5 Minutes with… Vitaly Boitelet
Chief product officer and co-founder of SmartAssets Vitaly Boitelet combines a strong background in psychology with a career built on data science, and a penchant for advertising and media, in an aim to reshape the future of ad tech with Stagwell Marketing Cloud’s latest gen-AI platform, SmartAssets.
Starting his journey in project management, then managing CRM for auto manufacturers before moving into data and consumer insights agency-side, Vitaly found his vocation in advertising and media while working as global account director at Assembly Global, and innovation lead at Locaria, both fellow Stagwell entities.
His career took an abrupt turn in 2022 when he won Stagwell Marketing Cloud’s innovation Shark Tank for his SmartAssets idea, which secured a total of $1 million of funding. Now he runs the AI-powered SaaS platform. The tool uses AI to extract creative components from ads. It then uses performance data from those ads to guide and support the creative process by reporting, forecasting, and optimising ads for effectiveness. With AI-powered asset categorization, performance analytics, and instant creative adjustments, it allows brands to better optimise production timelines and overall media performance.
LBB’s Alex Reeves caught up with Vitaly to hear more about his career, where SmartAssets came from and the creative outcomes that it’s helped get to.
LBB> For those more tech- or business-minded, SmartAssets is maybe an easier sell. If you wanted to convince someone more creatively focused of its power, how would you describe it?
Vitaly> Creative teams are actually generally the ones most intrigued by the platform. We're collaborating with designers and producers across the Stagwell network to build the solution, ensuring it supports their workflows without being intrusive. The aim is to build a tool that is easy to use and time-saving. More importantly, these teams help us inform our model of what makes a good or bad creative. Fulfilling our vision of connecting creative and media through data means we're finally providing data-driven evidence to support creative opinions. This last part is precisely why they're so excited – to finally have a data tool built for and by them.
LBB> You've got a background in psychology and had a career in data science. How did you end up combining those disciplines?
Vitaly> First, psychology is a science, so having a basic understanding of statistics is essential to grasp research papers. Then, I would say that principles of psychology apply to everything, from daily interactions to job interviews, negotiating a bank loan, and even showing an ad to your brand's audience. Throughout my years in the advertising industry, I've seen how measurement and data science were at the core of every innovation from RTB to mobile, and social... The work we're doing at SmartAssets is a continuation of this data evolution, now integrating the creative and behavioural principles through the use of gen AI.
LBB> You've also worked in various kinds of roles, from project management to CRM and account directing. When did you find the sweet spot for what you really love doing?
Vitaly> The common thread in all my roles, and the sweet spot of what I truly love, is working within a dedicated team to solve significant client challenges.
LBB> Where did SmartAssets begin?
Vitaly> I was working at Assembly on a global account. They had strong ambitions for global coherence in media buying but the creative work was being left out. I approached Eric (Walzthöny , SmartAssets co-founding CTO) who I knew was working on a similar challenge for a different client. We started exploring how to use AI to simplify asset management by eliminating manual tagging and taxonomy requirements.
A few days later, Lindsay (Hong, SmartAssets co-founding CEO) approached us with the idea of making inferences on media performance based on the creative. Her request perfectly complemented what we were already working on. Within a few days, we had developed the core concept of SmartAssets.
As we assessed its feasibility, we learned about the SMC's Shark Tank program and decided to apply. The jury recognised the significant gap our product could fill and how it synergised with other parts of the business. Being part of the network has been a tremendous advantage, allowing us to easily collaborate with industry experts and global brands at every step of our development process.
LBB> What was the moment when you realised there was something really valuable for marketers in it?
Vitaly> Since our idea addresses a recurring client problem, repeated across multiple brands, we already had a strong sense of its value. What surprised us, was how eagerly marketers embraced the breaking down of silos between creative and media. We had originally anticipated having to educate teams to accept working together, but they have actually been waiting for a tool to facilitate cross-functional collaboration
LBB> I hear your biggest professional obsession is understanding the consumer mindset. What do you think is most important for brands to know if they want to get to that truth?
Vitaly> I'm not sure there is a single most important concept, but one that I believe is too often forgotten is that audiences actively avoid seeing ads. As marketers, the pride we have in seeing our campaigns rolling out tends to let us overlook how audiences, particularly lower down the funnel, will receive them. People consume content online for entertainment and to get their dopamine fix. Interrupting that flow with an ad can be intrusive and counterproductive if it’s not done properly.
Too much focus today is on serving content that meets the brand's standards and expectations, like brand guidelines or regulatory compliance. This often places audience expectations as a secondary concern. With SmartAssets, we are proving that these two aspects are not irreconcilable, even for lower-funnel activity. By aligning brand objectives with consumer behaviour insights, we can create ads that are both compliant and engaging, enabling better results at a lower cost within an easy to interpret measurement framework.
LBB> What's one of the coolest things that has been made as a result of SmartAssets so far?
Vitaly> By far, my favourite part has been building a team around solving this new problem. It's incredibly exciting to see tech, media, and creative experts working together, in such a novel way.
LBB> Outside of work, what are you currently finding most inspiring?
Vitaly> The great outdoors, especially being by the sea, is how I recharge my batteries and get my biggest source of inspiration. I'm off to Corsica next week and am looking forward to returning very inspired!
