Math, art and media: Pfizer’s Julianne O’Connell strikes a professional balance

Julianne O’Connell’s career-defining realization occurred during her time at The Walt Disney Company, which she joined in 2017 as customer engagement manager, programmatic. While she’d previously worked in a range of programmatic-adjacent roles, O’Connell found herself most engaged during her interactions with the company’s media measurement teams.

“Their work was so interesting and so valuable,” she recalls. “Any PowerPoint they’d send over to me, I’d read back to front. I was like, ‘Tell me more about testing control methodologies. Give me more of this.’”

O’Connell made her way over to the analytics side of the business before too long, ultimately rising to the post of manager, marketing analytics and optimization. She then spent nearly three years leading Panera Bread’s marketing analytics team before becoming one of the first arrivals to Pfizer’s nascent in-house media group. It numbered four people when O’Connell joined in August 2024; as of mid-October 2025, it was 23 strong with more hires on the way.

As senior manager, media measurement and optimization, O’Connell has assessed the performance of myriad brands in Pfizer’s portfolio and implemented a progressive test-and-learn measurement process. It’s a role custom-tailored to both her strengths and her interests.

“What made me realize how much I love doing this was when I wasn’t on the measurement team at Disney,” she says. “I loved it from afar.”

Left brain vs. right brain

O’Connell grew up in Boston, where she...