As the global economy makes its bounce back after dealing with the impacts of Covid-19 restrictions, advertisers and digital marketers are finding themselves in clear air. Leading the charge is Yahoo, coming off the back of its recent acquisition by Apollo Global Management.
Mediaweek spoke to head of global revenue & client solutions at Yahoo, Elizabeth Herbst-Brady, when she made her way from New York City to Sydney for AdWeek.
It’s been a big 12 months for Yahoo, with the announcement coming through on September first last year that private equity firm Apollo Global Management had completed its acquisition of the company. Herbst-Brady says that the year that has followed has been “an incredibly exciting time” for Yahoo.
“If you’re in the digital marketing world, you get used to change. But for Yahoo specifically, we are a suite of iconic brands – I would almost use the term retro cool.
“We have 900 million monthly active users, 25% of the world’s email, and we’re the third most visited internet site across the world. Then for the ad tech, we’re able to deliver on behalf of advertisers, agencies, and publishers, so you get this full ecosystem. Apollo really believes in us, I think they’re very happy with how we’ve shown up.”
Of course, the acquisition hasn’t been the only major change for Yahoo over the past 12 months. Battling the fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic, Herbst-Brady says that recovery is an “ongoing cycle.”
“Travel is certainly opening up, but we still have some residual issues with regard to the supply chain.
“I do think people have gotten to a place where they understand that it’s never going to be just smooth sailing, and so you get used to the ongoing churn.”
In her role as head of global revenue & client solutions, Herbst-Brady has a keen eye on what digital trends are on the horizon.
“Advertisers and consumers, they think about things holistically – it’s no longer just out-of-home, radio, what have you. They really want to understand their marketing and media spend in a holistic fashion.
“There is a lot of interest in connected television, a lot of interest in digital out of home, and measurement is really a hot-button topic – personalization continues to rise to the top.”
Despite the physical distance that can create challenges for those in the Australian and New Zealand markets, Herbst-Brady says that Yahoo has a “great history” in the Southern Hemisphere.
“We’ve shown up really well and continue to evolve and shift in the market. Omni-channel is a global trend that is certainly very pronounced for Australia and New Zealand – we have capitalised on that in terms of a partnership with Samba TV here and JCDecaux.
“I see it as aligned globally, but the distinctive voice and opportunity of Australian business is coming to life, and I think Yahoo is playing a real role in that.”
When asked what she believes the biggest challenges the industry is set to face are, Herbst-Brady says that the immediate hurdles will come from the aftershocks of Covid.
“Macro economically, we’re still trying to steady ourselves, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon – I think we’re just going to have to get used to the state of the state. Measurement is a focus area, and we will have solutions, but we can’t take our foot off the gas because we’re going to have to continue to drive forward.
“It’s also about staying relevant with the consumer. We do a lot of work here around immersive opportunities, and really connecting with the consumer. Consumers are discerning now, they know when something is nonsense. You have to really stay on top of it, and continue to bring value to them in what you’re offering.”
Despite the challenges that the industry is facing, Herbst-Brady remains very positive about the future for Yahoo and what comes next.
“We’re going to really double down on the omni-channel unified stack approach. You’re going to see us continue to invest in partnerships that bring opportunity – this is what our clients are asking of us, and we want to deliver that to them. 12 months from now, I would expect to be sitting back here talking about the successes that we’ve had associated with that.”