Stockholm-headquartered affiliate network Tradedoubler has named François Pacot, the former CEO of R-Advertising, as chief technology officer. 

Pacot joined the Tradedoubler team in December 2016, following the network’s acquisition of R-Advertising, a company specialising in email marketing.

Remaining in Aix-en-Provence, France, where he was based pre-acquisition, the new CTO is now tasked with overseeing Tradedoubler’s strategic product development, reporting to long-reigning CEO, Matthias Stadelmeyer.

“François Pacot is a strong product strategist,” commented Stadelmeyer, “With his appointment as CTO and the establishment of a second product development hub we ensure that Tradedoubler continues to set market standards in affiliate and performance marketing.”

Prior to Tradedoubler and R-Advertising, Pacot founded RoyalCactus, a leading social & mobile gaming company, and has qualifications in marketing and engineering.

Steady decline

Pacot’s appointment represents a continuation of the network’s “improvements in the management and service structure”, which has quietly borne witness to a number of departures from its senior management within the last year.

Those efforts have contributed to a 15% drop in operational costs in Q3 when compared to last year, according to the company’s latest financial report.

However, despite the improvements, a 15% decrease in sales and 11% decrease in gross profit over the same period added to what’s been a steady decline in earnings and operational losses for the affiliate network over the course of the last year.

“In Q3 we continued the progress to lead Tradedoubler to profitability and financial independence,” said Stadelmeyer in the earnings report, “The decrease in gross profit slowed down while EBITDA and net profit improved again compared to the same period last year.

“In the coming quarters we will make further progress to improve our business continues to realise our plans for 2017,” he added.

Stadelmeyer pins hopes on recovery on the network’s acquisition of Metapic earlier in the year, an influencer startup offering bloggers a service to monetise their content, with influencer marketing playing an increasingly frontal role in affiliate marketing.