Streaming Media Europe Blog

Business Development Manager, YuMe

Tell us a little about you, your background and your current role. 

I joined YuMe in January 2013 to support business development on the publisher side. My role has been to educate publishers on the multi-device opportunity while adding to the company’s portfolio of premium inventory, focusing on mobile, tablets and connected TV. I’m a digital marketer at heart, starting my career at ValueClick and from there, holding publisher-centric roles at Specific Media and Microsoft, working with some of the world’s largest publishers to monetize their inventory through all digital channels.

What will you be talking about at Streaming Forum? Why have you chosen this subject?

I’ll be talking about whether screen size really matters when it comes to users engaging with video content. Does it really matter what device you’re on or is it the type of content that drives brand engagement the most? We have reached a significant milestone in web and mobile advertising, driven mainly by the consumers relentless acquisition of new devices. With the addition of tablets in the mix, the distinctions in behaviour between devices have blurred and new forces have come into play.

Name some key challenges faced by your clients, and tell us how you are overcoming them?

A key challenge for most publishers is how to effectively deliver video advertising across the multitude of devices. YuMe has developed a device agnostic video platform. Through our SDK we can ensure maximum fill rates of video inventory across all devices by returning the correct format, every time.

What do you see as major trends in streaming media?

The obvious one is the change in consumer behaviour concerning devices. With 3G/4G speeds increasing and data tariffs becoming cheaper, video content is being consumed more and more through mobile devices. The emergence of tablets is another interesting one and many publishers I speak to are already at a 50/50 split between traffic from PC and Mobile/Tablet devices.

What’s the do you enjoy the most about your job in this industry?

I love the fact that because technology develops so fast, there is always something to learn. The dynamics between publisher, technology and advertiser are becoming more and more complex, so it’s tough to predict which way the market will go but nice when you get it right!

Brendan’s session, Online Video Advertising: Does Size Matter?, takes place on Tuesday 18 June 13.45 – 14.30.