Turning Data Into Growth: How Optimum Media Navigates the New Ad Tech Era
Advertising technology is moving fast. Some may say it’s too fast. AI tools promise automation at scale, smarter targeting, and total visibility across every screen. With so many vendors making bold claims, it’s easy to lose sight of what’s actually working and what’s just noise.
We asked some of Optimum Media’s leaders in product, operations, and marketing to share what they’re seeing on the ground.
AI’s Potential — and Its Limits
Nobody’s dismissing AI outright, but the people closest to campaign performance are pretty clear-eyed about its limits. “Fully autonomous creative is overhyped,” said Tara Brottman, senior director of customer success. “AI won’t replace human strategy or storytelling, especially in brand building.” Automation can speed things up, sure, but the emotional intelligence behind strong creative still requires a person.
Natalia Irmin, VP of product and data, is skeptical of two things in particular: fully automated media buying with zero human oversight and the idea of a universal identity solution that tracks users seamlessly across every platform. “Advertising ecosystems are too complex,” she said. Consumer behavior doesn’t stay still long enough for a set-it-and-forget-it system to keep up.
Where AI does earn its place is in the details like optimizing creative variations, managing frequency, and tightening measurement frameworks. It’s less about replacing people, more about making them sharper. As Savannah Aylen, director of marketing, put it: “The future isn’t human versus machine. It’s human plus machine.”
What Actually Drives Performance
Better tools don’t matter much if you can’t see what’s happening. Chris Vaughan, director of product development, was pretty direct about this: “Transparency in reporting is critical to building client trust.” That means real visibility into impression delivery, video completion rates, reach and frequency, pacing, performance by zip code, and daypart. When clients can see exactly how a campaign is running, accountability follows. So does the relationship.
But visibility is only half the equation. “It’s easy to report impressions, clicks, or even conversions,” Savannah said. “What’s harder, and more important, is understanding what would have happened without the campaign. Did we actually drive new demand?” That’s where real measurement lives, and most dashboards don’t touch it.
Chris made the case for testing before launch and optimizing through the life of the campaign, not just analyzing after a campaign underperforms. Validating audience targeting, ad placement, and technical setup throughout reduces wasted spend and prevents performance gaps at scale. “Even the best strategy can fall short if creative, targeting, or timing misses the mark,” Tara added. The best campaigns don’t stay static, they adapt.
Natalia framed it succinctly: “Testing helps you find what works, and optimization helps you scale it profitably.” Small tweaks to creative, messaging, or landing pages can move click-through and conversion rates meaningfully. Over time, those small improvements add up.
Optimum Media’s Approach: Tools, Judgment, Results
The honest answer is that having the right technology isn’t the hard part anymore. Everyone has access to tools, but the advantage is knowing how to use them. Our approach is a blend of human judgment, transparent reporting, real testing, and the discipline to keep optimizing throughout a campaign’s life.
The brands that win won’t be the ones that automate the most. They’ll be the ones that measure what actually matters and keep adjusting until they get it right.