Catherine Hallam, head of data strategy, commercial advertising, ITV

What has been your career path to date?

Having left Oxford with a Modern Languages degree and an uncertainty about what particular career path to follow to utilise the skills I had gained, I determined that the most rewarding aspect of foreign language and literature was the ability to communicate and be understood. So with that in mind, I started a placement in a marketing agency covering all aspects of PR and marketing for a variety of clients. It was from there that my interest in database marketing arose.

I moved to Clarity Blue, soon to be Experian, to focus on the use of customer databases in direct marketing communications for large financial and insurance clients initially, and then ultimately transitioned into a data product role to launch its innovative digital advertising solution powered by Experian data several years later. A desire to bring my expertise in data-powered product solutions to another digital media format, this time for a smaller company, led me to Videology, where I managed data products through partnerships and solutions for international clients (outside the US).

The acquisition of Videology by Amobee and subsequently its deal with ITV led me to my position at ITV over two years ago and allows me to lead data strategy for commercial advertising products with a renowned and data-rich broadcaster.