Madhive's Jon Kaplan On Its Quest To Make Advertising More Insightful And Engaging

In this TVREV Thought Leaders Circle video and Q+A, Madhive CRO Jon Kaplan talks about what he learned during his time at Google and Pinterest and how he can put those lessons to use at Madhive.

ALAN WOLK (AW):  Let’s start off with you telling me what you did before Madhive?

JON KAPLAN (JK): Before Madhive, I was at Pinterest for six years and before that I was at Google for 12 years.

AW: That’s an impressive resume. Let’s start with Google. What was your role there?

JK: I started at Google in 2004. I had a number of different roles there as the company grew,  most recently overseeing US sales for products like search, YouTube, DoubleClick programmatic, and the ad network.

AW:  What were your main takeaways from Google?

JK: I love the process of building new categories. At Google, from 2003 to 2016, we started with search, then we acquired YouTube and learned the language of TV and video. We also acquired DoubleClick, which played a big part in the rise of programmatic marketing. And then there was the shift from desktop to mobile. Each of these were building phases that I really enjoyed.

AW: What about Pinterest? You were there at at time of dramatic growth as well.

JK: I joined Pinterest when it was at about 100 million in revenue with 150 million users. By the time I left, we were at 3 billion in revenue with nearly half a billion users. It was an incredible journey.

AW:  What were some key takeaways from your time at Pinterest?

JK: One thing was the importance of helping marketers understand the value of Pinterest as an inspirational platform. We wanted to teach marketers to be inspiring and to help users discover inspiring ideas. Another focus was on expanding our business to international markets and small businesses.

AW:  Do you think you can apply what you learned at Google and Pinterest to Madhive?

JK: Absolutely. There are many similarities to what we're doing here at Madhive. We're in the early stages of CTV, and there's a huge opportunity to guide the industry. The goal is to make advertising useful and relevant to what users are watching.

AW:  Both Google and Pinterest were very user-focused. Do you see that as something Madhive should be focused on as well?

JK: Definitely. The thread between all of these companies is figuring out how to make advertising better. At Pinterest, we tried to make advertising a utility, offering new ideas. Here at Madhive, the challenge is to match the advertising to what people are watching, making it insightful and engaging.

AW:  Digital transformation has reshaped many industries. How do you see its impact on TV?

JK: Digital transformation is everywhere. Search evolved from the Yellow Pages, YouTube began the shift from linear TV, and programmatic changed display ads. Now, we're seeing the shift from linear to connected TV and the impact is massive.

AW:  What are some of the big differences you see between the way digital advertising and television are bought and sold?

JK: I think digital companies and TV buyers often speak different languages. Starting back from when I was at Google, I’ve had to make sure my teams learned and then adapted to the way TV was bought, understanding that some traditional methods had value 

That said,  I think the future is that it's all just video. It's hard to distinguish between TV content and content on other devices. It's all video to us, and that's the opportunity.

AW:  Given your digital background, were you surprised by the TV set's staying power?

JK: I wasn't surprised. The experience of watching on a big screen, especially live events or sports, is special and can't be replicated by a phone.  I have a 65-inch TV and feel it's on the smaller side among my friends. And watching on a screen that size is such a powerful experience.

AW:  Where do you think TV is headed over the next few years?

JK: The TV market is still vibrant, with innovations like integrated connected experiences and new models like Telly emerging. We are still at the early stages of TV’s transformation, especially around local TV, which is why I am excited about Madhive’s prospects.