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. This week we head to Berlin to speak to Eyeota’s co-founder & managing partner, account management & operations.  

Name:

Kristina Prokop    

Job title and company:

Co-Founder & managing partner, account management & operations at Eyeota.

In one sentence, how would you describe what the company does?

Eyeota is the global leader for local audience data. We provide data that ensures advertisers reach their local target audiences with unparallel precision.

What are the company’s unique selling points? 

Eyeota reveals the human side of data. With our help, companies can see local data from a global perspective and use it to improve the consumer experience. We are a one stop data shop that offers particular expertise for EU and APAC businesses.

Within the last six months/year, what stands out as the company’s major milestones? 

This year has brought growth for Eyeota in many ways. With new operations in London and Düsseldorf, we now have offices in five cities. Our team is truly international, representing 10 nationalities and serving clients in 14 languages. Business also has significantly expanded, and earlier in the year, we exceeded 1 billion active profiles.

Duration in current role:

I have been with Eyeota since co-founding the company in 2010.

Where are you based?

Berlin, Germany.

Previous performance marketing-related companies you have worked at:

Before founding Eyeota, I was VP International Account Management & Operations at Adify, a vertical ad network technology platform. I also have held management positions at Mirago and eBay Germany.

What are your main job responsibilities?

My responsibilities are multifaceted, but they all support the company’s goals of data development and programmatic innovation. I spend a lot of time working with clients to make certain that data is optimally relevant, advising them on best practices, and discussing ways to integrate new information we provide into programmatic technologies.

Take us through what you get up to on a typical working Monday: 

After three cups of coffee, briefly checking audience reports, and placing calls to our teams in Australia and Asia, I come into the office and officially begin my Monday. First on the agenda are “catch ups” for the German and UK teams, followed by a meeting with the data operations team to review the status of new data sets. The after-lunch hours are filled with phone calls to our partners who provide key data and new integration (DSPs, adservers, SSPs, etc), along with pitches to new EU data partners. I run home, have dinner and then finish off the working day with calls to our teams in the US and Australia to ensure all is well before I head to bed.

What top three websites can you be found browsing during your lunch hour?

I tend to gravitate towards Business Insider, Xing and LinkedIn to see where people are moving, company and industry news, etc. I also spend time on our reporting URLs, because nothing goes with lunch better than a bit of business.

What are your top three tips for someone looking to get their hands on a job like yours?

There are three key things that I would suggest to people looking to enter this sphere of work:

  1. Learn the trade – Work hard to learn as much as possible about all parts of the industry that you touch. For example, with data, understand not only data, but also how it integrates into all parts of the programmatic, targeting and ad serving ecosystems.
  2. Embrace calculated risk – Don’t be afraid to create your own opportunities. If you see an opportunity to do what you love and take on more responsibilities, don’t shy away.
  3. Always keep your client front of mind – Try your hardest to walk a mile in your clients’ shoes. Understand their goals, pressures and pain points. Always strive to solve their problems to the best of your ability with the tools you have.

Career-wise, where do you see yourself in three years’ time?

Co-founder of the largest international cross-platform audience targeting company.

Tell us one thing people at work don’t know about you?

I’ve worked two seasons at an amazing guest ranch in Encampment, Wyoming. After college graduation, I spent one season as a ranch-hand, doing everything from setting fences, bailing and stacking hay, and building horse pens to fixing cars. The second season was spent managing the ranch’s restaurant. I briefly toyed with the idea of turning my back on our industry, but I knew I had to come back in the end… online ad tech is where my heart is!