Voting for the Industry Rising Star category at the Performance Marketing Awards is officially open, as PerformanceIN reveals the hot young prospects to have made the shortlist for 2017.
Today (January 10), also marks just 10 days until standard entries close for all other Performance Marketing Award categories.
Sponsored by affiliatefuture, The Industry Rising Star award shines the spotlight on the next generation of marketers entering into the performance advertising space. It recognises natural talent, working ethic, enthusiasm, and the early showings of a prosperous career in results-driven marketing.
‘Next big thing’
No small feat, previous winners of this accolade have gone on to hold senior positions at Sky, Performance Horizon Group and iProspect, to name just several – while even claiming the honour of Highly Commended in this coveted category is enough to make the crucial difference on a CV.
In the coming weeks, each of the shortlisted will be given the opportunity to write on a subject of their choice for PerformanceIN in part of our ‘Rising Star’ series, presenting a further chance to demonstrate their knowledge before voting closes on April 7.
With such a high volume of entrants, this year’s roster spoils voters for choice; a grand total of 13 candidates are vying to be the next Industry Rising Star. Please take the time to consider each candidate before casting your final vote. Without further ado, here is the 2017 Industry Rising Star shortlist.
Anna Jorysz – analyst, NMPi
Following a year in Thailand, where she helped develop the website and social activity for a charity organisation, Anna joined NMPi as an analyst in 2014.
Since then, Anna has progressed to the title of campaign manager, becoming an integral part of the performance team. While much of her early career at the company circulated around paid search, over the past year she has helped shape the development of NMPi’s Performance Display solution. A true self-starter, Anna has used her skills in technology and coding to build a dynamic display creative template that is now available to all clients.
Dan Williams – head of affiliates, 7stars
Having spent two very successful years at Affiliate Window after leaving university in 2014 – managing B&Q, the Carphone Warehouse Group and Marks & Spencer as a key account manager – Dan has recently undergone a lofty career move, placing him as head of affiliates the7stars, the largest independent media agency in the UK.
In this role, Dan has taken on the responsibility of building out a brand new department at an established agency, guiding Nintendo to “record levels” of performance while also leading Iceland’s first foray into affiliate marketing.
Georgina Samson – key account manager, HotUKDeals (Pepper Deals)
After graduating from university in 2012 with a Business Studies and Marketing degree, Georgina started her affiliate career in 2014 as an account executive for the eBay Partner Network programme, where she quickly progressed into the role of an account manager.
She joined HotUKDeals (Pepper Deals) as a key account manager in 2016, having built a strong relationship with the company during her role managing the eBay Partner Network account.
Eleanor Corrigan – account manager, Navigate Digital
Following a stint teaching English in South Korea, Eleanor began her career in performance marketing on joining Navigate Digital in May 2015 as an affiliate account executive.
Initially learning the ropes of the affiliate world by offering support to her affiliate team members, she was promoted to account manager in August 2016, taking on the direct management of affiliate programmes for a range of clients across the retail and food and beverage sectors. Eleanor claims that being nominated for the Industry Rising Star award was “completely unexpected”, and owes it “incredible guidance and support” of her mentors.
Jessica Brown – account manager, vouchercloud
Having secured a first honours degree in Marketing, Management & Branding at the University of Gloucester in 2015, Jessica joined vouchercloud as an account executive in July 2015.
Within the space of just 18 months, Jessica now occupies an account management role where she has developed strong working relationships with a number of vouchercloud’s tier-one clients. Nothing is too much for Jessica and she’s known internally, and within the industry, as being one of the company’s most well-organised, and vivacious employees.
Joe Ward – account manager, Tech Essence
Tech Essence’s “longest serving employee”, Joe Ward is an experienced client-side account manager with a passion for digital marketing and advertising. Holding a number of marketing positions, his curiosity for advertising technology motivated him to take up a client servicing role with Tech Essence.
With advertising, communication and management at his core, Joe seamlessly assists clients in the B2C world with their digital and analytical needs, making sure all online and offline advertising campaigns are on track and on budget. He also ensures that best practices are in place for profitability for the client, with ROI sitting at the core of every business decision.
Kaltrina Brahimi – technical operations executive, Forensiq
Kaltrina started her career as an account manager for a logistics company before diversifying her role to become an operations analyst. Joining Forensiq in October 2015 as a operations executive, she was promoted at the start of 2016 to senior operations analyst, becoming responsible for managing high-level brands across display and affiliate marketing.
Her role comprises of operational implementation and support, data analysis, trouble shooting, on-boarding and post-integration optimisation. Kaltrina has simultaneously completed a MSc in International Business which has allowed her to marry business strategy with the operational reality.
Neil Depala – account executive, Impact Radius (EMEA)
Neil is a high-calibre enterprise account executive with under three years experience in enterprise digital marketing software. His career in digital started with a leading SEO technology company before he moved to Impact Radius in 2015.
Neil has spent the last 18 months building up an impressive client base of over 50 key brands and publishers, including partnerships with Adidas, Dyson and Rated People. He has also recruited a growing team of business development and customer engagement executives at the company in the UK, achieving a high level of staff retention.
Neil is an ambitious, determined and driven business professional with a solid track record of outperforming targets, devising successful sales strategies.
Tom Magness – partnerships manager, TopCashback
Tom’s first encounter with TopCashback was in 2013 as an intern, but after graduating with a first in business, he was invited to return to the company as a partnerships executive.
His positive attitude, and aptitude to spot new opportunities and areas of growth resulted in Tom forging invaluable partnerships and record growth on his accounts. His impeccable attention to detail and consistent performance ensured a quick promotion to account manager level. Tom continues to exceed expectations at TopCashback, while also growing his luxury fashion brand Morgan.M – a business he launched in his final year at university.
Tommy Lee – partnerships executive, ThoughtMix
Tommy started out in the industry just shy of two years ago with ThoughtMix, entering the team as an account executive, which saw him work alongside a broad array of clients in travel, fashion, tech and others.
Throughout this time, Tommy has seized every available opportunity to grow his role and knowledge of affiliate marketing, and claims to have truly fallen for the industry, to the point that he “couldn’t imagine” working in any other sector.
Victoria Baeckstroem – account manager, CJ Affiliate
Transitioning from a background in international relations and law, Vicky joined CJ Affiliate in 2015 as an account executive, progressing to account manager in early 2016. Coming from an international background, Vicky has lived in five countries and speaks “five and a half” languages. Her favourite part of being an account manager at CJ is the opportunity to work as part of a global team across a diverse portfolio of clients, across travel, retail, finance and fashion.
Zoe Morgan – head of affiliate partnerships, Ve Interactive
In just under three years, Zoe has worked her way up from digital consultant to head of affiliate partnerships at Ve Interactive.
Zoe began her career with a digital marketing apprenticeship, progressing to starting her own social media business as well as volunteering as a production assistant during the London 2012 Olympics. A bright and bubbly personality she is already up and coming in the performance marketing space and an asset to the industry. Outside of work, Zoe plays right back for her local football team ‘Colney Health Ladies’.
Alina Ghost – marketing manager (SEO), Tesco
Marketing manager for Tesco, Alina specialises in search engine optimisation. With five years of experience under her belt, she consults teams internally whilst managing the SEO agency to improve online visibility across the business sites – including groceries, general merchandise, clothing, Tesco Living online, Real Food, Wine by the Case, Clubcard and grocery Ireland. In her spare time, she’s also a lifestyle blogger, having won a blog award for ‘Best Interiors Blog’ for The Fairytale Pretty Picture.
Remember to cast your vote by April 7. Again, we encourage you to consider each candidate in detail, as you’ll only get one chance to put someone forward for the chance to be the industry’s next Rising Star. You can cast your vote here, or look out for our ‘Rising Star’ series if you’re not yet decided.