Alisa Ben, SVP and Head of Analytics at Canvas Worldwide, is a seasoned executive who has a wealth of knowledge in the fields of strategy, consumer insights, marketing, data & analytics, leadership, and innovation.
Alisa most recently worked as SVP, Strategic Marketing Intelligence at Zimmerman Advertising. Prior to joining Zimmerman, Alisa held the positions of VP and Head of Operations at Select Management Group, a top management company that represents cutting-edge talent and content. While there, she contributed to the development of the organization’s internal infrastructure and oversaw the integration of SMG’s operations and programs, which included analytics, strategy, business development, and social responsibility.
Below are highlights of the interview:
Describe your background and what did you do before you joined/founded company name?
My professional history is similar to a love song: heartbreaking but fulfilling.I didn’t end up writing romance novels that were sold in grocery stores and airports all over the world and living in Lake Tahoe, but I have written two unpublished books that sit in Dropbox. Nope, I didn’t become a rockstar like I thought I would in college, but I did discover, develop, and manage a multi-platinum selling band that eventually left me for Green Day’s manager at the height of their success. I was never the head of a record label, but I did help usher in ways to develop and market artists and labels through measurement and work with some of my favorite artists and music executive heroes. The moral of the story is that some of the greatest love songs are not yet written, and this analogy needs to end, so here’s my official bio:
Alisa spent most of her career as a music executive, specializing in data strategy, analytics, and consumer insights. She worked at AOL, MTV, and Warner MusicGroup. She went on to create and build the Artist Analysis and Insights division for Universal Music Group, where she pioneered and integrated consumer and data-driven strategies for product, brand, and artist development for Universal’s many artists and labels.
She left the music industry in 2016 and began working in the advertising industry, where she builds and oversees data strategy and analytics groups for agencies. She is currently SVP and Head of Analytics at Canvas Worldwide.
A former Adjunct Professor at Carnegie Mellon University, Alisa holds a BA in Journalism & Broadcasting from Oklahoma State University and an MBA from New York University.
Tell us more about the company.
Canvas Worldwide is the fastest growing media communications agency. We were built to be the alternative to the malaise of media holding company options. Named Adweek’s 2020 Breakthrough Media Agency of the Year, Canvas Worldwide provides innovative marketing solutions for brands looking to challenge conventional thinking and instead make their own bold strokes.
Who is your target audience? How do you create services that align with what they’re looking for?
Launched in 2015, the agency is dual-headquartered in Los Angeles and New York, with regional offices in Chicago, Dallas, Denver, and Atlanta. Canvas Worldwide services world-class clients such as Hyundai, Kia, Genesis, United Artists Releasing, Starz, McDonald’s, and more. The agency’s culture is built around the idea that in order to achieve anything great, one must always first “challenge the comfortable!” And that culture has led our team to be honored by The Effies, AdAge, and even the Cannes Lions Festival—but most importantly, we drive real business results for clients.
What are the major changes happen in client behavior and market operation since pandemic?
I’m seeing a greater sense of humanity both in the client/consumer relationship and overall operations. Prior to the pandemic, there was this business-as-usual mentality, and when the pandemic happened, we experienced a shift into a we’re-all-in-this-together mentality with clients really pitching in their messaging, platform, and operations for the common good. I’m not going to get into the economics, politics, psychology, digital transformation, and cultural shifts of the pandemic, but our agency’s motto was “Make Yourself Uncomfortable,” so we approached our clients’ businesses that way even before the pandemic, and this really allowed us to have business continuity across the board. Our motto has changed to “Challenge the Uncomfortable” because we can’t lose that humanity, relatability, innovation, and growth for our clients’ businesses and we’re far from business as usual. So, the major changes that happened were really our core values and how they align with the world.
What gets you up in the morning?
My 7- and 4-year-old wake me up at the break of dawn. Ha. But in all seriousness, I try to practice the philosophy that “tomorrow is a new day,” so with that thinking, each day is a brand-new day to be better or different, and let go of yesterday, be present and change the course of tomorrow. That gets me up in the morning—the thought that how amazing it is to get that many chances in life to be better than the day before or the relief of painful or hard moments in your day being potentially ephemeral because tomorrow is a new day.
What are your responsibilities as the leader’s position of the company?
Quite simply, my core responsibility is to shape and drive the measurement vision and strategy for our clients that deliver business outcomes.
Kindly describe how you will specifically know what success looks like for you.
I measure success through progress. Progress is where you learn what works and what doesn’t, so you can fail gracefully and win humbly more often.
What advice would you give to the next generation of leaders?
People rarely remember what you did, but how you treated them.
What are your future plans to sustain your and the company’s success?
This is such a big question that it takes more than just me to answer, but within the analytics space, it’s such an evolving area that we are all working in tandem to lead our clients into this new frontier of measurement, give them data and measurement self-service, and open the aperture across the consumer journey to predict and create pathways for that journey. This is how we’re building a measurement future for our clients. Ultimately, our client’s success is our success.
Website: www.canvasworldwide.com
