How did 2011 contribute to your award win?
2011 was like a typical lads’ night out for me – hugely fun and recklessly energetic, coupled with an unflappable confidence in our ability to perform to a high standard.
On a serious note, it exposed me for the first time to the world of affiliate, networks, agencies and clients from a digital marketing agency perspective. It was a fantastic platform for me to make new friends and business partners, and for Found to broaden its offering still further, whilst launching interesting strategies that I didn’t feel had been explored properly in search, social and mobile until that point.
What were the most important factors?
PN: I tried to focus my time on the people I met at the networks, agencies and clients; setting up fun and useful training clinics (with food feasts), getting to know people personally, designing widgets and Excel sheets that would help them in their day to day work, and always having the time to explain complex things in a digestible manner.
Overall, I value people, trust and fun above everything, and I’m sure that anyone who applies that to business and works for a company that gets results, will be successful in gaining appreciation from the wider community. However, I don’t doubt that my job role in relation to my age had a small amount to do with it either!
What has winning the award helped you to achieve since May?
PN: The main thing I’ve noticed is that far more doors are now opened into large companies to discuss partnerships; both from inbound and outbound conversations.
In new business, it’s never easy to convey to powerful Ecommerce Directors that you’re not calling with the sole intention of being a total pain in the a**e, but that you genuinely have researched their objectives and there actually is a really good business opportunity to discuss. The award has helped this situation, possibly by adding an extra layer of credential, and made my work even more enjoyable in the process.
How did it feel to win such a competitive category?
PN: Incredible. I can still feel the exhilaration I felt when my name was called – I didn’t expect to win, and when I saw all my friends standing up, cheering and clapping, then coming up to say well done afterwards, it made all the hard work all the more worthwhile. It was definitely one of the biggest thrills of my life and I’m really lucky to say I won, given the standard of competition from the other people; many of whom I know and have a huge respect for.
How are you hoping to make an impact in 2013?
PN: I’m going to work strategically across all the teams and channels in Found to bring innovative cross-channel ideas to the wider industry, work to drive us into new exciting international territories, and try to break down some of the industry barriers that currently restrict PPC from making as big an impact as it could do in Affiliate Marketing. But overall, I’m going to have a jolly good time doing it – pint any one? Thought so.