Episode 153: Better Data, Better Ads: Jenny Yurko of WBD Advertising, A Skydance Company

Jenny Yurko (0:07)

Nevo gets it done so you don't have to.

SPEAKER_2 (0:19)

Welcome to the AdTechGod Pod, your window into the world of advertising technology and the people behind it. I'm your host, AdTechGod.

Welcome to the AdTechGod Pod, where we speak to the product leaders of our industry. Today, I'm joined by Jenny Yurko, Vice President of Data Product Strategy at Warner Bros. Discovery. Jenny has worked across media, advertising and data throughout her career. She's been at Samsung Ads, Comcast, and the NBA. She also teaches predictive analytics at the University of Chicago, which I think is really great that she's trying to educate the next generation of potential ad tech and advertising executives. We're going to chat a lot about identity, maybe clean rooms, interoperability, but most importantly, how advertisers can put their data to work. So I'm excited to have Jenny with us. Jenny, welcome to the show.

Jenny Yurko (1:11)

Thank you so much. I'm excited to be here.

SPEAKER_2 (1:13)

Thank you. And I loved our pre-chat. I always feel like people who have never been on the pod are always like, this is kind of weird. You're not on camera, and I am. But welcome and thank you. Thank you for joining me.

Jenny Yurko (1:24)

I like the mystery of it all.

SPEAKER_2 (1:25)

Yeah, I'm like Santa Claus. I could potentially be your uncle or your father, but this is a lot more exciting that I'm Santa Claus with gifts.

Jenny Yurko (1:34)

So exciting.

SPEAKER_2 (1:35)

Amazing. I would love to hear about you, Jenny. Your background's pretty incredible, like Comcast Massive Company, NBA, Samsung Ads, now Warner Bros. Discovery. I would love for you to tell our listeners about your background and how you got to where you're at today as a VP.

Jenny Yurko (1:51)

Yeah. The route I took probably wasn't traditional as far as advertising goes, but I was really interested in data and statistics, got a degree in psychology a long time ago, got internships with different sports teams, and moved into manager roles within the sports realm. That really just drove me to look into other things that I could do and look into data science.

At the time, I didn't know I wanted to get into advertising. I just wanted to work with numbers and tell stories. And what better place to land than in advertising to take data and be able to tell a story? That's what advertisers are trying to do every day. And luckily enough, I've been afforded great opportunities under amazing leaders at all the different companies I've worked at, from Comcast to Samsung ads. I just had great leaders who kind of let me ask questions and poke holes and solve problems. And all of it really took me from getting to the intersection of like how data and product and advertising all works together.

I really think that some of the biggest things I've learned is just that it's all about translating things between different teams, whether it's technical or commercial teams, clients. It's being able to simplify things, not make things too difficult. Our industry and lives are difficult enough. Might as well make things simpler.

SPEAKER_2 (3:20)

So Jenny, you mentioned a lot about having the right people around you, having right leaders that allowed you to ask the right questions for you to educate yourself and just be a better contributor and team member. Why do you think that helped you so much in your career growth? And what made that environment give you the opportunity to grow within yourself?

Jenny Yurko (3:39)

Yeah, I think the most important part of the leaders that I got to experience is they have been advocates for their people and paved the way. So I guess it's more about selflessness as you become a higher leader and more executive, is how do you pave the way for other people. I feel like I've been really lucky to be able to work with different people who have that on their agenda. They wanted to build our industry and pave the way.

Mind you, I've had other leaders more micromanaging and that sort of thing. And I think that the comparative aspect shows you, you want to be one of those advocates that's a selfless leader in bringing people up and making sure that our industry is growing.

SPEAKER_2 (4:23)

It's amazing how much a good leader can not only contribute to your career growth, but also to just your overall happiness. You know, I've had fantastic managers, fantastic executive team, and I've had some not so fantastic managers and executive teams.

And it's insane how the perception of an employer can often be just the people that are right above you in the org chart, when in reality, the company itself can be fantastic. But if your own little micro world is not healthy and supportive and they're not advocates for your growth, like your perception of the whole company changes. And so I think the importance of having good leaders at the top actually helps create that really healthy culture of where people are motivated to do more, motivated to work harder, motivated to learn. And it sounds like you got that.