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ARTICLE

Growing the Next Generation of Talent to Fuel a Next-Generation Digital Marketing Supply Chain

October 1, 2019 — by MediaMath    

In a poignant AdExchanger post, Carl Smith writes “What the industry collectively needs to do is grow its ranks. We need to attract and cultivate our own talent, otherwise, the digital landscape will be bleak for both agencies and corporations alike.”

We couldn’t agree more. As the industry rallies around creating a cleaner, more transparent supply chain to take digital into the next era, ad tech companies must fully commit to fostering the talent to support it. If they don’t, their recruiting efforts will be limited to the small slice of the population with past digital marketing experience, making it difficult, if not impossible, to cultivate the talent that is critical to helping brands and their partners get the most out of technology. Further, there will be no guarantee that those candidates have the broad understanding of the programmatic ecosystem, up-to-date knowledge of the latest industry trends and well-rounded skillset necessary to thrive. If companies want great talent, they need to invest.

What does investment in talent look like?

Call me biased, but I believe it looks like the Marketing Engineer Program at MediaMath. Referred to as MEP, the Marketing Engineer Program is “MediaMath’s solution to the needs of a fast-growing industry…” It’s a three-month paid career accelerator program that runs twice a year and accepts 10 to 15 participants from an extremely diverse set of backgrounds and specializations. Whether it’s mathematicians, writers, industry-changers, etc., our philosophy is that, if we provide the marketing education, then our recruitment strategy can focus on the qualities that guarantee high-performance: IQ, EQ, drive and a collaborative spirit. And, providing an education in marketing is exactly what MEP does.

The Marketing Engineer Program combines extensive professional development, formal industry deep-dives and hands-on experience across roles to ensure that every participant has the demeanor of a leader, knowledge of the most fundamental to the most cutting-edge topics in digital media and, finally, skills necessary to tackle any role, be it trader, analyst, sales or others. This formula is working.

Since the program’s inception in 2014, we have placed participants in a wide variety of roles inside and outside of MediaMath. Past MEPs consistently rank among the highest performers at MediaMath and display increased job mobility and the ability to manage people. Tech companies, agencies and brands of both small and large sizes have benefited from the talent that the program produces. Here are some stats from the latest MEP class:

  • 8 people from underrepresented backgrounds
  • 1:1 female-male ratio
  • 4 Advanced Degrees
  • Backgrounds  in Stand-up comedy, varsity college athletes, semi-professional dancers, military experience, past work experience in print publishing

MEP Alumni:

  • 94% placed in full-time jobs within 30 days, 100% within 3 months
  • MEPs occupy leadership positions at MediaMath across Senior Directors, Directors, Senior Managers, etc. and across Solution Engineering, Programmatic Strategy & Optimization, Client Services, Analytics, Engineering, Product, Supply Partnerships, Biz Dev, etc.
  • Across the ecosystem: Oracle, Teads, Deloitte, Horizon Media, Dentsu Aegis, IPG MG, Publicis, TripleLift, Oakland Raiders
  • NPS Score from alumni: 86

There is so much more to be said about the program, but rather than cram it all in here, stay tuned to our social channels to really see how this group of individuals are gaining and sharing a POV that marketing can, in fact, be a force for good in the economy and in the world.

Learn more about MEP: https://www.mediamath.com/careers/marketing-engineer-program/