Digital B2B Opps: Avaya appoints marketing chief amid YTD spend decreases (Score 50)
Sales lead: This hire will likely lead to spend shifts & agency appointments. 
- Avaya announced Josh Mueller will take over as CMO, effective July 17th, 2023.
- Mueller most recently served as CDO and SVP/GM of National Instrument's portfolio business unit.
- He is now responsible for Avaya's global marketing initiatives.
Target demographic: Businesses that need communications services
The company will likely:
- Ramp digital ad spend back up
- Try new ad channels
- Outsource some marketing duties to agency partners
Digital and social insights (digital ad spend, effectiveness, impressions, and performance)
- YTD spend: Avaya spent around $22.3k on digital display ads YTD, a huge decrease from $990.5k spent in this channel during the same time period of 2022.
- YTD data: 2.3m impressions via desktop display.
- 2021-2022 spend: Full-year spend increased by 29% from $1.4m in 2021 to $1.8m in 2022.
- Ad location: It placed 88% of these ads directly onto sites such as engadget.com, zillow.com, speedtest.net, crusharcade.com, and foodnetwork.com. It placed 12% of these ads indirectly through Google AdX+AdSense and Bidtellect onto sites such as zilllow.com, engadget.com, sourceforge.net, onlineconversion.com, and apples4theteacher.com.
Additional channel insights
- Vivvix: Avaya also invests in OOH.
- It holds media planning discussions in Q2; it buys during Q1.
- Top podcasts sponsored: Le Batard & Friends Network, Dharma Seed, The Intercooler, and Mindful Muslimah Speaks.
Agency analysis:
- Opportunity: CMO hires are the number one sign of upcoming agency appointments.
- Avaya does not currently work with any agencies to the best of my knowledge.
Insight Sources: Digital spend insights estimated by Pathmatics; additional channel insights estimated by Vivvix; podcast data estimated by Podchaser.
