Save 50% on a 3-month Digiday+ membership. Ends Dec 5.
The famous Proust Questionnaire comes from a popular 19-century parlor game in which guests were asked to answer a series of questions to reveal the respondent’s true nature. Digiday is updating the Proust Questionnaire for the digital media industry. If you are someone you know would like to answer the Digiday Questionnaire, contact me at the email address below.
Our first subject is Rob Norman, CEO of GroupM, WPP’s media agency arm.
The Digiday Questionnaire: Rob Norman
- What about working in the digital media industry makes you happy?
Abundance of innovation, optimism, and opportunity. - What about working in the digital media industry makes you miserable?
Scarcity of perspective, patience, context and consistent ways of assessing real value to business. - What is the worst fault you see in your area of the industry?
The dual paradox of perfect measurability and imperfect accountability and of ridiculous friction in a world of ones and zeros. - What positive changes do you hope to see in the industry?
That profitability gets the attention it deserves as the real measure of business success and as a prerequisite of great service delivery. - What is the quality you most admire in a digital media CEO?
The ability to manage from concept to delivery and the good sense to know that CEOs report to everyone working for their company as well as to shareholders. - What tech company do you wish you started?
Google. It might not last forever but it did change business forever. - Silicon Valley or Madison Ave.?
I prefer the shopping on Madison Avenue and like the Morgan Library a lot. - Track or Do Not Track?
Track. There’s no such thing as a free lunch, but don’t be evil (ever). - App or mobile site?
HTML 5 - If you could only use one of these for these rest of your life: Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Spotify, which one?
Facebook. I fear loneliness.
More in Media
Digiday+ Research Subscription Index 2025: Subscription strategies from Bloomberg, The New York Times, Vox and others
Digiday’s third annual Subscription Index examines and measures publishers’ subscription strategies to identify common approaches and key tactics among Bloomberg, The New York Times, Vox and others.
From lawsuits to lobbying: How publishers are fighting AI
We may be closing out 2025, but publishers aren’t retreating from the battle of AI search — some are escalating it, and they expect the fight to stretch deep into 2026.
Media Briefing: Publishers turn to vertical video to compete with creators and grow ad revenue in 2026
Publishers add vertical video feeds to their sites to boost engagement, attract video ad spend and compete with news creators.