Our ‘Profile: A Day in the Life of’ feature takes a look at some of the global professionals working across performance marketing. It aims to shed light on the varying roles and companies across the flourishing industry.
In this edition we head over to Berlin, to speak with the head of a full-service online marketing company.
Name:
Tim Nilsson
Job title and company:
Managing Director, glispa
In one sentence, how would you describe what the company does?
We help global digital entertainment and mobile advertisers acquire high quality users on a performance basis (CPI) through our suite of user acquisition solutions (G-Performance, G-Boost, G-Social and G-Display).
What are your company’s unique selling points?
- Superior strength in the emerging markets BRIC with both client service and sales teams for each market
- Proactive & data-driven campaign management
- Multichannel capability (performance/affiliate, display, search, mobile, social).
- Sales-driven team (30 people speaking 20 languages).
- Global advertiser base.
- Global publisher reach.
- Vertical expertise.
- Enabled by proprietary technology.
Within the last six months/year, what stands out as the company’s major milestones?
- Set up our Beijing office to help support our rapid growth in China where we now work with 20 of the 25 biggest Internet companies.
- Decision to launch our US office in SF with people we have trained in central HQ (planned launch this summer).
- Exclusive client wins such as Square Enix (UK), iFood (Brazil) and Kaspersky (Russia).
- 20% growth of active campaigns from 2300 to 2800 campaigns.
How long have you been in your current role?
Three years as MD, six years as managing partner since we set up glispa GmbH for centralised operations.
Where are you based?
Berlin, Germany, but travelling frequently around the globe.
What previous performance marketing-related companies have you worked at?
Tillväxtpiloterna AB (Sweden) – own company which was venture funded
SYSteam AB (Sweden) – Management Trainee & Head of E-Business
Jamba/Verisign GmbH (Germany) – Online Marketing Manager Scandinavia
zanox AG – VP Publisher Management/Managing Director UK
glispa – VP Sales & Marketing/Managing Director
What are your main job responsibilities?
Strategic development of the company, Sales & Business Development, HR/Recruitment, Marketing & PR.
Take us through what you get up to on a typical working Monday:
Check executive report/stats, prepare for weekly management meeting with director heads, consolidate the sales pipeline by collecting internal info, prioritise the key business development proposals and assign responsibility, follow up with key prospects and review coming travel plans.
What top three websites can you be found browsing during your lunch hour?
Usually I do not have any time to ever surf during work hours, but they would probably be TechCrunch, Dagens Nyheter (Swedish paper) and Sport1 (latest football news).
What are your top three tips for someone looking to get their hands on a job like yours?
- Aim for the stars and not the tree tops – always think big and do not ever let anybody tell you differently.
- Hard work and patience, hard work and patience and then even more patience.
- Look for a top team that can execute well and where your strengths complement it. Look for the team before the right business idea or model.
Career-wise, where do you see yourself in three years’ time?
Hopefully I helped participate in making the vision of glispa come true and become a global leader. On the back of that I hope to have developed my strategic sense of realising some new projects and investments by matching a clear market need with strong entrepreneurial talent.
Tell us one thing people at work don’t know about you
I love birds and have the ambition to become a bird watcher when I grow older.