40 Under 40 2020: Natasha de Mallet Hawes, PubMatic

Natasha de Mallet Hawes

Director, advertiser solutions, APAC
PubMatic
Australia

Natasha de Mallet Hawes believes in the importance of visible female role models. It is a good thing, then, that she is one. Her achievements over nine years in the programmatic industry demand attention.

Hawes joined Cadreon in 2011 as its third employee and first external hire. Having helped the company grow from three to over 30 staff, she handled the trading team, built out products, drove internal adoption and provided education within the IPG group. 

Within 12 months of coming on board, Hawes rose through the ranks from trader to head of display product. The promotion was expected for a programmatic whiz whose team has continuously smashed through sales targets and grew the firm’s revenue across display in Australia 10-fold.

In 2014, Hawes accepted a role at PubMatic as ad solutions manager for ANZ, where she progressed to director of ad solutions across Asia Pacific (APAC) in less than two years. She is now the “longest serving member in the Sydney office, and should be credited with building the team and culture here,” according to Peter Barry, regional director of PubMatic for ANZ.

As a buyside commercial lead, Hawes’ expertise has helped steer mindsets within PubMatic as it pivots from focusing solely on publisher yield to deliver advertising ROI. The programmatic advertising evangeliser also drove conversations with agencies and clients across APAC to gain a better understanding of their business challenges and needs.

The early insights she gained led to timely solutions; Hawes installed plans and processes for PubMatic across APAC that that include educating agencies about the supply chain, building trust through transparency, and putting fraud-free guarantees in place for its buyers. These translated into business results. PubMatic finalised partnership deals with OMG, GroupM, Dentsu, Havas, Adobe and Amobee by the end of 2019.

A keen educator, Hawes mentors junior team members while sitting on the PubMatic Diversity and Inclusion Committee. The working mother also rolled out a working parents forum across APAC and advocates for flexible work arrangements for all employees—which turned out to be a lifesaver as the Covid-19 pandemic redefined work spaces.