Phil Schraeder is CEO at GumGum, the contextual intelligence company. He joined GumGum as COO and CFO and has been with the company almost 14 years. Previously, he had worked in a number of finance roles and has a bachelor\u2019s degree in accountancy. In the midst of Pride Month, we spoke with him about being gay and out in the advertising and marketing tech space (interview edited for length and clarity).<\/p>\n
Q: <\/strong>Let\u2019s start with your individual perspective on Pride and go from there. <\/p>\n A: <\/strong>I\u2019m originally from a small town outside of Chicago, Illinois, from a conservative Catholic family. After university, I started to work in finance and accounting at KPMG in downtown Chicago and I was struggling to come out of the closet. It was very difficult to be my authentic self in that world, so I ended up just leaving everything and moving out to LA without a job or without anywhere to go. That\u2019s where I just kind of found some self-discovery. And then from that coming out in LA, my whole career and all of everything else just kind of went with it, and in quite a powerful way.<\/p>\n Once I realized I could be myself, all parts of myself, it was amazing how open I became to opportunities, to people, to experiences and I think that really helped shape my career. When I joined GumGum, I joined as the VP of Finance. I\u2019ve been there going on 14 years now. I became the CEO five years ago. I had to make sure I was going to be ready to come to the table with 100% authenticity around who I am.<\/p>\n Q: <\/strong>Has that affected what you do for advertisers, as well as what you have done internally for diversity, equity and inclusion on your team?<\/p>\n A: <\/strong>Yes, helping advertisers to meet their target audiences, in the moments that matter in digital environments, both current and whatever is to come in the future, by holding to the commitment to create a more equal, more equitable message that can be impactful for everyone.<\/p>\n Pride for this year is no different. You know, we had seen historically over the last couple of years continued excitement and doubling down on Pride activations from brands. And then you come into this year with brands realizing that some of their own tried and true consumers are vocalizing backlash around seeing brands that they love go aggressively into very visible support. <\/p>\n We have also seen brands this year realize that the LGBTQ+ community, is also really focused on bringing awareness to brands that truly are authentically connecting rather than \u201crainbow washing\u201d \u2014 they\u2019re putting a flag outside the door, but you peel back the onion and they\u2019re donating to anti-LGBT causes, or there\u2019s no other presence to the community.<\/p>\n Q: <\/strong>For brands, then, supporting Pride should be a considered response?<\/p>\n A: <\/strong>Leaning into moments like Pride needs to be really thoughtful and really aligned with an understanding of what that brand\u2019s values are and what they stand for. Because if they are not representing an authentic, true commitment, in the way in which they choose to support the LGBTQ+ community all year, as well as within Pride Month, you are going to be hit with pressure from the community saying, \u201cI don\u2019t care you put a rainbow on, don\u2019t try to act like you\u2019re supportive when you\u2019re not.\u201d<\/p>\n One other thing, I think it\u2019s important to note on this, is that around one third<\/a> of Gen Z currently identifiy somewhere within the LGBTQ+ world. That\u2019s just a critical audience for brands to be attracting in order to continue to show growth. Not only the new trendy hip brands, but the legacy brands too. Additionally, that third will become a significant amount of talent \u2014 future leaders, future entrepreneurs. The other element is the investor community realizing, oh my gosh, I need to be more ready to be accepting of the diversity of entrepreneurs and how they show up.<\/p>\n Q: <\/strong>It\u2019s good to know that the VC community is waking up to this, because probably about a year ago, we saw research about which founders got funding. If you\u2019re a woman you didn\u2019t do well; if you\u2019re a black woman you did worse; and if you\u2019re a black woman who identified as lesbian, you are absolutely at the bottom of the pile. So you think that is changing?<\/p>\n A: <\/strong>Let me start by saying I think it\u2019s changing. I think it\u2019s changing with respect to, if I\u2019m going to be direct, white gay men. I mean, I walk around in my daily life with white privilege and white male privilege as a white gay man. It\u2019s changing in the way in which things continue to evolve in society. Fifteen or 20 years ago, when I was coming out, and you\u2019re at a party or at your family events, there\u2019s the snickers, there\u2019s the conversations.<\/p>\n Right now, all of a sudden, everyone wants to be my friend. Right? And now I\u2019m the funny one. Now, I\u2019m the cool one. That\u2019s not the case with our trans peers; they\u2019re fighting for their survival. I would be remiss, if I didn\u2019t address the fact that as a white gay man, I\u2019m at the top of that list in the sense of how the investors feel, because there still is a relatability. Even if it\u2019s not on my sexuality, it\u2019s on my gender identity. <\/p>\n Dig deeper: Black History Month: The mistakes waiting to be made<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Q: <\/strong>It\u2019s a really important point you make that these are not monolithic identities. LGBTQ+ is not a monolithic identity. And similarly with people of color, because while there are many Asian CEOs and CMOs in tech, you have to really search for an African American tech CEO or CMO. So again, it\u2019s not monolithic.<\/p>\n A: <\/strong>That\u2019s true, and also as CEO of an adtech company, I\u2019m very lucky that we are in advertising and technology, which is at the forefront in innovation. With that comes immense responsibility, but also comes a lot more accelerated mindsets around diversity, equity and inclusion. That doesn\u2019t exist in many other industries.<\/p>\n Do I have specific examples where someone has said, I don\u2019t want to work with GumGum? Because of maybe how I show up, how I dress or being openly gay? No, but can I read a room when I know we have the best solution, and you\u2019re not really sure how to show up with me. I can feel that. As GumGum grows and we become more successful, we get to choose who we partner with and what values they stand for.<\/p>\n Q: <\/strong>Let\u2019s finally relate this to brands. As you have said, brands, like Bud Light and Target for example, are confronted by a vocal pro-Pride voice and a vocal anti-Pride voice. They\u2019re kind of trapped in the middle. This year, Target is putting out Pride apparel only in selected stores<\/a> and they\u2019re not selling it to anyone under 18. A brand can know where its target demographic is, whether it\u2019s the Gen Z or whether it\u2019s older, potentially more conservative consumers. And they could make a kind of calculated choice about how vocal to be in Pride Month, in Black History Month and throughout the year. But if they\u2019ve got authentic values, if they actually believe something about this, the question answers itself, doesn\u2019t it? Or am I being too idealistic?<\/p>\n A: <\/strong>No, I think the question answers itself. If I feel supported, heard, valued as a core customer of a brand, am I going to sacrficie that for a decision you made to put more Pride merchandise out? You might have a few of those loud voices, but please have some more self-love and trust in your brand. Otherwise you\u2019ll always be chasing your tail. If it\u2019s not Pride, it\u2019s going to be something else. Target had better be ready for the next thing they\u2019re going to activate on; it\u2019s a very dangerous game.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s look at Nike, with Colin Kaepernick. Was that not a polarizing decision? How many people said, \u201cI\u2019m never going to support Nike or buy Nike shoes\u201d? Well, look at Nike now.<\/p>\n Dig deeper: Don\u2019t stop thinking about diversity<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n![\"Phil](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/martech.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Phil-Schraeder-600x600.jpg.webp?resize=600%2C600&ssl=1\"\/)
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