Career Path: Digital Media & AdTech | Guest: Lauren Benedict, SVP, Enterprise Sales, MNTN

Show up. Be curious. Show you're hardworking.

If you're interested in a career in advertising or media but also might love a tech sell - this is the episode for you.  Today we're switching gears over to the digital media and advertising technology space.  My guest is Lauren Benedict,  SVP, Enterprise Sales at MNTN, the leading connected TV performance advertising platform.   Lauren is a recognized and award-winning ad sales leader whose career has included leadership roles at NBC Universal, Hulu, and Disney Media & Entertainment.  Hear about Lauren's early career pivot and how she was able to lean into her ability to build relationships and thrive in a team culture. Lauren gives a great overview of what MNTN does and the advertising technology that enables advertisers to reach consumers while they stream content.  Lauren shares some great career advice including this mantra to always strive for: Show up. Be curious. Show you're hardworking.

A few key notes and links from this episode:

"Readers are Leaders" - Lauren credits her past boss Peter Naylor with sharing this quote, originally made famous by Harry S. Truman: "Not all readers are leaders but all leaders are readers."  So up your reading game!
She Runs It - NYC-based organization paving the way for more women to lead at every level of marketing, media and tech.  Membership includes access to extensive networking, cutting-edge content, mentoring programs, education loan relief, career development, and more.
Chief - the only private membership network focused on connecting and supporting women executive leaders
SXSW 2023 - South by Southwest celebrates the convergence of tech, film, music, education, and culture.

LAUNCH Career Strategies was founded by Karen Elders and Elyse Spalding. We help young professionals launch a successful career path with expert coaching services. Reach out today for an initial FREE coaching session.
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Transcript

Are you looking for your first internship or job, or maybe the next step in your career? Welcome to Top of the Pile. The podcast explores all things career for 20-somethings. I'm Karen Elders with Launch Career Strategies, and I'll be your host. Let's get started. Welcome back to Top of the Pile. My guest today is Lauren Benedict.

Lauren has over 20 years of sales and sales strategy experience in the media and technology industries, and I think anyone listening that's interested in either of those spaces will find this really interesting. Lauren spent over a decade with Hulu and Disney in various sales strategy and leadership positions.

Currently, Lauren is SVP of enterprise Sales for Mountain. Mountain is an advertising software company where she leads a team that works with top advertisers, helping them shift their dollars from traditional TV ad spend to what is called performance-led marketing campaigns, and Lauren's gonna help us understand what that means.

So also very cool - Mountain recently acquired the actor Ryan Reynolds, film production and creative agency Maximum Effort. So I'm excited to hear a little bit about that. And Lauren has been really recognized in the industry and beyond for her success. She was recognized as a top 50 women leader in Connecticut in 2023 recently.

She was also a recipient of the She Runs It "Changing the game" award. So kudos on all of that. And Lauren is a graduate of Bucknell University where she was an economics and art major. And was the captain of the women's lacrosse team. So clearly she can do it all and hits all points. So welcome Lauren.

Aw, thank you Karen. Such a nice introduction. Aw, great. Great. Okay, so we'll jump in. Lauren. You've had what I think a lot of people would call kind of that cool career path, you know, working at big household names like Hulu, NBC, Disney. There's a lot to be said for that when you say where you work and people are like, oh, that's interesting.

So, you know, lots of great events and, and sort of that sex appeal of that part of the industry. So, but you almost took a very different path when you graduated from college and I think it's always good, a good reminder for anyone listening that it, it, you don't end up always where you start. And I think it's interesting.

So when you graduated from college, you started out in finance, so maybe give us a little look into what that was and what made you switch. industries. Yeah. I know, and it is interesting and I, I sort of, I always lead with this because especially as individuals are entering into the workforce, you, you don't always have to know what you wanna do, but I do think you need to sort of dig in a little bit and understand the things that motivate and excite you as an individual.

And you know, you mentioned that I was an economics major and an art minor. I played, you know, team sports, loved being part of a team. And I jumped into a very sort of exciting job at the time for me graduating from college at GE Capital as a financial analyst. It you know, it, it appealed to me because it fit kind of the box of business and acumen, and it was a really a really great opportunity.

I landed there actually, because I had applied for a job at  NBC Universal, and at the time N B C U was owned by GE and they looked at my resume and they said, Hey, you know what? She looks like she should be in finance. And so I jumped in there and really realized pretty quickly that as much as, you know, the job was challenging from you know, a business acumen perspective and was using a lot of.

Of the skillsets that I had developed  in college it was missing some of the aspects of, of things that I had always loved. And I would say the creative component coupled with and it's not to say I didn't talk to people all day long, but I was very leaned into spreadsheets and numbers as a financial analyst would be early in their career.

And so I, I took a little bit of a reflective moment and decided that, You know what this is, this is early in my career. I think it's okay to make mistakes and kind of looked in the marketplace and very early on, moved into a startup organization after, you know, spending time talking to a whole bunch of different industries.

Everything from non-for-profit to investment banking. Really kind of like. Looked at the field and found this small company that was in the tech ad space where it gave me the opportunity to kind of roll up my sleeves and wear a bunch of different hats. And kind of had this great these two mentors that kind of like took me under their wing and taught me.

How to sell and what we were selling was very much rooted in the space that I have now grown up in. It was technology, but it was married with a huge creative component. And again, it was in sales, so it gave me the opportunity to really be in market, engaging with people. Had a competitive edge to it obviously, because you're always trying to drive towards the number.

So that was kind of what cracked the door for me into this space. You know, it's so interesting cuz you've touched on a few things and I think that. It's good to remember when you get to that moment and maybe think, oh boy, maybe I'm not where I'm supposed to be. But not to have a knee-jerk reaction, but to be reflective and thoughtful.

And I imagine you went out and had a number of conversations to explore each of those potential paths, you know, said to yourself, okay, this is the one that's clicking. And I think that, you know, all of that does lead to sales so naturally for you and what's authentic to you as a person.

 So okay, so let's jump into Mountain and what they do and sort of what that, you know, as you said, you grew up in, and if young people are listening, I mean they're growing up a hundred percent digital streaming and you know how we watch tv. I think it was back in like the mid 2000s that, you know, maybe people listening were born, but that TV shows started to become available on the web online. And recently, like in the last six months I've read, you know, it's now fully tipped that more people are streaming their content or favorite TV shows than watching regular broadcasting cable, which is really amazing. And I think, you know, I,  actually thought it already happened, but I guess it's kind of officially been sort of tipped.

But, so the streaming side, the connected tv, and you can explain this is where Mountain focuses. So You know, everything today is tech and data, right? Everything is, is the backbone of that. So for every industry. So maybe if you could just kind of give us a little one-on-one on some of the terms and sort of what that means, connected TV and how advertising and media is now.

So technology based. No, and I love that, and I, I, I think the, you mentioned, you know, that my career may have, may look like sort of in the sexy sort of vain, but it's fun when you talk about kind of this tipping point of streaming media. Along my career journey, I did actually end up landing at N B C U.

Eventually, I found my way to N B C U over time and it was in about 2007 when I was there. That this phenomenon, which did become Hulu eventually kind of came to play. And it really was when the networks were starting to put their long-form episodic content online. At the time there was no connected TV per se, but everybody was kind of starting to dabble in what became, you know, streaming tv in some way, shape or form.

And so that was in 2007 when I was at N B C and it Hulu was a joint venture at the time between N B C and News Corp. And obviously it has since grown to be now part of Disney and I spent 13 years across sort of both of those organizations building out what has you know, become, I think one of the more successful streaming video on-demand applications.

But it was really exciting to be part of that build and that ecosystem. But if you look back, I just think, you know, that industry and our industry in general is just full of, you know, all of these acronyms. There are three letters, you know, it's. Ctv, it's ott, it's CPMs, it's GRPs. And so it can get really overwhelming really quickly whether you've spent 20 plus years in this space or you're a first time a newcomer.

So to like dummy it down just a little bit, what I would say is, you know, The majority of this audience has hopefully streamed in some way, shape or form. You know, over the top methods, which think of just how content is delivered to a viewer in a non-traditional sort of cable fashion via smart, top smart TVs, laptops, phones.

It's all the O T T providers, the Netflix, the Hulus, the Disney Pluses of the world. That's sort of over the top viewing. And the connected TV's been really what has enabled that viewing behavior. And that's any device that you know, connects your TV in some way, shape or form to the internet. So these two kind of technologies, if, or the, these sort of acronyms or services, if you will have really disrupted this on-demand viewing experience and has created what we call addressable audiences. And they're more engaged. They watch on their own terms. You know, and so it's up to really advertisers to be very customer focused when they're delivering those messages to the viewer. And what I would say is Mountain really does kind of sit in the intersection of bringing the best of audience-based buying and creativity to audiences through the lens of performance and we like to call it performance television. So Mountain is a self-serve software, so very much where I grew up in media sales. Now very much focused on working with agencies and advertisers to help them leverage the power of Mountain.

Software that gives them the ability to turn their connected TV into a performance marketing channel. And so what I mean by that is you users, when they watch television, can't click on their tv. And from a marketer's perspective, when they're advertising on tv, they wanna understand what kind of outcome that AD has driven to the person that is viewing it. And so what performance does performance television Mountain's Performance TV does is we give the advertiser the ability to buy audiences across all of those O TT providers in the connected TV spaces in a way that then helps them understand once they've been exposed to that ad, what action they're taking on the website to drive some sort of a sale.

So that's the way the software behaves. It's very similar to the way search and social have been designed. So think Google or Facebook ad Manager now, mountain Turns the connected TV into that performance marketing channel for brands. Okay. I, I understand that and I think you did a good job explaining it to the, to the non - you know, a media person, I mean, and even though my background is in media and selling media, but really not this digital format. So when you're selling what, like you said, you are selling that platform, it's, it's a tech sell, it's a SaaS tech sell, just like you said, and you are selling that platform for the agency via for the advertiser, et cetera, whoever is doing that media buying, is it a media buyer? Like so they're having the platform as part of their dashboard or part of their kind of arsenal of tools that they use and they have it. So you're selling like the access to it to get that, is that correct?

Yes, exactly. So everything that Mountain does is very self-serve in nature. Mm-hmm. So we're we're helping and we will, you know, help with onboarding and making sure that we're making recommendations to the marketer or the agency to help them understand what audiences are performing well, what creative messaging should be married with those audiences.

But at the end of the day, The advertiser or the agency is accessing the platform. They're coming in through five simple se five simple steps to set up their advertising campaign. The beautiful part of that is that there's a large percentage of our advertisers, almost 65% of the advertisers that work with Mountain today are first time CTV buyers.

And so this is their, their first step into the connected tv, sort of the, into the you know, having their ad, you know, a. 15 second or a 32nd spot run alongside, you know, long form television programming. Like a, you know, this is US or American Idol on Demand. And so that accessibility that mountain is creating in the marketplace, we're kind of democratizing a living room for advertisers so that we can create a larger sort of wealth of marketers who are able to advertise in this medium.

Because as you know, you know, or, or maybe the audience doesn't know you know, Creating a TV spot is, you know, very expensive. It takes a lot of time and going through the rigor of working with every single network to buy inventory in that TV programming can be very expensive and also very like, time consuming.

And so we've really simplified it and we've done it all through the lens of what a performance marketer. Knows and loves it's audience-based buying and it's all based on some sort of a business outcome, whether it's return on ad spend, so you know, how much money did every dollar that I spend return into the marketer's wallet or, you know, other sort of performance-based metrics that continue to drive outcomes for the business.

So real-time actionable results that they can then go back and understand what's working and what isn't so interesting. And then so on that end, your team. Sells what's called the enterprise sell. And so what they're selling to is the big advertisers, right? The blue chip or the bigger advertisers. And you're very much owning that relationship.

Kind of the whole sell. So it's a more senior sell. Yeah. Someone coming in to Mountain, similar to another tech company, might come into what I think is called the mid-market team, and that could be a sales development rep, an sdr, which is a very standard first entry level role into sales in the tech world.

And then they maybe graduate into like an AE account executive role. Right? And so that's more mid-market, not as big brand names, et cetera, right? Is that the structure? Yes, that's exactly it. You know, the, the mountain sales engine, if you will, was really Developed on the, you know, working with customers that were first time CTP buyers.

Like that is the way that the platform was originally designed to behave. And as we saw proof and performance and success, we obviously wanted to scale the business up and serve a different customer set with, you know, that, that quite honestly has different needs. And so that was really what brought me over to Mountain a little over a year ago, was to build out this new this new team that has a little bit of a different sales motion.

Just based on the nature of who our customer is. They tend to be very sophisticated TV buyers. They've been, you know, think of You know, one of our partners United Airlines, has been been on TV before. They, you know, they, they've got very, they, they spend in many different marketing channels and essentially the way they look at performance advertising.

Just combined with all things that are linear and o t t that they've done from a legacy perspective is just more complicated. And so our team was really brought on board to you know, not take a different product to market, but really just have a different approach to how we're working with these marketers, understand their needs.

And then, you know, obviously have sort of the ability to hold their hand a little bit. Longer through the process. They're, they're bigger organizations oftentimes, you know, they work with both agencies and brands. So it's just a little bit of the art of the sale is a little bit different and requires just a different kind of touch, if you will.

Yeah, no, and it's interesting, and I, I think about where people can get into this industry. So we just talked about how they might come into a company like yours. The other side of that is obviously working in-house at an agency or someone that handles this platform. Is it sometimes handled in-house at an advertiser as well?

Definitely. We actually have team members. And I love, you know, mountain, we call everybody a team member. We have a lot of team members at Mountain who have come to the company by way of having been a customer of ours previously. You know, there's folks on the, the customer success team, which again, they're really kind of Once we get an advertiser in platform, they're really relationship managing and, you know, helping these marketers understand the power of the platform and the things that they can accomplish through mountain performance tv.

And so we see, I, I'd say a lot of the customer success folks coming by way of agency or client and, you know, kind of growing. Going into the organization. One of the things that attracted me to Mountain as well is just the ability to kind of look across the organization. And, you know, test different things.

Like we move very fast. We are, you know, a tech company that identifies opportunities and I'd say seizes the moment quickly. And I loved the career mobility that individuals at this organization have had. You know, there's individuals that have started as executive assistants for some of leadership and have found their way into running all of the events that we host or you know, we've got folks that have started in the customer success side that have moved over to roles that are part of the team supporting enterprise sales now that are more sort of solutions.

Architects. So like there's a lot of different ways that I think when you're at a small company, you can move quickly, but I wouldn't you know, I wouldn't say that that's the only way to have career mobility, you know, if you started a very large organization. There's a lot to be said about, you know, having the infrastructure of a true like training curriculum.

And being able to sort of like get your footing with all of the resources in that regard as well. So I can't say one's better than the other. I think it just depends on sort of how you chart your course and the things again that kind of like motivate and excite you and that are important to you as an individual.

Yeah, it's true. And I think that you mentioned it when we've talked that you had incredible mentors. I think that's the other thing is really trying to do your due diligence on the company, what their culture is. You know, how long do people stay or go? Although this is a very fast moving industry and people do move fair amount.

I mean, you've had an amazing tenure at many of your company, most of your, all your companies. So Lauren, tell us a little bit about, I know you've had great mentors in your. Life and how you've maybe been a mentor to young people and people coming up behind you. Yes. I mean, absolutely. You know, I. I feel really fortunate that early on in my career, there's a handful of folks in, in this business that have just kind of extended that olive branch to me.

And you know, I would say that it was hopefully earned in regards to like showing up, being curious demonstrating that I'm a hard worker. Trying to ask questions when you don't know the answers. All of the things that you know, I think are important to having somebody want to lean in and support and help you.

But you know, there's been actually twice in, so I've worked for the same two people. Twice in my career I like to follow people that I think are great leaders, but also are curious and wanna learn from me. And that's just sort of the way I've grown up in this space. And, you know, because I had the opportunity to you know, work for folks who were great leaders.

And I would say also like great peer sets, like you wanna surround yourself with individuals who you can lean on and bounce ideas around. Off of. So, so that really kind of shaped me and I'm in sort of this stage now of my career where I'm trying very hard to give back the same way that they did to me.

It was, you know, what got me where I am and I feel like not only was it, you know, really important to, you know, my, you know, Giving me sort of a path to be successful. But I also feel like it's just something that I've identified I really enjoy doing and giving back as well. So you know, I, I lean into mentorship programs wherever I have the opportunity.

In terms of like more formalized programs. So I'm part of, She Runs It and they have, you know, twice a year a mentorship program. What I love about that is, Sometimes I'm paired with people that like, quite honestly, I'm learning a ton from them just as much as they're trying to sort of learn from me.

And I think that that is mutually beneficial always. So that's like more structured. But I would just say too, you know, A lot of this happens organically, but it is okay to ask. You know, and I would say too, like I'm also part of this organization called Chief, which is really, you know, designed for female executives who hit a certain point in their career and wanna sort of expand their network beyond just their industry and the company they work for.

And so I've leaned into Chief a lot and used them as well as a resource because you are always growing and you're always learning. And so just because someone that. Is running an organization you know, and has been working for over 30 years. Like they still have their people that they're leaning on.

And so my advice is just to always keep that network you know, growing and remind yourself that you're bringing something to the table when you're having a conversation with someone that may feel a little bit more senior than you are. You both have something. Gain from that relationship.

It's all you, you nailed it on all of that because it's, it's, I feel like something that, it just naturally comes up in so many of these conversations I'm having on the podcast, but it also comes up every day in trying to remind young people that I'm coaching that it is a two-way street and networking is something you will pay it back.

Everyone's learning from each other, so you know. People should make sure they take the time to nurture it. And, and don't be afraid to ask for a mentor. And you may, mentors can have different roles, you know, they can be somebody who really is very nurturing back or somebody who's just very like, clear on here's what, you know, tactical kind of advice.

So, I love the idea of leaning into it and being proactive to find a mentor and don't just expect it to happen. You have to kind of maybe raise a little flag sometimes and say, I'd like one. And I, I will definitely put in the show notes. She runs it and Chief for people to check out and see what that's all about.

But if you do have interested in media or advertising technology in any of those places, I think that's a great organization to they have events, they have speakers. It's based in the city, and they probably have events in all kind, in all cities across the country. Yes, I totally agree. And one of the things that, it's funny, I mean, we did so much at Hulu, but one of the things that I was so excited about and proud of towards sort of my end of the end of my tenure there was bringing organizations like as she runs it to to the company as a corporate wide opportunity for.

Especially individuals who were, you know, younger and just starting out to give them the opportunity to be exposed to other tenants or other parts of the business and the industry in a way that felt very accessible to them. I kind of had the luxury of that because when I started out in the space, I was in a really small company and, you know, it was sort of the height of the.com boom, if you will. And so we were everywhere and they, you know, I was kind of getting thrown into the mix of a lot of things. And I think as our company has matured, I mean, sorry, as our industry has matured you know, finding those outlets to just have a little bit more of a macro understanding of how all the parts work together, it's not as easy.

And so you know, latching onto your network or these organizations can be hugely beneficial to kind of just growing you and understanding sort of the larger picture of what the. The impact of the things that you're doing day in and day out. And another point on the, that building that network is not to be afraid.

So many people are afraid of networking because they feel like they're bothering someone. And it's like, you know what, like, like LinkedIn for example. It's like, you know, listen, it is a networking platform that is the purpose of it. You're not bothering anybody if they don't get back to you. They're busy.

Maybe they don't look at their LinkedIn messaging enough, or the email they've attached it to, whatever it is. But just assume it's, it's nothing to do with you. You know, the only other thing I would just add to that too, Karen, sorry, I is if you do get that meeting or you have that conversation set up, come prepared.

Yeah, a hundred percent. You know, I mean, just do your homework. Be prepared. Like you don't have to own the conversation, but just you know, that's my only piece of advice. And, and when you ask them for a conversation and they agree, be clear, 10 minutes, 15 minutes at the most, like, don't expect them to give you a half an hour, an hour unless they offer that they'll meet you in person or whatever it might be.

But, and come prepared because, and, and if you can Google it easily. That's not a question to ask. Go a little deeper. Ask something that's a little more unique. Show that you've read the articles about them, that they've already said something, answered a question, you know, go past that. What other advice you know, would you give young professionals that maybe in their undergrad or. even have graduated, like I know, I love that you mentioned kind of that show up, curious, hardworking, ask questions. All those things will also make people want to network with you and want to lean in. What else do you, any other advice that you have for, for young people? You know, I, it's funny, I, so I worked for Peter Naylor, I've worked for Peter Naylor  for over half my career in some ways shape or form, and I always loved when he would show up and say, readers are leaders. And, you know, I have to, I have to give him credit for that because it's so true. I would just say, you know, be a student of the areas that you're interested in and, you know, Identify, like, I almost feel like every person you meet with, you should ask them what, what are some of the things that that they're interested in their reading.

I, you know, I'm preparing actually for I'm going to South by Southwest later this weekend. And I'm moderating a panel of women in marketing and you know, I love that it's Women's History Month. And so we were kind of like just going down and preparing for, for this, this conversation. And organically as part of that a book came up in, in conversation and I left that meeting and I went and bought the book. And so I just, I think like reading books about things that motivate you or excite you is, is always important in the trades. So just be sort of, try to be a student of the area that you're interested in. And, you know, I would just say I, I'd do a lot of core value work, and I got, I sort of picked that up from Chief. And, you know, it's, there's a lot of online resources where you can just Google, you know, core values and there's worksheets that you can go through. And I've always sort of found that when you can say, rooted in some of the things that are, that some of the things that motivate you and excite you You'll find yourself in a place of whatever you're doing.

If it ties back to that, you should feel pretty fulfilled. And you know, it typically like these exercises will root it down to sort of five core values. And it's funny because for me, creativity's always been the through line. You know, relationships, happiness, a couple other things. So that work can be.

Very fulfilling that. I think that's so interesting. And you know what? It's never too young. I mean, if you're even as an undergrad to start doing some of those things, I have skills and assessments that I give to people and I have like a real short one and then a longer one. But everyone loves doing them.

And it's so interesting when it comes back, it, it might not be exactly on the core values piece, but something that's more those soft skills and like what motivates you? And, and it's good because sometimes it, often, it, it aligns with what you think, but sometimes it doesn't. And you, you get kind of a Hmm, that's interesting actually I am like that. And you know, if anything, you just can decide what you wanna lean into of those, those pieces. So I'll also leave a little link for South by Southwest, which is, you know, essentially a. Film, entertainment industry sort of conference, correct? Yes, it is. It it's in Austin, Texas and it's digital tv.

Film and music, I believe. There's a lot of really great content. And I'm participating in a female quotient panel which is also another pretty exciting kind of resource that maybe folks wanna check out as well. Cool. Yeah, I'll leave that link as well. And I, I wanna go back to your point on reading.

I mean, if there's one thing I think that might be the most important piece of advice, right? It's read as simple as that one is, it's just keep reading. I mean, whether you're going in the. Finance or, or media or advertising technology. I can't think of an industry where it doesn't apply, but finding something that resonates you for, you know, a quick read or podcasts. You know, listen to this one. But other podcasts, you know, a quick morning one or just get a little insights into an industry and, and you know, you're also learning about, for example, in the Wall Street Journal, you're gonna learn about the media and technology industry, not just what's going on in the S&P.

You know, you're gonna really. Get those different angles. So I think that's a, that's a really great point. Yes. So this is awesome. This is awesome. Thank you so much for being on. I really appreciate it. Oh my gosh, yeah, of course. Awesome, awesome. Thank you. Launch Career Strategies help young professionals launching a successful, fulfilling career path.

Check us out@launchcareerstrategies.com. By the way, if you enjoyed this podcast, please leave a rating and a review. Reviews are key to helping spread the word about top of the pile so it can reach other young professionals or anyone looking for advice on how to up their career game. Thanks for listening.

I hope you have or are having an awesome week.