Ten years ago, Chicago-based Omeda was the largest and best-known fulfillment company in the magazine media business, especially in the B2B realm. In the intervening 10 years, the company has transformed itself alongside with the seismic changes in the industry it serves.
Now, Omeda is a software-as-a-service provider that gives media companies a platform from which to manage and monetize their audience data. The company’s products include a customer data platform, which serves as a central repository of all audience data. Media-industry audience data comes from disparate sources, including conference and show registrations, subscriptions, webinar attendance, content downloads, and more. By housing all the data in one place—a function that was decidedly not the norm 10 years ago—media companies become more efficient, and more able enrich their audience knowledge and pick up trends and patterns in audience behavior.
Omeda also offers workflow and email automation and subscription management, with all data development occurring 24/7, enabling media companies to respond to opportunities in real time.
In those 10 years, Omeda—which was founded in 1980—has been on an acquisition run, buying Hallmark Data Systems and Sunbelt Fulfillment in 2016, ESP Computer Services in 2021, and Creative Data Systems in 2023. In August 2022, Omeda itself was acquired by the private-equity firm Sverica Capital Management.
James Capo.
One of Omeda’s senior executives during its eight-year acquisition run was the media veteran James Capo, who came onboard in 2016 as chief revenue officer and was named CEO in March of this year. Before Omeda, Capo had held a variety of media-company roles, including at the Associated Press, Cygnus Business Media, and Access Intelligence.
Because of the central role of data in a media company’s success, and because Omeda is a (or the) leading data-services company in the business, we thought it would be a service to you, our readers, to hear what Capo thinks about the state of the business. Here’s an edited version of our conversation.
Fox Tales: You’ve got a fairly unique set of professional experiences, both as a media operator and as chief executive of an integrated audience data SaaS platform. Tell us how that informs your approach.
James Capo: By having both a background in media operations as well as technology experiences, I can understand the intricate needs of media clients. I understand that at the core of a media company are two things: Audience and content. This allows me to build solutions that emphasize leveraging data to create tailored solutions that enhance audience engagement and drive revenue.
Fox Tales: We hear a lot of talk about first-party data. Lead gen is a major sales component right now. AI is a concern, especially where it touches search. What should media operators have as their priorities?
Capo: I think media companies are in the driver’s seat. Not only do they create (every day) unique content, but they are also creating unique data. As the social platforms and google continue to break up with the industry, media companies are realizing that they have a bigger role to play in the larger advertising eco-system. But, in order to compete they HAVE to build an audience solution and the use of that audience data has be—culturally—part of the DNA of the company.
Fox Tales: Your website references frustration and confusion around disjointed workflows (and presumably inferior tech stacks). What should media operators be doing to fix this?
Capo: Oftentimes, disjointed workflows and data silos stem from departmental silos. Individual leaders are working toward individual and sometimes conflicting goals (i.e., the VP of newsletters is focused on growing their email list but the VP of subscriptions is focused on maximizing revenue). They’re not communicating across departments, so they’re planning workflows and buying too much technology—and ultimately, making it harder, not easier, to do the work of connecting with their audience. So first, there needs to be a culture shift within organizations around audience development. Senior leadership needs to be actively involved in creating overarching audience development goals and KPIs that every team can contribute to. Once you’ve got everyone running toward the same finish line, it’ll be easier to select the tools that simplify your workflows and democratize access to your data, rather than buying a bunch of different tools and needing to set up integrations and workflows between them after the fact. The question I’ve been asking recently is if media companies believe audience is one of—if not their most valuable asset—why is there not a Chief Audience Officer? Why are they letting this function go “rogue” within the media organizations?
Fox Tales: How do media companies push data and insights down into the hands of frontline sales and marketing people?
Capo: I’ve worked with a lot of media companies, spanning all categories and sizes, and the most successful among them share one important thing in common: They’re putting their audience first—and using their first-party data to do it. And from there, they’re focusing on making it as easy as possible for each of their teams to access and activate it. So, start by looking for ways to collect all your first-party data in one place, whether by creating a central data warehouse or using a platform like Omeda to do this for you. From there, look for tools that consolidate your audience development workflows as much as possible while keeping your data safe and secure. Also, you must start pushing this data into the hands of your business leaders (sales, marketing, editorial). Specifically, on the sales side, we forget that advertisers have access to the same or similar types of data tools as well. If you go into an ad sales pitch and you are not armed with the most up-to-date, and real-time audience data stats, then you might be laughed out the room. Your advertisers (at least the good ones) will know you have access to this information and will expect you can speak confidently about it.
Fox Tales: Fox Associates is a leading outsource advertising sales firm. How do they—or companies like them—help spread knowledge through the sales ecosystem?
Capo: No two companies are the same. So they can’t use cookie cutter campaigns and expect to see the same results or ROI. Outsourced ad sales firms like Fox Associates recognize that. So they partner with clients to help them find the right ad platforms, formats and strategies for their needs. Outsourced firms are tuned into emerging trends, consumer preferences and competitive benchmarks within their niches, developed over decades of experience and backed by industry data and market research. Using this combination of insights and expertise, they can recommend specific ad platforms, formats and strategies to their potential advertisers and agencies. Having a broad viewpoint with diverse experiences is always valuable when trying to implement new ideas and programs.
Fox Tales: Tell us what you’ve found in terms of both affirmation and surprise in your first months as CEO.
Capo: First, it is an honor to lead this organization. We have an incredible team that makes Omeda run smoothly. Omeda has a long history (over 40 years) and I’m responsible for leading Omeda through this new chapter and helping our industry be as innovative and successful as it can be. It is a big responsibility, and I don’t take it lightly. That being said, I don’t think there is one item that has surprised me more—but you realize the impact (and importance) of the decisions you make. And many times these decisions are made with less information than you’d like. You lean on your experience, your team, and instincts to try and make the best decision possible. The part of our company I am most proud of—and it is something I think our clients see within our organization—is that our team cares. I know that sounds like corporate speak, but it is the one thing I ask of my team. Just care about your work, try to make a little difference each day, and remember the person on the other side of that call/zoom might be dealing with issues you have no idea about. So let’s try and make our clients’ (and fellow Omeda employees’) lives a little easier.