Dive Brief:
- Since his appointment as CEO of Millennial Media, the first mobile-ad network to go public, Michael Barrett has struggled to dig the company out of a sharp 82% decline from its IPO price.
- In a quarterly earnings call, Barrett laid out a plan to pivot from app downloads and banners ads to automated buying.
- Barrett's first significant step was to hire Marc Theerman, a collegue from his AdMeld days, as VP of business strategy.
Dive Insight:
It's always a huge risk to be the be the first in your industry to go public and Millennial Media is finding that out the hard way. Automated buying could be the right direction to head — especially as the popularity of mobile banner ads wavers. Pulling in a colleague from a successful company could also get the executive team in the right mindset to turn the ship around.
