

Top performing sales reps don’t succeed by guessing. They use data to guide them as they pursue opportunities, build pitches and keep customers happy.

How to Choose the Right Ad Sales Intelligence Tool For Your Team

Your team has decided it’s time for an ad sales intelligence platform—or time to switch platforms. How do you ensure you’ll get the best results from a new tool? Start your research with five essential questions.

1. Can I trust the information provided?

Do you know how the information is sourced? And how recent it is or reliable?

When data is aggregated from outside sources, problems start showing up in the data, primarily with data accuracy and timeliness.

MediaRadar employs its own internal team, to research, compile and verify all of the data that comes into our system. We consistently ensure our data is of the highest quality by combining proprietary artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning with an in-house human verification process.

2. Is it easy to use and understand?

You can have the most powerful tool on your hand, but if it isn’t intuitive and easy for your sales reps to use, it will be a wasted investment. 

The tools should be helpful for reps—not an additional headache to deal with in their stressful jobs. 

Not only should the user experience be great, but the data should be easy to understand. Ad sales intelligence software should give you context and insights about the data.

3. Do the software take data privacy seriously?

Industry standards are changing constantly—and you want to choose a platform that goes above and beyond the basics. 

Ask the vendor if they are a US Privacy Shield Program (US version of the EU’s GDPR) Participant. Are they also compliant with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)? This is critical, because any large company that buys contact information, is required to comply with CCPA law, California’s law governing individual user privacy.

The software must also be able to show how they obtain the names their sales reps call upon and that their sources are compliant as well.

MediaRadar goes even further, allowing users the option to correct, add or remove their name from our database. Furthermore, we also collect written consent from contacts in the database.  

4. Can I customize the platform to fit my needs?

Ad sales intelligence tools can be used across roles. With a tool that can be customized to different positions, you can run analyses that are tailored to your needs and goals. 

Sales reps can engage in personalized prospecting, using the tool to filter prospects on factors that matter to them.

Media planners can use the tool to research their competitors and industry trends to find the next biggest opportunity. 

The tool needs to be able to provide relevant information that will help you accomplish your unique goals.

5. Is the solution just software or does it act as a partner? 

Is this a software that is great at onboarding, but then disappears? Or are they truly invested in your success?

At MediaRadar, every client has a dedicated, personalized account management team. As your partner in success, MediaRadar shares best practice advice, industry articles and custom reports designed to help grow your business.

MediaRadar’s client services team is honored to have won the prestigious Stevie Award® for outstanding customer service 9 years in a row.

A reliable ad sales intelligence tool allows you to identify and pursue high priority opportunities. Make your perfect pitch with relevant data and a team supporting you all the way. 

‘Digital native’ brands, as they are sometimes called, are known by their “reliance on digital storefronts that sell only their own branded goods, product development cycles continuously enriched by first-party data from their consumers, expertise in social media communications, and a marketing mix that blends highly scaled and targeted programmatic advertising with lifestyle-focused content marketing.”

A major theme running through these distinguishing factors is the way DTC brands connect with their customers.

Digital native brands like Warby Parker, Casper, Dollar Shave Club, Bonobos and Glossier cut their teeth on programmatic, personalized advertising efforts. Search ads and social promotions, complete with behavioral retargeting, held more sway than the offerings of more traditional media sellers.

But does that still remain true?

An Expanded Marketing Mix for DTC Brands

While DTC brands are best known for their digital advertising, the big brands have been experimenting with TV ads and billboards for several years. Smaller, more recent entrants like ScentBird and Brooklinen are including subway ads and 30-second TV ads in their marketing mix right away.

The move toward more traditional advertising reflects how many of the biggest DTC brands, principally Internet-based sellers, have slowly but surely moved into physical retail spaces.

While most of the DTC business model is aimed at customer retention, both the move toward traditional advertising and physical retail speak to the co-equal importance of customer acquisition. It’s for this reason Terence Kawaja, LUMA Partners CEO, writes that TV represents the biggest opportunity for DTC brands’ continued growth.

The medium “offers a great opportunity to connect with existing customers over a new channel while also reaching a new audience to continue to expand its customer base,” writes Kawaja. This is particularly true when DTC brands leverage over-the-top television, such as existing streaming services and soon-to-come integrated advertising offerings from giants like NBCUniversal.

The shift toward traditional marketing is also due, at least in part, toward the rising cost of digital ads and the difficulty in effectively scaling highly targeted marketing campaigns. In a marketing field determined by metrics and conversion, using television to reach a new audience is associated with its own set of challenges. Legacy limitations on spend, difficulty in gathering metrics and the lack of first-party data are all potential pitfalls for DTC media buyers that ad sales teams should know how to address.

But the benefit of reaching an entirely new market seems to pay off for many DTC brands. “DTC brands are using TV to broaden their reach to go head-to-head with the incumbent brands that have always been there,” writes Ashish Chordia at The Drum.

In short, the idea that DTC brand focus solely on digital advertising is a myth – at least nowadays. So what is that distinguishes DTC brands in terms of advertising?

What Sets DTC Brands Apart – and How Ad Sales Speaks To Them

The features that set DTC brands apart from their larger (and largely retail-oriented) competitors has less to do with the medium they advertise with and more to do with the way they brand themselves.

Partners & Spade co-founder Anthony Sperduti told Curbed that DTC success is found in minimalist design and simple, direct branding. “The first wave of direct-to-consumer brands born on online—like Warby Parker and Harry’s nine years ago—were really able to take some of those great lessons,” Sperduti said. “Combined with good economics, you have fresh minds offering value and better design than more mature companies that have dated views of design and marketing. You have enough of those, then you have social media, and it starts to become almost a movement.”

All of this reveals that successful DTC brands are not defined by their marketing mix, but by the way they interact with consumers.

“The most successful D2C companies out there win through the kind of brand experience they offer to their consumers, from the reliable deliveries of Dollar Shave Club to the unique marketing of Glossier,” writes Katherine Duh at the Airtable blog. Katherine also put together a knowledge base of the top 25 DTC brands to know that is definitely worth checking out as you dig deeper into the segment.

Ad sales teams can use this knowledge to tweak the way they speak to media buyers, regardless of the medium. Knowing that the priority is on a relationship with the customer, publishers across all mediums can speak to how DTC ad dollars can further that goal. It’s a good starting point for any pitch.

In this webinar replay MediaRadar’s CEO, Todd Krizelman, shares five simple pre-call steps to help you win more deals.

From understanding your prospects’ needs to knowing your value within the market, Todd helps you break through the noise and get the meeting.

This actionable webinar will help you prepare for your next call.

During the webinar replay you will learn how to:

• Take control of the call from the very first step
• Figure out which prospects to focus on first
• Determine how valuable your prospect finds your audience
• Make your communication with every prospect compelling

Watch the Webinar

What they’re saying about the webinar:

“Great info, thanks for sharing. Loved that it was informative, quick & to the point. Good tips!”

“Really great useful and practical tips, I enjoyed the laid back style, very easy to understand him and he spoke slowly but with passion.”

“Smart take-away for me was a reminder on how much time to spend on composing an email to prospect!”

“Wonderful information, and fantastic tips!!”

“Easy to understand and follow. I am a seasoned seller and am happy to hear reinforcement of my selling methodologies. It never hurts to hear that you’re doing things correctly. Thanks!”

“It was informative. It reassures me of the simple rules to follow and not to take for granted.”

“Many thanks for the really helpful, clearly articulated and inspiring webinar! I’m just disappointed that my Client meeting ran long, so that I joined the webinar late (about 20 mins in.).”

“I was struck by how lucid and true all your points were/are, and by the fact that many aspects of the specific advice are, as you say, straightforward – may even seem simple. But … difficult to execute with discipline, careful thought, and to do so, consistently!”

“I look forward to applying the excellent reminders + fresh new thoughts, & recommendations you shared today.”

Watch the Webinar

MediaRadar anticipates over 1,000 RFPs to be issued per quarter in 2019 – and Q2 will be the most active quarter for RFPs by far. Our research team predicts 38 percent more RFP activity than any other quarter. The influx of RFPs in the second quarter spans across industries. The retail, apparel and travel industries will all issue over 400 requests in the next few months.

These numbers spell opportunity for ad sales – but they also have the potential for spelling out a headache. With budgets finalized in February and advertising plans to be finalized ASAP, the RFP quickly turns into a tight deadline for publishers.

“One of the most frustrating things for any publisher is learning that you only have a few days to complete a lengthy RFP,” says Todd Krizelman, CEO of MediaRadar. “Our RFP Predictor solves this problem, empowering sales teams to be one step ahead. This is critical for winning new business and growing revenue.”

With the introduction of MediaRadar’s RFP Predictor, we have a few tips to avoid getting overwhelmed by the long list of proposals and short turnaround time. All of them have one thing in common: successful RFP responses requires forward thinking.

#1 Anticipate RFP details ahead of time

You don’t have to be taken by surprise when an RFP with a short turnaround comes out.

For example, MediaRadar has identified LVMH (the luxury conglomerate), JAB Holding (the food conglomerate) and Nestle (the conglomerate of conglomerates) as some of the top RFP issuers. With hundreds of brands between them, these major companies give ad sales teams the opportunity to dig into what past RFPs consisted of and how they were successful.

That is, provided you have the data surrounding these major RFPs. Successfully predicting future RFP details requires looking carefully at past spending, historical behavioral trends, key personnel changes, current corporate structure and critical industry news. These data points will help you know when RFPs are coming out and what they are likely to contain.

You know that Hollywood wisdom about learning from the past? Now’s the chance to put it into practice.

#2 Build a relationship with the media buyer in advance

Whether you work with a mobile media or an ad tech company, broadcaster or dotcom, the basis of ad sales (and any kind of sales, really) is the relationship. If you don’t have a relationship with a brand, you are much less likely to know when their RFP is going out, let alone understand what they are looking for and who to speak to.

In the age of “fewer but deeper” buyer relationships and programmatic advertising, an existing connection with media buyers is more important than ever.

By looking at which brands will be putting out RFPs ahead of time, you can get a step ahead by reaching out to the buyer before a proposal is even on the table. If they recently shifted mediums, you can address questions or concerns. If they launched a new product, you can speak to your excitement for their growth.

Whatever form the connection takes, it will likely prove valuable when it comes time to actually review RFPs.

#3 Set yourself up for notifications in the future

Even if you go through the steps of getting to know the brands that will send out RFPs and assessing what your proposal will look like, one critical step is to ensure you are actually included in the RFP process. With this in mind, you should set up a notification for when the RFP goes live – whether the media buyer sends it to you or not.

This most likely isn’t something you can set up on your own — it’s not as if a Google Alert will suffice on this front. The RFP Predictor tool from MediaRadar gives you the ability to search for potential RFPs by date and set up email alerts for when RFPs go live.

Receiving and responding to an RFP from media buyers may be an exchange, but it doesn’t have to be transactional. Putting these tips into practice will allow ad sales reps to put an initial response together before RFPs actually go out – and build a relationship with media buyers ahead of time. With nearly 500 RFPs expected for April, every step counts. The more prepared you are, the more relational the whole exchange becomes.  

Last week, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) threw its largest event of the year: the Annual Leadership Meeting. The association gathered together over 100 dot-com and ad tech companies, as well as, representatives from all the major media companies in the U.S. Hot topics surrounded the rise of OTT content,  direct-to-consumer (DTC) “disruptor” brands, programmatic TV (or advanced TV), and concerns surrounding market fraud. The event also included the 2019 IAB Sales Excellence Awards.

The IAB Sales Excellence Awards recognize the best IAB sales executives and sales teams of the year that show exceptional client service, digital advertising expertise, and innovation in digital advertising sales.

Over 500 leaders from the ad buying community answered a questionnaire, nominating, and then voting for the best sales teams and individuals across four main categories: large organization, small-to-medium sales organization, leadership through mentoring, and sales person of the year in four key U.S. regions. Respondents represented companies that spent at least $1 million on interactive advertising during the last year.

MediaRadar Would Like to Congratulate the Winners!

See a full list of winners here.

Overall Sales Excellence for a Large Sales Organization: YouTube

Overall Sales Excellence for a Small-to-Medium Sales Organization: MediaMath

Leadership through Mentoring: David Cristini, Sales Leader, Amazon Web Services

David Cristini is an executive sales leader with experience in sales, management, and technical roles. Cristini gained experience with multiple firms, ranging from his own start-up to large corporations like Microsoft, IBM, and Citrix. In 2013, Cristini was hired to be the first Named Sales Leader in the East at Amazon Web Services. While his initial focus was to build the regional team, his primary focus now is on leading one of the Enterprise teams, which serves the New York market.

Sales Person of the Year:

East Coast: Donna Bourke, Eastern Sales Manager, Pandora 

Donna Bourke is a gifted sales manager in the audio industry. In the span of around 20 years, Coast worked as the VP of Sales McGavren Guild Radio (a division of Interep Radio), as the National Sales Manager at Emmis Communications, and, currently, as the Eastern Sales Manager at Pandora. Coast received her B.A. in Political Science and Government from Gettysburg College.

West Coast: Shankar Raswa, Marketing Science Lead, eCommerce, Facebook

Shankar Raswa is a marketing leader (11 years) with deep eCommerce, retail, and analytics expertise. He has a proven track record in driving high growth agendas for some of the industry’s biggest players and unicorn startups. At Facebook (FB), Raswa helps advertisers unlock value by leveraging industry-leading experimentation solutions, building custom analytics, and offering measurement and attribution thought leadership. Prior to FB, Raswa spent most of his career in management consulting at top firms, where he’s engaged with C-suite executives across scores of multinational companies (in retail, CPG, and eCommerce) and where he’s used problem solving on topics of strategy and business transformation.

Central: Erin Figenholtz, Account Executive, Discovery Inc.

Erin Figenholtz is an advertising sales executive who specializes in cable, online, and mobile sales. Figenholtz began her career at The Weather Channel, quickly moving through the ranks from Agency Coordinator to Sales Associate to Cable Account Manager to Cross Platform Account Executive. She did a five-year stint as Digital Account Executive at Scripps Network Interactive before moving on to her current role as Account Executive at Discovery, Inc. Figenholtz received her B.S. in Marketing from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

South: Matt Ross, Account Executive Government Team, LinkedIn

Matt Ross is an executive sales leader with experience in sales and advertising as well as government and public policy. In the past two decades, Ross has worked across mediums, including social, display, TV, radio, and print with multiple vantage points of publishing houses, ad tech companies, and agencies. In his current role as Account Executive of LinkedIn Marketing Solutions, Ross’s Government vertical spans customers in federal and state agencies, non-profits, foundations, associations, and government contractors. Ross received his B.A. in Political Science from the University of Arizona.