Caroline Hugonenc is Global VP Research & Insights at Teads.
She began her career in TV and digital audience measurement for Mediamétrie in the French market, before moving to Nielsen Ireland, again working on TV, and then returning to France in 1998, where she worked at Carat and now Teads.
We asked Hugonenc about what skills, tools and KPIs she needs in her day-to-day work.
Please describe your job: What do you do?
I‘m in charge of research and insights for Teads, a digital advertising platform that unites the world’s best publishers to provide an end-to-end solution for brands.
My team provides insights on our audience, media solutions and formats, and advise our clients on all matters related to media and the creative effectiveness of their campaigns.
Whereabouts do you sit within the organisation? Who do you report to?
I report into Jeremy Arditi, Teads’ Chief Commercial Officer.
What kind of skills do you need to be effective in your role?
The most important skill is to be organized as we are working on short term, mid term and long term projects at the same time. The ability to manage internal stakeholders whilst delivering against our clients’ priorities is hugely important, but also really rewarding when it all comes together. It’s also key to be on the pulse of the industry. Our team is relied upon to give a guide on trends and future ideas, so being able to respond to those questions in a thoughtful way when they arise is crucial.
Tell us about a typical working day…
I travel a lot to speak to clients and support local teams, so which city I’m in will often dictate my day. Mornings tend to be dedicated to presentations. This will mean speaking to agencies and client teams about our latest piece of research or their latest campaigns and how we can improve our working relationship. This involves liaising with our strategic accounts team (STA) on which insights we should tap into and ensuring we have best in class approach to a client brief.
Later I’ll have a catch up with my team about the latest projects and how we can maximise the impact of any research we’re doing. I always try and stay on point for the latest trends and news so I spend a good amount of time reading the latest articles / research pieces/ books.
What do you love about your job? What sucks?
I love the fact that I work across multiple markets which I find fascinating and intellectually challenging. My job allows me to fulfill my thirst to learn, investigating to find answers to my questions. I also love the fact that I have built a fantastic team of curious people around the world. They challenge me and ensure we are consistently over delivering for clients – I am really proud of what we have achieved over the years.
I hate conference calls and strikes, but as part of a global team living in France, they’re both things I have to cope with!
What kind of goals do you have? What are the most useful metrics and KPIs for measuring success?
My goals are to be able to advise our clients, leveraging the wealth of technology and information we have to provide them with all the insights they need. This tends to be focused around their media investment with Teads, but we are also happy to advise on their wider media strategy when asked. Success for me is measured by the level of trust our clients place in Teads and how those ongoing relationships develop.
What are your favourite tools to help you to get the job done?
It’s not a tool as such, but a simple email we send on Friday sharing our 3Ps (for Progress, Plan and Problems). A simple and effective way to see where we are as a team, what we’ve done well and what challenges we have coming up.
How did you wind up at Teads, and where might you go from here?
I first met one of Teads’ founders when I was consulting for Dentsu. Two years later he offered me a job to run the Insights and Marketing team in France, back when the company was still a startup!
I’m hugely proud of the work we’re doing at Teads and I am really excited to offer a genuine alternative of scale online to brands. So I’m not looking at moving on anytime soon, if I did then it would probably be to go back to consulting.
Which advertising has impressed you lately?
I really like this year’s Super Bowl ad from Microsoft, featuring the first female coach of a team playing the final. Diversity has been the hot topic of our industry for a while now, but this creative gives a whole new audience a role model in an environment previously dominated by men. To show a woman in this way really empowers a generation of girls.
What advice would you give to a marketer just starting out?
Be curious, never stop learning.
