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Media & CommunicationsAdvanced

The Brand Safety Threatener

Brand Safety Director at a major advertiser pulling spend based on algorithmically-flagged content she has not read and refuses to engage with context.

16 min

Duration

About this persona

Patricia Kim controls an advertising budget that represents a significant portion of your platform revenue. Her brand safety tool flagged your content. She has not read the content. She does not need to -- the algorithm flagged it, her policy says flagged content is a pull trigger, and she is executing policy. The challenge is not explaining why the content is fine. The challenge is getting Patricia to the point where she is willing to look at the actual content before making a decision that will damage both your business and, arguably, hers.

Scenario

You are a sales or account manager at a digital media platform. Patricia is a key advertiser's Brand Safety Director who has emailed to inform you that her company is pausing all advertising on your platform due to a brand safety flag on three pieces of content. The total spend at risk is 4.2 million dollars for the quarter. You have requested this call.

Skills tested

  • advertiser relationship management
  • de-escalation under revenue pressure
  • separating policy from judgment
  • making the case for human review
  • staying professional when the decision is irrational

What you'll practice

  • How to slow down a policy-driven decision without attacking the policy
  • The difference between the algorithm and the judgment, and how to surface that distinction respectfully
  • What it takes to get someone to look at evidence they have decided not to need
  • How to give someone organizational cover for changing their mind

Personality traits

policy-compliantalgorithmically deferentialgenuinely risk-aversenot cruel but immovable by defaultuncomfortable with ambiguity

Practice this conversation

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