How Tracer’s Obele Brown-West helps brands consolidate their ad data

Obele Brown-West is helping lead the data transformation within brands in the world of advertising. Last year, Brown-West took on the role of president at Tracer, a startup data intelligence platform with an impressive roster of backers, including sports investors Alex Rodriguez and Kevin Durant. Tracer was incubated within VaynerMedia, and last year it raised more than $18 million, including money from S4S Ventures. Brown-West’s remit at Tracer is to help brands get control of their data, she told Ad Age. Data is the lubricant that will keep marketing engines humming, especially first-party data collected directly by the brands, as the digital ad industry moves away from highly invasive third-party data sources. Data also helps chief marketing officers understand which ad vendors are delivering on campaigns and promises, Brown-West said. “Especially in the marketing world, people are just looking to really understand what the value of their dollar is and how they can actually get more actual insights in their business,” she added. Tracer has brand and ad agency clients, including Sanofi, Headspace, Papa Johns, Media.Monks and VaynerMedia. The company provides software that consolidates data sources from all parts of a business. Brands that control their own data are not beholden to outside partners, and they can more freely make moves such as agency reviews, Brown-West said. Tracer also watches out for bad actors in the ad industry that could waste a brand’s money. “We have caught some partners not necessarily being aboveboard, and because of Tracer, brands were able to actually recoup,” Brown-West said. See Ad Age’s Tech Power List honoring marketing leaders What is the biggest technological challenge facing your sector of advertising and technology, and why? Making sense of cross-channel, cross-platform, cross-marketing data to get to actionable business insights. For the past decade, the hot topic has been getting this data. However, now that people have it, they are struggling to make sense of it so the data is useful and provides timely business insights that can drive action in real time. What piece of technology could you absolutely not live without, besides your phone? My 2-year-old’s tablet queued up to “Bubble Guppies” and my 8-year-old’s Nintendo Switch queued up to “Just Dance” or “Mario Smash Bros.” My husband and I try to limit screen time, but we also appreciate the modern conveniences of technology when it comes to long plane rides or giving us a minute to breathe after dinner. What’s your favorite blog, TikTok account, podcast or any must-follows in your media diet? I have no idea who Adam Ghani is, but I have been following his Instagram (@adams.delights) dedicated to 1970s and 1980s TV, movie and soap opera fandom for years. He has great taste, loves old-school CBS soap operas like “Guiding Light” as much as I did, and it feeds my 1980s latchkey kid nostalgia. Who is your technological hero, alive or from the past, who inspired you the most? If you’ve seen me speak at a conference in the past 15-ish years, you probably know I have been a fan of [Reddit co-founder] Alexis Ohanian for close to 20 years. I was an early Redditor and appreciate that he aligns his technology and corporate pursuits to positivity and making the world a little bit better. We are close in age, so I also really appreciate how seemingly down-to-earth he is (he makes pancakes shaped like Bluey for his kids!) regardless of his or his wife’s [Serena Williams] fame. See Ad Age’s Tech Power List honoring marketing leaders

How Tracer’s Obele Brown-West helps brands consolidate their ad data

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