Liz Baldwin stepped into the role of 10’s general manager of digital in 2016, and since then has overseen the company’s digital media business – including the channel’s BVOD platform, 10 Play.
Mediaweek spoke to Baldwin for International Women’s Day 2021.
What is it that drew you to digital media?
I love the fast paced, creative nature of digital media. I’ve been fortunate to work on industry leading products such as the 10 Play site relaunch, our Unified App platform, and to introduce our Premium Pause ads – all of which have been equally challenging as they were rewarding.
What continues to inspire me are the people I work with. Digital media attracts smart, thoughtful and tenacious talent, and I have thoroughly enjoyed working with these people over my career.
What are some of the achievements you’re proudest of during your time at 10?
I’m very proud of our overhauled 10 Play website, and the underlying data and technology behind it. Many aspects of the foundational technology were building blocks necessary for us to launch our unified app platform, which we are currently rolling out. It’s been a multi-year strategy and it’s very fulfilling to see it come together so beautifully.
Being the first to introduce new ad products to the Australian market, like the Premium Pause and Curated Content Carousel, has also been a game-changing achievement for 10 Play. Introducing innovative, scalable ad units on 10 Play is a great leap forward in how advertisers can further leverage BVOD (broadcast video on demand) platforms to talk to their audiences.
During my time at 10 ViacomCBS, my team has worked on incredible market-leading products. I’m proud to lead such talented and creative people that also foster an encouraging and inclusive team environment.
How do you think the industry has changed since you’ve been working?
There has been a shift in the way media businesses value digital and data; they are no longer fringe activities. They are a highly desirable part of the business to work in and attracting great people.
Over the past few years, the growth of BVOD has led to wider acceptance in the market. BVOD is now an essential part of any media schedule, and we are seeing very strong growth in how advertisers want to tap into our data capabilities to drive this even further.
What do you think are some of the biggest impediments to gender equality in Australian media?
In the digital media industry, we need to do a better job of attracting women, particularly to the more technical roles. We still have a big imbalance of women coming through the talent pipeline for developer and engineering careers. Globally, women make up 17% of the Tech workforce, with only 3% saying that it was their first career choice. As a broader digital industry, we clearly have a job to do to make this career path more attractive.
That said, I have seen a positive shift in women coming through for adjacent career paths such as product management and in MarTech-based roles, which is encouraging to see.
You work with quite a few other women in senior positions at 10 digital, how much does that mean to you?
I am lucky enough to work with many senior women across the business at ViacomCBS, locally and globally, including in the digital team.
It is incredibly important for women to be in senior leadership roles for many reasons, including diversity of thought and inclusive leadership culture. But it is particularly important in Digital, to set examples and build an inclusive culture that will attract future female generations to the field.