2014 - Basis Technologies

As a 23 year-old copywriter at a small in-house creative agency in Charlotte, NC, I met Cynthia. Cynthia was a creative manager who sparked something in me. She put me under her wing, showed me the ropes, then kicked me out of the nest every chance she got. At the time, I’m not sure I even realized it was “mentoring”. I just knew she was my go-to, my teacher, sage, sounding board, a second Mom. She shaped my trajectory in more ways than she’ll ever know: I got into software marketing because of an introduction she made. I stayed in software marketing because of the counsel she offered.

While at the agency, she introduced me to a friend who was looking for freelance support. Suddenly, I had a second job working nights for the VP of Marketing for a manufacturing software and services company. Within six months she brought me on full-time and so began my career in technology marketing.

The VP was gone in less than a year; suddenly, I was the sole marketing resource and in over my head. What I didn’t have in know-how I made up for with a million calls to Cynthia – and lots of elbow grease. After several years of 50-60-70 hour weeks (I compensated my lack of experience with a ferocious work ethic), I was burnt out and ready for a change. I needed to choose my next move: a corporate communications position at a major bank or a channel marketing role at small supply chain software company. The cache of the big brand name was enticing; finally, a logo on a business card that would actually mean something to my family and friends! The bank job was narrower in scope, but had a slight edge in salary. I had a mortgage. More money sounded good.

In the end, I chose to build a career in software. Today, it’s clear that was a turning-point for me, a decision that shaped my entire career as a marketer, which has been in the tech space. Cynthia helped me evaluate the opportunities with a “future state” mindset: which role would put me in the best position to learn, earn and grow?

After three years in a small, high growth software and services company, I was used to having my hands in all things marketing. My contributions felt vital. Startups (and small companies in general) are fantastic proving grounds. Resources are scarce, teams are lean. By necessity, there is opportunity to take on projects above your pay grade. I did it all: telemarketing, event coordination, printing, layout, promotions and PR. Once I began running my own marketing team I would often reflect with gratitude, recognizing that my exposure to so many different disciplines made me a stronger manager. I knew firsthand what it took to get the job done. That knowledge helped me set the right expectations with my employees and management. In each role, at every level, I was learning something new almost every day. Cynthia knew – before I did – that without that constant stimulation, I’d quickly become bored.

The leap from advertising agency to software company had been good for my earnings, but I wasn’t on Easy Street. The bank salary would be even higher and at that point, the difference of a few thousand dollars in annual salary was a big deal. Cynthia helped me look beyond the current offer and consider long-term earning potential. Sure, the bank was offering more cash now, but financial services firms (remember, this was a back office role) were known for annual increase percentages in the low single digits and highly structured compensation policies offering little upside. Already, my short time in tech had showed me that effort and talent combined could yield more generous recognition. Cynthia asked a question I’d never even considered: which role would be best for my W2 in two years? Or five?

The bank job represented stability and success. It also sounded a bit stifling. Cynthia’s gentle inquiry revealed an important truth: I feared obscurity. I was used to operating at startup speed and there was a youthful pride that came with being a big fish in a small pond. The idea of being a cog in a much larger machine, didn’t appeal. Sure, ego was helping to drive this decision, but in the end, it was the right one for me. I was promoted within six months of joining the startup and then promoted again a few months later…and so on. I hit my goal of becoming Vice President of Marketing just a few months shy of my 30^th birthday.

I haven’t thought about this pivotal decision in a long time. When I chaired the recent AWNY Impact Awards, I had the opportunity to engage with amazing women who shared their stories about the tremendous influence their mentors had on them and it got me thinking. Cynthia’s impact on my life was profound. Her wisdom, so softly spoken and freely shared, had continuous impact on my early career. Decades later, the future-focused framework she gave me for evaluating career opportunities now takes on an almost butterfly-effect: I chose – and stayed in – software marketing (a field I love!) because of her guidance. Today, I mentor because of her example.

Congratulations, friend. You've made it. It’s Friday and like you, we've had a busy week. The hustle and bustle of the holiday season has been tiring but our job isn't done just yet. We wanted to give you a few more gifts before we depart for the holidays. Take a seat in your comfiest chair and unwrap these little nuggets – we made them for you.

That wraps up this Five on Friday. From the Centro team to you and yours, have a wonderful, safe holiday and New Year! As always, be happy and be kind.

Life isn't meant for sitting on shore, it’s meant for setting sail on the sea of possibility, where it’s windier and the waves are a little bit rougher. For these Centrons, 2014 was a year of deep sea sailing, permeated with tidal wave dreams and gusty ambitions. Learn how they drifted these dreams back from sea to shore and turned them into reality.

A major dream that I fulfilled in 2014 was traveling to Poland to the town where my grandmother grew up before her family moved to America. Sadly, I was never able to meet her as she had passed away before I was born, but it has always been important to me to connect with that portion of my heritage. As Poland is not a huge travel destination (yet!), it was a bit challenging to get to, consisting of quite a few layovers and trains. That said, the trip was an amazing experience that I will never forget. I learned so much about Poland’s rich history, and also got a better perspective on my own family history and how they came to this country to fulfill their own dreams of a better life.

For the past couple of years I had a major goal of purchasing my first home. And this year, I finally did! After looking at what seemed like hundreds of homes in the suburbs, I fell in love with a condo in Hoboken. After I purchased it, I (along with my fiancé and family) helped to remodel the place. It was a major DIY project and we are so happy with the way it came out! Can’t say I will ever want to remodel on my own again, but it was definitely a goal/accomplishment that taught me quite a bit!

One of my goals for 2014 was to head back to the boot camp classes I loved going to last year. Extenuating circumstances did not allow me to return for the first part of the year, but I started going back this past July (much to the delight of my trainers). The great thing about having this membership is Centro’s commitment to its employees leading healthier lifestyles. Centro subsidizes the cost of gym memberships, and as such, I can go to the classes I love without worrying that I will not be able to afford them. Going two to three times a week has helped me better concentrate on work and has elevated my mood overall. I’m hoping to continue this success into the new year and keep a healthier lifestyle moving forward.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to be “where the action is.” If something gave me a good story to tell, I wanted to be there. As a kid, that meant being the first one awake in the morning and the last one to bed at night, ensuring I wouldn’t miss out on anything. As an adult, it’s meant pursuing new and exciting opportunities and accepting whatever challenges come my way. That being said, it’s not hard to imagine why living in New York City has always been a dream of mine. In 2014, Centro gave me the opportunity to move to this exciting place and like everything else, I jumped at the chance. Living in “the city that never sleeps” has definitely given me some great stories to tell. It’s been a dream come true!

2014 was my best year yet! I personally fulfilled a lifelong dream and professionally achieved goals that many (including myself) thought might be unreachable. Professionally, 2014 included a new market hire, a new campaign team, and the challenge of exponential market growth! Our new AE ramped up in record fashion and exceeded her every goal. Our Ops team gelled quickly and became the driving force for our success. Great people, teamwork, and strong leadership led to hitting our goals and a HUGE 2014! And on a more personal note, I have always wanted to be like my Dad and dreamt of having my own kids to love just like he loved all of us. In March, my amazing wife and I welcomed our first daughter! She is perfect and I could not be more in love! 2014 was my best year yet!

One of my (many) goals/dreams this year was to set a personal record (for both time and fundraising amount) at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon. I wouldn’t consider myself a runner, and never saw myself running a 5k, much less a full marathon. I ran the 2013 marathon with Team Paws and wasn’t really all that thrilled with my time, so I decided to run it again and set the stakes a little higher. I doubled my fundraising goal, and decided that since this would be my last marathon, I just wanted to beat my time from the previous year (even if it was a second faster). I had battled through a few injuries and conflicts with my training schedule, so it’s actually a miracle I finished that day! But I did, and I finished 10 minutes faster than the year before! It felt great to finish “on top”. And now I can retire from crazy (yes, marathon runners are crazy) distances, and look back with pride that I accomplished what I set out to do!

I made one of the biggest decisions of my life this year... I bought a condo! To be honest, this wasn’t a goal of mine until late 2013, but one day, it just hit me and it felt like the right time in my life to do it. After a few months of searching, I came across a place that was perfect. It needed some work, but I could see the potential. It was such a great feeling when I closed and they handed over the keys to my place. Even better when I moved in and made this new place into my home. I know I won’t be in this condo forever, but it truly was a milestone in my life to have been able to do this and to do it all on my own.

Toward the end of last year, I volunteered at an event that donates toys to less fortunate children in the area. My experience made me wish I hadn’t let community service take a backseat to the every-day grind of life, since it reminded me how much I enjoy volunteering. As I considered my new year’s resolutions, I decided to take part in more charitable opportunities in 2014. With Centro’s help, I’ve achieved this goal beyond my original expectations. Throughout the year, I’ve helped organize multiple fundraisers and volunteer events in and outside of the office to benefit local organizations. Apart from taking a leadership role in our office’s Giving Tree activities, I also wanted to start volunteering again with one of my favorite non-profits. I’m proud to have accomplished this goal, as well, and continue to seek out additional ways to get involved in my community.

I studied abroad in South Africa in the spring of 2009 at Stellenbosch University. In my program, I made three very close friends that currently live in different parts of the country. It’s always been a dream of mine for all four of us to go back and re-experience South Africa. With all of our busy schedules, I never thought it would be possible to coordinate such an extravagant international trip, so I never even attempted to. Recently, one of my friend’s younger sister reached out to me to help her pack for HER study abroad semester in South Africa through the same program. I made a comment about coming to visit her and how jealous I was, she mentioned that her brother (my friend) was going in March. I immediately looked at flights on Kayak and reached out to the other two to see if they would be interested. Three days later, all four of us are going back to South Africa in March!

There is one dream I accomplished this year that was a clear winner. In July, I traveled to Zambia with Spark Ventures on a volunteer trip to visit Hope Ministries School and orphanage. I had traveled with Spark to Nicaragua in 2013 and felt so impacted by the trip I knew I had to join their next one. While in the city of Ndola, the Spark group spent the days reading to our buddies, serving the children lunch, painting and learning more about the community and Hope Ministries. The final leg of the trip took us to Livingstone where I watched the sunset over Victoria Falls followed by a day-long safari in Botswana. It was an incredible way to end the trip. Zambia is a beautiful country and something about it stuck with me. The experience with Spark was life-changing, and I will never forget the friends I made.

I’m a huge animal lover, but I have never had a pet of my own. This year, I am proud to say that I rescued not just one, but two older dogs. This has always been a dream of mine, and I cannot even begin to describe how happy they make me! Working with animals has made me a more compassionate person both personally and professionally, and my goal for next year is to play a more active role in animal rescue groups like the North Shore Animal League.

When I look back at 2014, it has truly been one of the best years of my life. Always one to play it safe, and even acquiring the nick name “safe Dayna” by family and friends, I had a goal of pushing myself outside of my comfort zone. So I took a step out of my box, and eagerly applied to Centro when I heard they were looking for an Account Executive in Oklahoma City. Leaving behind a career that was predictable and calm, and jumping into the crazy world of Centro was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made! On a more personal level, I have had a never ending goal of traveling as much as I can. This year’s adventures included a two-week trip to Ireland and London! A few highlights and personal bucket list actives include the Guinness factory tour, the Wicklow Mountains, Stonehenge, and Abby Road. I have a passion for culture and having another opportunity to explore new places makes me so happy!

That concludes our end-of-year blog series on culture! If you haven’t done so already, be sure to check out the other culture posts on The Giving Tree, changing the world, and gratitude. And please – have a safe and happy holiday season! See you in 2015!

Just in case you had a crazy week – yes, it is indeed Friday! As usual, we had another jam-packed week. Not only was it our final week of events in 2014, but we were also in overdrive preparing some great surprises for you. While you will have to wait till next week to see what we’re talking about, we are still going to give you our weekly reflection. Please enjoy today’s Five on Friday!

That does it for this week’s Five on Friday. Thanks for tuning in! We hope everyone has a fantastic weekend. And don’t forget, be happy and be kind.

Happy December, everyone! As we look to close out the year, we figured we would give you one extra gift for the holidays – the last Digital Innovations Awesome List (DIAL) of 2014! The DI team knows how tough and time consuming it is keeping up with the latest trends and trade publications, and wanted to make it easier for you to find the articles, reports, and other bits of awesomeness you probably missed, but might have wanted to read. Please enjoy the newest list!

Size, location, and context matter when it comes to viewability, according to the latest Google research. Find the full report here. Also, see Pixalate’s Trust Index here.

Native advertising is continuing to grow in popularity. In order to keep up with this growth, you should understand the ins-and-outs of successful native ad campaigns. To yield the desired results, check out these three must-have features for native.

With all of the social video platforms out today, it can be easy to view each one with the same train of thought. Instead, we let’s think about these platforms with a different mindset and look for a YouTube “killer”.

Why Nielsen Measuring SVOD Viewership is Potentially a Very Big Deal
The new Nielsen data will unlock some of the secrets to Amazon and Netflix viewership. Why is that such a big deal? It opens the door for SVODs to take big chunks of the video market away from TV. Plus, let’s be honest, you can’t binge-watch three seasons of Breaking Bad on TV.

Today, consumers have more control than ever before — and media companies are being forced to adapt to the new realities of what people watch, and when they watch it. We know how some media companies are adapting, but how is Nielsen adapting to these new rating standards?

TV still has a massive audience and commands substantial ad revenues. But TV audiences are simply just not as big as online audiences, especially with mobile continuing to grow. Could TV be the new newspaper? And what impact is mobile really having on TV? Let’s find out.

When your target consumers are spending the majority of their time watching video online, it makes sense to advertise online through video, especially when sales increase YOY. Check out Digiday’s take on this shift and see what implications it could have on your ad budgeting.

VCE Mobile has expanded with new partners and new measurement capabilities – including mobile video. This movement by ComScore could open the door for more companies to add in-app ad metrics for continuous tracking.

If you are on Twitter you may want to keep an eye out. In an effort to boost ad effectiveness, Twitter wants to know more about you and what apps you have on your device. Could it be the new ‘NSA’ of digital ads? We sure hope not.

With all the delicious food, most of you probably ended up in a food-coma. But if you somehow managed to stay awake and do some holiday shopping on your mobile device, just know that you weren’t the only one. What else were you going to do? Uncle Joe went into his hour long war stories again.

More high-quality mobile app inventory is now available with Apple’s latest iAd shift to programmatic. Now Siri will be able to do more than just entertain you when The Walking Dead is on and there is a commercial break.

With 65% of its audience accessing its platform through mobile devices, this new ad format makes sense for Tumblr. But does it make sense for advertisers? MediaPost takes a deep dive into this new format and you need to check it out!

Though beaconing is still young (no, not Neil Young), early results from numerous trials are showing positive and measurable results. If you are not using beacons, you may want to start considering it before you fall “behind the 8-ball.”

That wraps up our DIAL series for 2014. We hope you all have a wonderful holiday and a happy new year. But don’t fret –we will be back in 2015 with some more awesomeness!

Programmatic is quickly changing the way we think about media buying. Like any new technology, programmatic has had its share of early adopters, eager to test the business results. As bigger brands and publishers get involved, they are challenging the programmatic process -- asking new questions, requesting greater verification, and requiring more data.

Our programmatic team, SiteScout, has been carefully tracking the media industry’s introduction to programmatic, as well as outcomes and patterns. Their bi-weekly blog updates, the RTB Zeitgeist, keeps us up to date on the latest and greatest in our industry’s programmatic journey. We collect the learnings and pass them on to you.

Our second eBook release features selected RTB Zeitgeist articles that speak to the adoption of programmatic by the biggest players and publishers in the industry. Brands and inventory suppliers on either end of the buying process are shaping the way programmatic is purchased. What new challenges are emerging and will programmatic technology rise to meet these new demands? Find out inside.

It used to be that ad agencies were the ultimate source of programmatic know-how. That’s not the case these days as many advertisers are becoming much more educated about programmatic advertising and ad tech in general. The need for transparency is driving advertisers to bring programmatic in-house. Many are seeing the DIY approach as the best way to garner insights and knowledge.

Such a shift is tipping the balance of programmatic smarts and control away from the agencies and to the advertisers themselves, allowing them, among other things, to keep command over their sensitive first-party data. It’s worth noting talent restraints and lack of implementation strategies are the key challenges these advertisers now face.

What Every Tech-Savvy Marketer Should Know About the Future of Programmatic Advertising

Here’s something marketers should mentally bookmark about the future of programmatic advertising: it lives in private marketplaces because that’s where big brands are starting to spend more of their money. By 2016 they will be an $8.6 billion industry.

When considering private programmatic, remember how private marketplaces allow brands and publishers to choose the partners they work with. The models may vary, but firms can customize campaigns and optimize for brand-centric metrics. Advertisers hold more sway over the impressions they purchase. Some private auctions may have preferred buyers participating. Reach can be a drawback. Finally, the next iteration of the private marketplace will likely enable spending commitments and inventory guarantees.

All that said, while private marketplaces do have several advantages, they also have their limitations.

Top Programmatic Trends for 2015

A year ends and a new one begins. Here are some programmatic trends the IAB has said will turns heads in 2015.

Watch for the death of the campaign. We are transitioning into an era of the constant online presence, the always-on campaign that continuously pushes tailored messages. Also, there is finally a standard API for purchasing premium programmatic advertising in OpenDirect.

The industry has fraud in its crosshairs, as that challenge continues to be an issue for programmatic skeptics. Expect mergers and acquisitions in the programmatic space to keep going strong in the New Year. Also look for the industry to begin tackling more long-term issues such as attribution and the “race to the bottom” on CPMs.

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What Every Tech-Savvy Marketer Should Know About the Future of Programmatic Advertising

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