This article was originally published by Adweek.
Media can no longer be put into a box. Brands are asking agencies for more guidance than ever as they try to navigate consumer privacy, personalization, heaps of data and more. This year’s Media All-Stars offer not only expertise in their respective fields, but also the innovative thinking needed to usher clients into a future that remains uncertain.
Ten years ago, Koziarski was busy building something from nothing in a London attic. The something in question? OMD EMEA’s search practice, which he was tapped to launch—and managed to grow to a 50-person team within two years.
Since then, he’s stayed within the Omnicom Media Group family. Last year, Koziarski became PHD’s first chief media officer, a position he says partly involves ensuring the agency’s competencies in direct response are equal to those in brand building. He’s also been tasked with rethinking the agency’s service model to take advantage of the opportunities created by new data and technology, such as cross-screen measurement and delivery.
In recent months, he’s reorganized PHD around three integrated disciplines—planning, investment and orchestration—all while unearthing ways to make client media spend more effective. For instance, he recently pioneered a three-step process to flatten the frequency distribution of campaigns so that viewers aren’t seeing the same ads over and over again. According to PHD, brands that used the process saved a minimum of 10% of their video ad budget.
Despite having only one year under his belt, Koziarski has already helped PHD rack up major account wins such as Diageo, Casper, LG and TikTok. But he’s not resting on his laurels: Moving forward, he wants to help the industry battle what he calls precision paralysis.
“We have confused what is possible versus what is valuable and, in doing so, cheapened relationships with consumers,” he says. “I’m excited, not intimidated, by increased privacy protections and harnessing predictive intelligence that can both enhance results and preserve consumer privacy.” —M.S.