Ad Sales Execs Leaving Large Networks
On a daily basis, I field a dozen or so calls from eager ad sales execs who want to connect with some of the brands that I oversee (at work). Since my schedule is extremely tight, I can’t take meetings with everyone but generally refer them to my teams responsible for the accounts that they are seeking.
Over the past few months, I’ve witnessed some of our ad network friends who would service our business start to leave and head elsewhere based on the “good bye” emails I receive. Some companies that have seen some form of exodus are: AOL/Platform-A/Tacoda, Specific Media, IAC, FIM/MySpace, and a host of smaller ad networks such as CPX, and others. By making this list, there are more than one person leaving the company in a short period of time.
Why are they leaving these companies? I cannot answer for each individual, but I’m sure it’s a combination of shakeups internally and really good opportunities with startups or other publishers. Having been an entrepreneur in NYC trying to build a sales team, I know how tight the talent pool is for good ad sales folks, so trying to poach from these networks can be helpful.
** Note, I had wrongly listed ad network interClick as I had internal confusion. Apologies!