GroundTruth, the media platform that drives in-store visits and other real business results, appointed Danielle Kramer the Vice President of Managed Sales. Previously VP, Growth Sales at Integral Ad Science, Kramer brings a wealth of industry expertise and senior relationships.
Based in Chicago, Kramer held previous roles at The Trade Desk and AOL. GroundTruth CEO, Rosie O’Meara, said, “Helping brands and agencies drive real business results is the core of GroundTruth. Danielle’s proven track record for serving clients across all verticals means our customers’ future media strategies are in the best hands.”
We sat down with Kramer to get to learn more about her experience and where she sees the industry moving in the next few years. Here’s everything we learned.
GroundTruth: What is the accomplishment you’re most proud of in your career?
Danielle Kramer: Accomplishments are funny when you try to think of a singular thing or event that stands out. I’d say I am the most proud of the longevity of the relationships I’ve built and the success of the teams I’ve worked with, even when I’ve moved on. I’m proud that I am still deeply invested in continuing to strive to “accomplish” and that answering this question is hard because I don’t feel like I’m anywhere close to done.
GT: What ad channels are you paying the most attention to this year?
DK: As a consumer and as a new member of the GroundTruth team, Audio is high on my radar. I’m a new mom and I try hard to have as little screen time for myself and my baby as possible but I love my podcasts, I love my music, and I am always on the go.
The medium itself lends well to all aspects of my lifestyle and I think as an Advertising community we have only scratched the surface of how creative we can be in terms of reaching consumers in this place so many of us are.
GT: What are the performance metrics you believe all successful companies prioritize?
DK: Brands who are successful in advertising are also successful in understanding they need to measure what matters. The closer your KPIs are to the actual human behavior you want to see, the more efficient you can make your media dollars.
Over the years it has felt to executives that their media dollars are “invisible” or can’t be proven but GroundTruth has made it our mission to make real world behaviors the center of how we connect brands to real business results.
GT: Cookies are a hot topic this year. How do you think privacy will impact media plans in the next 12 months?
DK: Cookies have been a hot topic for so long it’s the longest death and it’s long overdue. But with death usually comes new life, as they say. I think there will be a ton of innovation around this change.
The core needs remain the same, advertisers want to reach consumers, consumers want to buy things they like and therefore “need” that connection to some degree, everyone wants this exchange to be made in a privacy-safe way that is sustainable. What is changing is the way we find, stitch together, and execute on persistent identifiers that make that connection possible.
My prediction is that there will be a continued undertone of confusion, a lot of darts thrown at a lot of walls, a lot of creativity to play within a safe sandbox (pun intended) and probably some fear. What I hope is that marketers take a real look at what their expectations of their media and tech partners have been in the past, what those success metrics look like, what scale has looked like, and readjust according to the new parameters we have been given.
That said, there are solutions available now that play within those guidelines, targeting audiences still exists, identify graphs can still be used and players like GroundTruth are doing some amazing things to make sure we are as interoperable with all other media and tech platforms so we can get back to that whole thing about helping advertisers offer consumers stuff they want to buy.
GT: What plans do you have for your first 6 months at GroundTruth?
DK: In my first six months I plan to deeply understand the needs of our top customers and maybe more importantly, the needs of those who don’t know that GT can help them yet. Our solution has evolved so much over the years and I plan to spend most of my time on expanding the already proven track record of location being the strongest indicator of intent. I think there is a misconception that location focused solutions are limited to benefiting CPG and retail only but we have the tools, the data, and the creative solutions oriented team that can prove how location is the core of all brand success because people vote with their feet, period.
Connect with Danielle Kramer and the GroundTruth Team
If you want to connect with Kramer to learn more about her vision for the advertising industry, or how GroundTruth can help you turn marketing into real business results, like foot traffic and conversions, schedule a quick meeting. She looks forward to getting to know the entire GroundTruth community.
