This January, Zuber joined Kantar Media as Chief Product and Business Officer and President of TechEdge. Most recently, he served as Deputy Chief Business Officer at Sky Group responsible for driving Sky Media’s advertising revenues across Europe and managing and expanding Sky’s relationships with its content and distribution partners. Prior to Sky where he spent over 11-years, Zuber started his career with PwC and holds a degree in Mathematics from Queens’ College, University of Cambridge.
We caught up with Zuber to learn about this new role, his first impressions and his early plans in leading Kantar Media’s innovation agenda.
Welcome to Kantar Media, Zuber. Can you tell us what first attracted you to joining Kantar Media?
The content and advertising ecosystem is going through unprecedented change, at huge pace. There is a critical need for all customers, from content owners, platforms, advertisers and agencies, to have transparent, best-in-class cross-media measurement solutions. Kantar Media is already playing a global leadership role in defining the future of cross-media measurement and is on its way to achieving undisputed industry leadership. Working alongside talented colleagues and through expanding our partnerships with the world’s leading industry players, I hope to contribute towards this vision, which will be transformational for the entire content and advertising ecosystem.
What skills or experiences from previous roles will be most key in helping to achieve your goals at Kantar Media?
I truly believe that purposeful collaboration and building enduring partnerships is the way to grow the overall pie for everyone and deliver holistic measurement solutions. By combining a clear vision and customer-first mindset on the end outcomes we want to achieve with deep technical and analytical skills, I hope to help Kantar Media navigate the growing complexity and shape the future of innovation for the chapter ahead.
You’re a couple of weeks into the role – what are your first impressions?
The talent, expertise and most importantly passion of our people across Kantar Media has really struck and inspired me – already, I too have fallen in love with audience measurement! I am also impressed by the breadth and depth of our partnerships and customer relationships in over eighty countries worldwide, and the pride and responsibility people feel in delivering for our partners and customers. As well as the breadth of solutions we offer, including the value that TGI brings to brands, their agencies and media owners. The roadmap ahead for 2024 and beyond is really exciting with a number of world-first innovations and partnerships to come to fruition.
What are your immediate plans for your first few months at Kantar Media?
I am passionate about the media industry, and excited about the opportunity this role affords me to continue to help the content and advertising ecosystem transform. My immediate priority is to meet as many partners, customers and colleagues as possible and learn in depth about our entire product and services portfolio. As I touched on, I truly believe that the way to transform the industry is by building enduring partnerships, adopting a customer-first mindset in all that we do and leveraging the strength of our talented people. As part of my global remit across Product, TechEdge, Data Science and Business Development, I will be moving to Singapore in a few weeks to support my colleagues in accelerating the growth of our business in Asia.
Our recent, Media Trends & Predictions report highlighted the challenges and opportunities brought about by the acceleration of change and innovation. What most excites you in this area – and is there anything that concerns you?
There’s a huge amount of change happening throughout the media ecosystem powered by the accelerating technology revolution. To touch on a few of them – the acceleration of AVOD whether it is FAST or launch of Streamer Ad-tiers, the consolidation of players in the ecosystem, the phasing out of third-party cookies alongside the evolution of privacy-enhancing technologies and of course AI.
With this backdrop, I am hugely optimistic for the opportunities ahead for the entire industry. I believe the ones that will capture these opportunities most effectively will be those who are adaptable, creative and transparent, truly embrace partnerships and evolve to navigate the growing complexity. I’m really excited to see Kantar Media’s growing role and impact on the industry, and hope to help write the next chapter ahead with colleagues and partners.
It is also critically important to be aware of where things could potentially go wrong, whether it is privacy, intellectual property, fraud, or lack of representation. However, with the right focus and global coordination to tackle these concerns, the industry should be optimistic about a future that combines human capital and creativity with the technological innovations to achieve its overarching mission to share knowledge and to connect, empower and entertain the world.
Any final words for clients or colleagues reading this interview?
I’m really excited for the opportunities that lay ahead for Kantar Media, for our partners and for the industry. I look forward to meeting as many of you as possible – please do get in touch.