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- [00:01]
Ad Tech God
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- [00:42]
Rhea Madrid
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- [01:23]
Ad Tech God
Welcome to the Ad Tech Godpod, your window into the world of advertising technology and the people behind it. I'm your host at Tech God. Welcome to the Ech God Pod, your go to for conversations with revenue leaders shaping the future of advertising. Today I'm joined by Rhea Madrid, Vice President of advertising@world. Ria's been with World for over three years and before that she led media and strategy at Xumo, which is now a part of Comcast. I'm excited to dive into her journey and hear what's ahead for her and for World. Just a quick disclosure to my listeners. While World is a sponsor of Miami Lights event happening in Miami, this interview was scheduled well in advance and there is no compensation involved. So Ria, I'm really excited to have you here as my guest. Thanks for being on the EdTech Godpod.
- [02:15]
Rhea Madrid
Thank you for having me. I really appreciate the invite and excited to be here.
- [02:19]
Ad Tech God
Thank you. Same here. I'm, you know, super happy to have you on board. Your background, having worked at Xumo and obviously with the Growth Fast Applovin's acquisition of World a few years back and moving into the connected TV or streaming industry is really interesting to me. So I'm happy to have you here and just chat a little bit about you and what you guys are doing.
- [02:40]
Rhea Madrid
Yeah, absolutely. It's been a very exciting last few years and there's certainly plenty of content to cover as it relates to how we are partnering and shaping the future of CTP performance marketing with the help of Applovin and their amazing technology tools.
- [02:57]
Ad Tech God
I felt that it was a really interesting acquisition considering, you know, Applovin's growth and position and market is really as a performance mobile company and then moving towards the connected television industry. I felt like it was acquired well before everybody was talking about performance ctv, but now it seems to be on the tip of everybody's tongue. Everybody's like, oh, you know, CTV is a new performance channel. So I thought that they were a little bit ahead of the curve when it comes to that.
- [03:21]
Rhea Madrid
Yeah, no, I would have to agree. I think in our industry as a whole, there has to be a lot of buzz about us being able to accomplish something before people actually hit the ground running and make the efforts to actually make it happen. And you know, what's really great about Applovin's background is they're of course very well versed in the performance space and the tools they have available for mobile marketers are just unbelievable. So they truly are the perfect company to really trailblaze in performance marketing across ctv. So it's been a really good fit so far.
- [03:56]
Ad Tech God
I did want to hear a little bit more about you, how you got to world, how your experience was at Sumo and really as a female leader in the space, what drives you forward? So let's start from the beginning. How did you get into advertising? How did you get into advertising technology and what got you to the point where you're at today?
- [04:13]
Rhea Madrid
Yeah, you know, it's definitely not a typical story. I almost feel like I fell into ad tech by accident. A very amazing accident. I will say it's been a long journey, but I will first say, you know, I went to school and have lived my entire adult life in Orange County, California, which is light years away from la, where it feels that way at least, and certainly a good amount a distance away from any major metro area where you would expect a big media company, entertainment or large advertising agency. So with that said, going to school, I always had a very deep interest in marketing, connection with people. A lot of my studies focused in public relations, some psychology, journalism, and really just kind of exploring different areas where my career could really be focusing on working with people and finding, you know, true connections. Right. So, you know, fast forward to graduating. Like many students, wasn't quite ready to leave the beach city lifestyle and move to LA or New York City. So I actually worked for a very Successful entrepreneur in Laguna beach and really kind of just learned the ropes of general business. And, you know, let's be honest, I was also picking up dry cleaning and planning parties. But the great thing is I learned a lot about business and marketing from him. And I was just kind of walking around town one day, looking around, and I was like, you know, wouldn't it be really great if there was a little boutique digital marketing company here in town where I could really get my feet wet and really build my skillset around digital marketing and advertising to some extent. And this was long before the time of LinkedIn being a tool or resource for, you know, networking or job searching. So I actually don't think I've told many people this story, but of all places, I happening here for the first time. It's actually kind of embarrassing, but hey, I actually saw a job posting on Craigslist, of all things, and it was for an account manager role for a little boutique marketing agency in Laguna Beach. And, you know, my first thought was, this is either my dream come true or I'm going to walk up to some abandoned building and possibly get murdered. I don't know. Fortunately, it was the former. You know, cut to two weeks later, I somehow convinced these people with zero experience in advertising or marketing that I could help them build their business around Programmatic. Now, you know, a little bit of background on the company. They, they were building a lot of ad tech behind the scenes, you know, ssp, like platforms, ad servers, et cetera. And really what they needed me for was to learn more about Programmatic and lead their marketplace business. So this was at the infancy of Programmatic, specifically video. So there was a lot of homework to be done. But the good news there was I felt that I was kind of on the same page as everyone else in figuring out how to succeed in this space. So while I was definitely googling what a CPM was and what an impression was, you know, I felt like I had an opportunity to learn with everyone else what this new technology was and how to be successful. So I learned quickly, I worked hard, and, you know, fast forward to a few years later. I have a team of 10 individuals and we are working for, you know, again, a very small digital company located in Laguna Beach, California. So it was really just a good opportunity for me to wear several hats, continuously learn. I learned not only Programmatic, but also learned a lot of leadership skills that I didn't really expect to develop. I had never really had any ambition to be, you know, a leader per se. I. I felt very Much that I was kicking off the beginning of my career and really, again, I was just looking to find a job to get my feet wet and learn the ropes. So it was a very unexpected first landing in mad tech.
- [08:29]
Ad Tech God
I mean, it's funny because you said, you know, I don't have the typical path getting into the industry, but I feel like every other person I talk to kind of says the same. And then they're like, I was studying to become a lawyer, I was going to be a psychologist, I just moved into business, you know, administration or marketing. And then a friend of mine reached out and said, do you want to join this company? I said, sure, the pay looks decent. So it's pretty incredible how much they don't follow this like straight, linear path to get into ad tech, if you want to call it that, but into advertising in general. It's just like all walks of life, all education, backgrounds, like we all end up being here and then we all end up staying for a really long time. Because it's kind of fun.
- [09:07]
Rhea Madrid
Absolutely. It's a very addictive space to be in because I think it checks a lot of boxes right. You know, it's constantly changing. You don't get bored. The people are amazing. It's just a really fun industry. And yeah, I mean, the money isn't bad either. So I think it's a, it's a very encouraging path to take and it's been a lot of fun so far.
- [09:27]
Ad Tech God
What took you to Zumo? So you, you spent some time at like a boutique agency and then you moved into Zumo. How was that experience? Were you, were you there during the acquisition by Comcast or were you there before? Did you leave before?
- [09:40]
Rhea Madrid
I was there before. You know, the transition came very naturally. I think I felt like I really created a well oiled machine at my previous role and again had a great team kind of carrying the torch. And really it was just a matter of I felt like I did everything I needed to do. I was ready to learn something new and really build something new somewhere else. And this was at the time when CTV was just starting to emerge. I mean, it wasn't wildly popular yet, but it was definitely a time where, you know, some buzz was being created. So around the same time, I kid you not, I get a random phone call from a colleague and he's like, hey, Rhea, how you doing? Blah, blah, blah, cuts to the chase and says, hey, have you heard of a company called Zumo? I said, yes, but it wasn't because Zumo was a, you know, massive company yet, but because Orange county is literally the size of my thumb and ad tech is, you know, it's very few and far between. So I had been familiar with the fact that Zuma was a joint venture between Viant and Panasonic. He just says to me, hey, we're, we're building something really cool here, but I really think we could benefit from your expertise and partnerships and Marketplace. Would you be interested in coming in to learn a little bit more? And the timing was perfect. It was definitely kind of assigned to me to. To take the leap. I sat in the office of alum Kri Norris for about an hour, and purely just by feeding off of his passion and excitement for what they were building with Sumo, I was like, okay, this is the one. But then he kind of stopped and said, rhea, we have three months for sure of being in business, but we really need you to kick off this department where it's basically going to be the revenue house while we build cool stuff, which is now the wildly successful platform we now call Zumo. So it was, again, a really cool time to join, an awesome opportunity to build something from the ground up. And it was just a team of very talented, passionate people. So it was a great fit.
- [11:49]
Ad Tech God
When you joined, how big was it?
- [11:52]
Rhea Madrid
So the colleague who called me, him and I were the first to open up the advertising piece. But aside from that, I want to say we had about 20 employees, roughly, most of which were engineers and product folks.
- [12:03]
Ad Tech God
Yeah.
- [12:04]
Rhea Madrid
So all the smart people behind the scenes, and we're just, you know, they.
- [12:07]
Ad Tech God
Were building and they're like, now, now make some money.
- [12:10]
Rhea Madrid
Exactly.
- [12:10]
Ad Tech God
Now we gotta pay these salaries somehow. So good luck. And then you, you moved into World, which. Which is owned by Applovin. How do you feel? You know, the building of, of a, you know, advertising team and strategy at Sumo really helped you with World and what you're doing over there.
- [12:28]
Rhea Madrid
It helped me immensely. You know, I'm. I'm definitely not your typical salesperson, if you will. I really am very curious about the operation and tech behind streaming. And working at Zumo, I had great exposure to that. So I felt that I was very well equipped to understand the business model of World and how they supported their customers at a level where, you know, maybe more of a programmatic salesperson may not. And so, you know, after the acquisition, there's, of course, a couple of good years, but, you know, I started to get a little bored. I was ready to dive into a new challenge. And, you know, I guess I'm just a glutton for punishment. But I was getting a little too comfortable and I was ready to really make a difference. So World was actually a vendor that a lot of our content partners at Zumo used and I'd worked pretty closely with their team and you know, they had casually mentioned some interest to me a few times and at first I didn't see the fit and how I could help, but once I started learning a little bit about some rumors around Applovin, you know, the dots really connected and I and I really felt a strong pull to help them kind of create this advertising business under already very successful, you know, distribution business model that they already had.
- [13:46]
Ad Tech God
Going back to the beginning of the conversation, building something from a infantile level. There wasn't a huge sales organization at World prior to the acquisition, right?
- [13:57]
Rhea Madrid
Correct.
- [13:58]
Ad Tech God
You building up the strategy, you ramping up the revenue. How was that for you? Being integrated into a mobile heavy space and then being so connected? Television fast and streaming focused. Do you feel that, you know, having worked at nimble startups before, helped you navigate through the, the structures and the communication part?
- [14:20]
Rhea Madrid
100%. I am immensely grateful for all of the startup opportunities that I had prior because, you know, it's really difficult for a lot of people to join a company when there are no rules or standard operating procedures or really any structure. And I love doing that. So it was a little intimidating at first because mobile really wasn't an area that I had previously touched. But what I had to remind myself of was adtech is there to solve the challenges for your customer and for me, the customers were going to be the same. It's still a streaming publisher. I have a relationship, a rapport, a level of trust with a lot of these folks and it's really just the medium that was changing, right? Streaming tv, mobile, it's really all the same when it comes to the way that you're trying to help your partners succeed. So fortunately, I don't need to know a ton about the inner workings of mobile, but generally just with the overall strategy our publishers have with their streaming monetization.
- [15:24]
Ad Tech God
So looking at everything that's happening in the space we've heard everything from the industries going through challenging times to this is just a bump in the road to it's fine, it's just an evolution of the space. It's going to happen like this happens every few years. What do you think is a really positive outlook on what's happening over the next 12 to 18 months that you feel like you yourself can help contribute to or that World itself as A company can contribute to the growth.
- [15:52]
Rhea Madrid
Yeah, that's a great question. I think a lot of people are a bit concerned about what the next maybe year holds with some of the economic changes. But I see it as an opportunity because I think when people are put in a position to really demonstrate value when they're competing for less dollars, they really come at the table with their best. Right. I think we can all agree we've kind of gotten through that wild west period where it was okay for us to figure out things as we go and be okay with maybe a lack of standardization or less transparent ways to transact. And you know, now I think we, we really have the knowledge and the tools to be better. And when it comes to being better, you know, that's where World really tries to step in as a partner to publishers, right, where we're a content centric CTV ad solution provider. And you know, in addition to, you know, providing solutions for scheduling, distribution, ad insertion, at the end of the day, our role is to help them drive more value for each impression. And when publishers bring more value to the table, to the advertisers, they're able to be more prescriptive with the ways they buy so that they can get better outcomes. Right. So one of the big focuses World has right now is the notion of building more contextual layers within the bidstream. So our goal is really for advertisers to reach more relevant audiences so that, you know, that relevancy leads to consideration and of course consideration leads to purchase, intent, action and so forth. So, you know, I think until you need to do something, you might put things on the back burner and you just take the easy route. I think really the economy now is going to, you know, force everyone involved to be better and really bring some value to the table from each side of the equation.
- [17:49]
Ad Tech God
Yeah, I feel that. And I don't know if you worked in the space at this time, but maybe, I'm not sure. But in, you know, 2008, 2009 was the great Recession, which was quite scary for many. I was on the younger side, so was I concerned? Not really. I lived with my brother. But the focus really did shift into like very measurable types of solutions in market. So like search saw boom, performance marketing saw boom. It also helps that print at the time was diminishing and dying. So the magazine industry and the newspaper industry started to see that accelerated decline. And like, as we're starting to see economic pressures happening, I personally believe that we're going to start to see an increased interest in performance, which is one of the reasons why I was really interested with the contextual stuff you guys were doing and interested in the performance aspect for Connected Television. Because these brands and these advertisers are really going to start looking for outcomes and they're going to look for roi. Branding is important, but then, you know, being able to measure those performance metrics beyond the impression becomes even more important, especially in ctv.
- [18:56]
Rhea Madrid
Yeah, I absolutely agree and I think that's really what drew me to World and Applovin as a whole. They're very future thinking and how they want to evolve the ecosystem. And while there's a lot of, you know, initial challenges now and measuring attribution and getting all the players lined up and on board to accomplish the same thing. Right, that's what we're working through now. But really the long term goal for us is to do just that is really help advertisers to achieve those performance KPIs. And in order for them to do that, we need to arm the publishers with the tools and capabilities so that they can merchandise and sell their inventory in those ways or make their inventory more targetable so that there can be more performance forward packages available both programmatically and as a managed service.
- [19:49]
Ad Tech God
In your time at World, things have changed a lot. Like I think the acceleration of AI brand safety has been a hot topic in this space. But what do you think from your perspective has really been exciting for you in terms of innovation and what that means for you and what that means for your clients?
- [20:10]
Rhea Madrid
World has a very strong operational backbone across the vast majority of the streaming ecosystem. And what I mean by that is their business prior to having a major, you know, hat in the ring for monetization, their, their focus really was the content, right? And so having those deep integrations with the content so that we have a lot of, you know, viewership data, we have a lot of, you know, rich content signals to build solutions with. What excites me is that I feel like we already, we're kind of ahead of the game in that way. We're not just partnering with publishers and filling ad requests, we're actually starting from the top all the way to the bottom in terms of really being able to process, dissect and categorize these content signals so that we already have a leg up in terms of building that out. And you know, I think that puts us in a really great position to truly serve our customers both on the buy and the sell side. Our technology is evolving quickly because we already have that piece of the Equation done. And I really think that is the hardest part. Right. There's a lot of incredible platforms out there who have been serving as an SSP or a DSP for years, but kind of retroactively going through and restandardizing the signals that are, aren't passing through is a lot of work. Right.
- [21:36]
Ad Tech God
Right.
- [21:36]
Rhea Madrid
So I, I'm. I get a lot of sleep knowing that we already have that piece done. There's still, of course, plenty to go, but that part makes me very confident that we can be a strong player in the shift.
- [21:48]
Ad Tech God
Well, I think you've been a strong player in the space, Rhea. You were recommended on the pod. You were recommended months ago. It took me a while to get you on here just because of the sheer number of people. And so, you know, I'm happy you're here with me today, really. Just as a, as a final question to you. As a woman in the space, as a mom in this space, as someone who's been at now two very successful companies, Zumo, which is obviously a success, and World, which is part of Applovin, which is obviously very successful. Based on just everything I've seen. How do you feel about being a female leader in the space? Do you feel it's accepting of you? Do you feel like there's challenges, that you're, you know, kind of in a remote part of the state and not necessarily by the agencies or brands in New York or Chicago or la? How do you feel you've really kind of driven your own path to success over the last few years?
- [22:38]
Rhea Madrid
Well, first of all, thank you so much for your kind words. It does mean a lot. And, you know, the journey, you know, it certainly hasn't come without a lot of challenges and failures and sleepless nights. But, you know, what I will say is that I really like to kind of strip down our ecosystem as a whole. And what I always say to people is just be a human being. Right? Be authentic. Put yourself out there and be vulnerable. And it's one of the hardest things for us to do as professionals because we want to seem strong and knowledgeable, but pretending like you know things really doesn't get you anywhere. So one of the biggest pieces of advice I have is ask a lot of questions, don't be afraid to reach out to somebody. You know, personal anecdote. You know, like you mentioned, I live in somewhat of a remote area when it comes to, you know, the sweet spot for flourishing advertising careers. But I will say I think the building block of our industry is relationships. And, you know, it Actually wasn't until probably five years ago that I really became an active member, if you will, in the adtech community. And that was all because there were some pretty amazing people who had taken the time to reach out to me. They wanted to get to know me, get to know what I'm all about. And that made me feel really good and it really encouraged me to do the same with others and reach out, ask questions and hear each other's challenges. Right. Like I said before, we're in an incredibly fast paced industry. I really don't think anyone is an ad tech expert. At the end of the day, it's an extremely nuanced business. So I think it's okay to admit when you don't understand something, call up a friend and I love to return that favor. So, you know, be confident, be comfortable with uncomfortable and you know, don't be afraid to reach out and network and speak up. I think this is an industry where if you're curious, hardworking and a people person, you truly have the tools to succeed.
- [24:42]
Ad Tech God
You know, I think one time I posted something like there's only a handful, maybe 10 real true experts in the space that know every aspect of the industry. I think in my personal, I know he's, he's a partner and we work together, but I think Ari is one of them. I think Brian o' Kelly is another one. But I do think that a majority of us are learning and we learn from the people who really understand the technology and the inner workings. And so I agree. I think admitting there are gaps in knowledge and asking the right questions and chatting and networking with the right people really expands that knowledge and it's super important.
- [25:14]
Rhea Madrid
I agree. You know, and there was certainly a time where I didn't have the confidence to do that. And you learn really quickly that that's how you become smarter.
- [25:22]
Ad Tech God
You know, all I do is ask questions. My life is literally asking questions every day and sometimes I throw out opinions and I'm like, I have a feeling this is way off. And then people are like, dude, nailed it. And then other times people are like, you have no idea what you're talking about. I'm like, perfect. Me neither. I agree with you. So you tell me what you think.
- [25:38]
Rhea Madrid
A day in the life, right?
- [25:39]
Ad Tech God
Yeah, that's what happens I guess when you label God, everybody wants you to be right every time. And when you realize, hey, you know what, maybe this guy doesn't know everything. Maria, thank you, thank you so much for being here. Thank you to world for having you here and thank you for being such a big part of the Miami event. I really appreciate you and your trust and world's trust in us.
- [25:56]
Rhea Madrid
Oh absolutely. And thank you so much. Really appreciate this opportunity and thank you for doing what you're doing in the space. I think I speak for many that it's been a wonderful breath of fresh air and love your podcast. Thank you.
- [26:08]
Ad Tech God
The optimists need to win. We got enough pessimists in this space. A little bit of positivity doesn't hurt.
- [26:15]
Rhea Madrid
Absolutely not. Let's do it.
- [26:17]
Ad Tech God
Awesome. Speak to you soon. Rhea.
- [26:18]
Rhea Madrid
Thank you.
- [26:20]
Ad Tech God
Thanks for tuning in to another episode of the AdTech Godpod, a podcast for the people about the people. Stay connected with me for more insights, trends and interviews in the realm of adtech. Don't miss out on the latest updates, so follow me on X Instagram and connect with me on LinkedIn. Don't forget ATG Slack community has insights, networking opportunities and jobs. Keep the conversation going and stay at the forefront of adtech innovation.