Yangaroo’s Cody Tunney on Her 19 Years in the Industry

With almost 20 years of experience in media buying and cost benchmarking, Cody Tunney has a solid understanding of the US media marketplace and the best price benchmarking approaches for domestic advertisers. Her two-decade-long career in media and advertising thus far has brought her to London, New York, Houston and now, Park City in Utah - picking up invaluable skills in data analysis and marketing along the way. Priding herself on her ability to teach others complex media concepts, Cody is passionate about the professional growth of herself and others and always aspires to produce “accurate, detailed results, backed up by data.” 

Name: Cody Tunney
Company Role: EVP, analytics
Favourite Quote: “Do what you love and love what you do.” 

LBB> What are you most passionate about, professionally and personally? 

Cody> I’m passionate about growth, both personally and professionally. I love being a part of Yangaroo’s growth objective. It fuels me. I love setting out short and long-term goals within the company, mapping out the steps to get there, and then following through with the whole team to achieve the objectives. 

LBB> What would you do even if you didn’t get paid to do it? 

Cody> I’d do exactly what I am doing now, but don’t tell my boss – I really like getting paid! 

LBB> What are you surprisingly good at? 

Cody> I’m a good ski racer. When I’m on the racecourse, I set free an extremely competitive side of my personality that is unapologetic and loves winning. It's me versus my ability, confidence, the mountain, equipment, conditions, clock, and my opponent. It’s an adrenaline rush.

LBB> What is a problem people in our industry face that you’d like to fix? 

Cody> With video advertising consumption having changed from just linear to now mixed linear and digital, there’s still a big disconnect between the linear and digital teams at brands and agencies. They continue to interact independently from each other across campaigns, even when the video is the same creative. I am leading Yangaroo’s effort working towards a single solution incorporating linear and digital video production, distribution, streaming, and measurement to help our clients adapt more successfully.  

LBB> How long have you been working in your field? 

Cody> I have been working in media for 19 years. This industry has taken me on a very fun journey from NYC to London, back to NYC to Houston, and now I’m living in the beautiful Park City, Utah. There has been tremendous change over the last 20 years. In 2002 the iPhone wasn’t invented. I was printing driving directions off map quest. I had no idea how to text message. The way the market consumes advertising is very different and it’s truly fascinating to see population behaviour change. I enjoy adapting, but success for me is being pre-emptive to help my clients be ahead of the changes that are implemented with new technology.

LBB> What’s your biggest accomplishment? 

Cody> My proudest career moment was when I launched the Media Analytics website. It took an enormous amount of bravery for me, a data analyst, to step into the light as a business leader. I was scared and felt judged, but I also worked hard to get to that point and knew that I had built a valuable market product. 

LBB> How does your education connect to your professional career? 

Cody> I graduated with a degree in advertising from Michigan State University. My degree touched upon all aspects of the marketing industry from journalism, messaging, creative, production, data, analytics, performance, to results. Having a solid basis in all areas of the industry allowed me to interact usefully across fields. I loved my college experience at a ‘big ten’ school and have tapped into the alumni network in every city that I’ve lived in. I also enjoy watching college sports, the buzz, the rivalries, and the comradery.

LBB> What problems do you consistently solve for your clients? 

Cody> I have been answering the same few questions for most of my career: ‘Did the ad run?’,  ‘Who saw it?’, ‘Did it achieve the objective?’, ‘Did we pay a fair price?’. The way we arrive at the answer - precision, speed, and context (media) - has evolved but advertisers have always needed my help answering these questions. 

LBB> What are you complimented on most in your work? 

Cody> People like the way I explain and teach new concepts. Being able to explain and present complex media results in a concise way has been critical to my success.  From C-suites in boardrooms at large Fortune 500 companies to local advertisers - they all benefit from having me on their side. Having accurate detailed results, backed up by data, has also taken me a long way.

LBB> Who is your ideal client and why should they connect with you? 

Cody> I love working with clients who are driven to grow their business and challenge their status quo. I’ve been fortunate in my career to have worked with many of the top 100 brands in the US. I have found that the most successful companies tend to be the ones with small marketing and advertising teams. I admire their ability to control the process, cut through the nonsense and get results. I like helping people grow and want to work with clients who are ready to risk a little and achieve a lot.