Juice Media is a company focused on helping customers scale businesses through strategic planning & management, media activation, and measurement tools. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Juice Media president Mark Zamuner to learn more about the company.
Mark Zamuner’s Background
Could you tell me more about your background? Zamuner said:
“I started working out of school, running a campaign office for a nonprofit in San Francisco. I had done work for them the prior summer and a lot of the work entailed community outreach. Going door to door talking to people about issues and fundraising. Having been born and raised in New York City, if you told me that people would be receptive to strangers on their doorstep talking about political issues and asking for money…and being successful…a 17-year-old me would have said you’re crazy. That experience really opened my eyes to the power of effective communication and having a passion for the work I was engaged in.”
Formation Of Juice Media
How did the idea for the company come together? Zamuner shared:
“I’d been working at eHarmony, and we were scaling internationally (UK, Brazil, AU). We were looking for a media partner to work with across multiple markets who had a deep analytical approach to media that matched eHarmony’s own approach to applied analytics to create localized match pools.”
“A New Yorker doesn’t want to be matched with someone from Los Angeles – it’s somewhat inconvenient! Finding a media partner that understood the nuances of highly complex models like eHarmony’s or marketplaces (matching supply with demand) proved more challenging than we had anticipated. It seemed as if there was a gap in the agency market to provide those types of services. With that in mind, in 2011, I founded TWO NIL a media agency focused on supporting brands looking to break into Linear TV. As brands evolved to require this type of analytical rigor across multiple channels, we evolved our capabilities to support them and became Juice Media.”
Favorite Memory
What has been your favorite memory working for the company so far? Zamuner reflected:
“It’s not really a single memory. I’d say our alumni and seeing the professional success that so many team members have had is what stays with me the most. Conversely, we lost a colleague a few years ago, and the memories of the times we shared together are some of my most cherished memories.”
Core Products
What are the company’s core products and features? Zamuner explained:
“We focus on scaling our customers’ businesses through strategic planning & management, media activation, and a suite of measurement tools spanning from MMM and MTA to channel-level solutions that assess how each dollar invested is generating growth for the brand and where best to spend the next dollar.”
Challenges Faced
What challenges have Zamuner and the team faced in building the company? Zamuner acknowledged:
“Our business will always be impacted by macroeconomic factors…as discretionary spending is impacted, marketing investment from brands are impacted. By focusing on growth and validating the causal impact of marketing investments on profitable returns, we can manage economic cycles very well.”
Evolution Of Juice Media’s Technology
How has the company’s technology evolved since launching? Zamuner noted:
“We’ve been able to leverage a – number of developments in ad technology over the last few years. We have a deep, rich history of performance, given our nearly 15 years of operating experience. Leveraging automation to extract insight to develop and optimize media plans frees up resources to focus on long-term value creation and not simply day-to-day operations focused on providing short-term insight & reporting. As a subsidiary of Optimum, we have access to exclusive media activation opportunities and enhanced data resources that set us apart from competitors.”
Significant Milestones
What have been some of the company’s most significant milestones? Zamuner cited:
“We’re coming up on 15 years of operation. I’m proud of the role we’ve played in supporting numerous challenger brands becoming recognizable industry leaders – it’s always a milestone moment when you see a brand and, more importantly, the management team you’ve worked with be successful or achieve what they hoped to achieve. Witnessing the growth and development of people you’ve coached/mentored as their careers develop is probably the most important.”
Customer Success Stories
When asking Zamuner about customer success stories, he highlighted:
“This is also a great source of pride…Wix jumps out. An Israeli tech start-up at the time, we were connected with their CMO via a VC referral. We’re on a conference call, and Omer, the CMO, basically says, great, so you can drive me visitors for $1…yallah, let’s go. Within a few weeks, we went from an audio test to a video and several years of Super Bowl campaigns. They established themselves as a top brand in the category and a multi-billion dollar business. Phenomenal team and leadership that we were able to partner with to help scale. Very similar to success stories like Dollar Shave Club and Ruggables.”
Total Addressable Market
What total addressable market (TAM) size is the company pursuing? Zamuner assessed:
“Over half a trillion dollars of media is executed in the US market…I’ll leave it at that.”
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates the company from its competition? Zamuner affirmed:
“We see some forms of measurement and execution as table stakes… For us, being able to leverage the power of Optimum as a corporate partner opens doors of value in media activation that others can not. A full suite measurement solution from the macro to the micro is critical to creating a continuous feedback loop that understands the interplay of fast-twitch (i.e. – near term signal such as brand search demand) with slow-twitch (i.e. – brand consideration tracking) metrics to guide overall long term profitable decision making. The crowning achievement is having an experienced team that provides overall strategic planning and incorporates test design into the strategy to ensure we have clarity and validation in our approach.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of the company’s future company goals? Zamuner pointed out:
“We’d like to hit $2 billion in annual media under management in the next 5 years. Ensuring high customer satisfaction, scaling growth for our customers, and developing our team’s skill sets are critical to achieving that goal. We’ll be active in M&A as well and look forward to the future of creating benefits for all involved.”
Additional Thoughts
Any other topics you would like to discuss? Zamuner concluded:
“Always, but they involve Arsenal Football Club and my excitement for this season, and I’m not sure most people are interested in hearing about that!”
