Q&A with Mollie Kehoe, Co-Founder at BrandVerge Inc.
Media 7 | December 18, 2020
Mollie Kehoe, Co-Founder at BrandVerge, is an experienced professional with a demonstrated history of working in the marketing and advertising industry. A graduate from State University, she is a business development professional, highly skilled in Digital Strategy, Digital Marketing, and Branded Content.
MEDIA 7: How did you come up with the idea of BrandVerge?
MOLLIE KEHOE: What really inspired me and my co-founder, Lynn Brown, and ultimately led us to come up with the concept for BrandVerge, was personal frustration in our professional careers. I come from the media sales side and Lynn from the advertising side. We were both experiencing a lot of friction in the current RFP process - the way that media partnerships are traditionally bought and sold. It drove us to see the need and the white space in the market to then figure out the technology required to solve that problem, fill that gap, and make the entire process more efficient.
When we sat down and thought about it, there are so many technologies that have disrupted and helped make our personal lives easier. For example, It's easier to book a trip with Kayak or it's easier to find a place to stay with Airbnb than calling individual hotels.
Our day-to-day lives have become more streamlined because of technology, and we felt that if our consumer-facing lives are made easier every day, there should be something in our work lives that makes our jobs just as easy.
Our users are our main priority, so we look to deliver them a product that meets their evolving needs.
M7: What is your company’s core marketing mantra? How does BrandVerge work on bridging the gap between buyers and sellers?
MK: BrandVerge is a marketplace that helps to streamline the discovery, planning, and consideration of premium media sponsorships. BrandVerge helps advertisers discover new media partners, ultimately creating unparalleled access and transparency, so they know all the different partners they can, and should, be working with based on their campaign priorities. This approach allows advertisers to operate and plan high-touch programs about 60 percent faster than their normal RFP process.
On the other side, for media sales organizations, we're giving them more opportunities - more shots on goal. We're helping them get in front of over 300 plus advertiser accounts at any given time. Creating high-quality lead generation and demand that they cannot get anywhere else.
BrandVerge helps drive efficiencies for both sides of the media marketplace. At BrandVerge, our mission is to help streamline and simplify the way all types of media sponsorships are discovered, planned, and ultimately sold. We plan to become the go-to destination to shop and list offerings at scale.
M7: What are the different digital marketing tools and techniques you use to attain the desired results?
MK: We use different tools at BrandVerge for productivity. As a startup, it’s easier to inspire people to use technology to work more efficiently since there is so much to get done on any given day. For example, using different tools for either task management or Sales CRM, we can show our organization how much easier it becomes to collaborate and work on big projects.
As leaders, not only are we leading by example, but we’re also showcasing the benefits and the core value of workplace technology – like BrandVerge!
We also leverage social and email marketing to get in front of our clients. Some of the tools we use include Buffer, Intercom and Mailchimp.
As leaders, not only are we leading by example, but we’re also showcasing the benefits and the core value of workplace technology.
M7: What do you think is essential to stay competitive in a market that is going through constant digitalization?
MK: Currently, we say our biggest competitor is the old process. This is the manual, outdated hundred-hour RFP process. So, the fact that we’re disrupting a fragmented landscape, creating transparency, and bringing everything online allows us to stand out 10-fold compared to how people currently plan Excel sheets and PowerPoint and endless email chains.
As the industry continues to evolve, we look to our users to see what they need and work to evolve the product from there. At the end of the day, our users are our main priority, so we look to deliver them a product that meets their evolving needs.
M7: The most interesting project you have worked on till date?
MK: We recently worked with a leading industry trade group, the IAB, to help them digitize their Newfront and Upfront events in 2020. The IAB hosts some of the biggest showcases in the media industry where partners highlight the best in original content for the upcoming year and new ad programs that buyers can purchase. These traditionally were in-person events that didn’t live anywhere once they were over.
Through this project, we were able to give all advertisers access to these programs virtually and helped to extend the life of this virtual event long after the week was over. You can read our case study, here.
Surround yourself with people who also believe in your mission and listen to their ideas. Some of the best ideas within our organization have come from our team members.
M7: How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected your work - what day to day processes have you had to re-tool to be able to pull them off remotely?
MK: Like many industries, COVID-19 has forced everyone to work from home and connect virtually. The media & advertising industry is historically reliant on in-person deal-making, so this shift in behavior has put our tool front and center. The same way Zoom has become a host for meetings in a completely virtual business world, BrandVerge gives advertisers and media companies the ability to communicate and deal-make digitally.
M7: Your advice to young women who are considering a career in high tech?
MK: My main advice would be to surround yourself with people who also believe in your mission and listen to their ideas. Let the team know that they are just as important to the success of the company as you are, and take their ideas seriously. Some of the best ideas within our organization have come from our team members.
ABOUT BRANDVERGE INC.
Content comes in numerous forms: premium, sponsored, native, and branded. BrandVerge integrates and orchestrates content, in all its forms, into an elegant marketplace - providing the advertising industry with a premier destination to shop, sell and create premium media opportunities. By empowering advertisers and premium publishers with transparency and control like no other platform can, BrandVerge transforms the content discovery experience. For more information, visit www.gobrandverge.com.