Managing a merger across a region is no easy feat. Juliette Stead had to do just that with the added challenge of a global pandemic which saw her team across Australia, New Zealand, Asia and Japan (JAPAC) confined to their homes and international borders closed.
In April, Rubicon Project and Telaria announced globally that they would be merging to form the world’s largest independent sell-side advertising platform.
Upon the completion of the merger, the new business rebranded as Magnite and locally appointed a new leadership team with Stead being named SVP head of JAPAC.
Speaking to AdNews about the journey the company has been on and her new role, Stead says her biggest priority from the start has been to ensure both the business and team were best placed for success and not sitting within the vulnerable environments so often seen following mergers.
“I tried to be as open as possible to avoid fear or uncertainty, and to create incremental improvements wherever they were needed to ensure constant advancement,” Stead tells AdNews.
“I was super impressed - and relieved - to discover pretty quickly that the culture of the two teams was very compatible and complementary, which has allowed us to pretty seamlessly meld.
“And I quickly learned that the new team is talented, hardworking, motivated, ambitious and trustworthy. I couldn’t ask for more and I feel very privileged.”
During her first 100 days in the role, she spent much of it working to understand new elements of the broader business and developing a framework to help the teams merge, centralise, share information, refine processes and create connections.
As with all mergers, there are generally changes to the team.
Stead admits her one “low light” of the whole process was having to make one person’s role redundant due to it being duplicated with the merger.
“It was a tough conversation, particularly because I’d worked with this person for years and had a deep respect for their skills,” she says.
“It’s also heartbreaking that so many good people in our industry have had to part ways with their employers over the last six months.
“It’s essential that we all come together and work hard through this difficult time to ensure our industry is as healthy as possible in the long term so that talented people can find their place again.”
Despite the lack of physical contact, she says the newly formed Magnite team has come out strong though and continues to grow with new recruits across Australia, Singapore and Japan.
“It’s not been an ideal situation, but it’s a sink or swim - and we’ve swum well,” she says.
“Once the restrictions are lifted, I’m hopeful that Magnite - and the broader industry - can take elements of this experience around flexibility and seed them into a more permanent approach to work.
“Enforced working from home during a pandemic, and well-considered flexibility are very different.”
The transition to 2021
With the merger complete and the team settled in, Stead is now planning Magnite’s next steps as we head into the new year.
Optimisation, budgeting and headcount planning have all been on the agenda, as well as preparing for the uncertainty that COVID-19 continues to bring to businesses.
“We’re making plans for a number of events with clients, partners and staff, though framed through the lens of COVID it means we’ll have both a plan A and plan B,” she says.
“I’m also exploring how to manage the transition back to working from our offices and what our future working environment could look like.
“Globally, we won’t have anyone back in the office before 2021, which gives me time to see whether there is an opportunity to do something different in JAPAC.”
When Telaria and Rubicon Project joined forces, the goal for the new business was to increase efficiencies for both publishers and buyers.
Offering transparency for a sustainable and scalable ecosystem outside of the walled gardens is at the core of Magnite’s business.
Across the whole JAPAC region, Stead says the business has worked “hard and fast” to ensure the whole team is across this strategy.
“It was important to me that the team was upskilled on the respective ‘new side’ of the business quickly so that there wasn’t a sense of protracted limbo or uncertainty,” she says.
“I also knew that our omnichannel strategy would add value and efficiency to our publishers and buyers, which during a time of global crisis is not to be underestimated.
“Our partners benefit from our centralised and holistic approach, whilst also knowing that they can rely on our expertise and experience.”
As the horizon for 2021 draws closer, she sees over-the-top (OTT) services as one of two big ticket items that both Magnite and the broader industry will be tackling in the new year.
“From an OTT perspective, we are moving ever closer to the day that all TV will be watched through an internet connection and all media will be traded programmatically,” she says.
“That’s great news for Magnite as we are in an ideal position to help publishers succeed in the digital programmatic world.”
The other item is identity. With the final demise of third-party cookies continuing to loom, the industry is seeking out alternatives.
Stead says now is an opportunity for the industry to collaborate and come up with a solution that is both comprehensive and sustainable.
“It has to be able to protect users, allow publishers to monetise their inventory; and enable brands to be able to reach their audiences effectively,” she says.
“It’s going to take a significant investment of time, energy and resources to develop an industry wide solution for ID, but it will undeniably be beneficial in the longer term. We’re heavily involved and invested in a collaborative solution.”
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