Our Industry Profile takes a weekly look at some of the professionals working across the advertising, ad tech, marketing and media sector in Australia. It aims to shed light on the varying roles and companies across the buzzing industry.
This week we head to Sydney to meet Evgeny Popov, director of platform solution APAC at DMP Lotame.
Duration in current role/time at the company:
I just started, but it feels like a year already! I'm based in Sydney but will be moving to Singapore later this year.
In one sentence, how would you describe what the company does?
Lotame is a global marketing technology company that through its leading data management platform (DMP), helps publishers, advertisers and agencies navigate the growing challenge around managing audience data.
In one sentence, what does your role involve?
I act as the most senior technical resource in the Asia-Pacific region, working across both the sales and client success teams to consult and design technical solutions for prospects and existing clients, ensuring that clients realise the full value that the Lotame platform can provide.
Within the last six months/year, what stands out as the company’s major milestones?
- Our Cross Device product which determines relationships that exist between billions of Personally identifiable information -free signals flowing from desktops, smartphones, and tablets.
- Integration with ComScore (Digital Analytix Enterprise) and Eyeota data providers.
- Semantic Classification is a Natural Language Processing (NLP) engine that identifies the concepts and context of an article. It relies on article content to capture user interests at a far more granular scale when compared to standard page-level data collection.
Best thing about the industry you work in:
Change, pace and innovation – in my opinion these are the three words which define ad tech. Personally, the velocity of the change is the most exciting part. l love cracking complex problems in a convoluted ad tech realm, it makes my role very much alive.
Previous industry related (ad land/ad tech) companies you have worked at:
These are the most career impactful companies in ad tech space which I had a privilege to work for. In chronological order:
- RadiumOne as director of operations (Asia-Pacific)
- News Corp as head of publisher trading desk
- Brandscreen as head of supply (Asia-Pacific)
- Ninemsn as ad ops program manager
Career-wise, where do you see yourself in three years?
I hope to remain with Lotame in a more senior capacity. I have a career progression plan to become a C-level exec by 2018! Now I’ve confessed in public, I have to manage my boss’s expectations. Thanks AdNews!
Tell us one thing people at work don’t know about you?
I moved to Sydney in 2001 to complete an operations research degree. I mostly worked on probabilistic scheduling models – ant colony optimisation was definitely a highlight.
Top networking tip:
Simply get involved. Attend industry events, meetup groups and conferences. These are usually followed by networking drinks, which is a brilliant forum to introduce yourself and bounce ideas with like-minded professionals. To get you started I recommend the Sydney AdTech MeetUp!
My favourite restaurant for a business lunch is:
Rockpool Bar & Grill
My favourite advert is:
Old Spice - The Man Your Man Could Smell Like
My must-have gadget is:
Wi-Fi controlled speakers, I mean come on, who streams over Bluetooth anymore:
My favourite media is:
Lotame, because we are media agnostic. Data should influence everything you do – from the products and content you create, to the way you shape and execute your go-to-market strategy.
My favourite TV show is:
Suits, hands down; it has my favorite dialogue:
Harvey: I'm not about caring; I'm about winning.
Mike: Why can't you be about both?
Harvey: I'd explain it to you, but then I'd have to care about you.
The last book I read:
Last serious book I’ve read was - The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment. It takes you on an inspiring spiritual journey to find your true and deepest self and reach the ultimate in personal growth and spirituality: the discovery of truth and light.
My mantra / philosophy is:
In order: Integrity, accountability, diligence, and perseverance and discipline
“Wisdom is knowing the right path to take… Integrity is taking it.” - summarises it all.
I got into advertising/ad tech/marketing etc because:
I wanted to diversify my skillset, from a pure tech focus more into business, marketing and commercial. Advertising was a happy pill that solved that equation for me, and I’ve never looked back since.
If I wasn't doing this for a living, I'd be:
Something fitness related, I truly enjoy sport and the healthy lifestyle.
In five years' time I'll be:
Hopefully retired somewhere in Caribbean, sipping pina coladas in Puerto Rico… yeah right, stop dreaming. Most likely, I still will be sailing ad/mad-tech seas and making a difference by disrupting the ‘ecosystem’ and unifying the industry.
Define your job in one word:
Revolution
What's your poison:
Espresso Martini followed by chilled Titos with the dash of lime
Did you catch last week's profile? Industry Profile: Datalicious GM, Elly Gillis
Want to take part in our Industry Profile? or have some one to nominate? Email pippachambers@yaffa.com.au
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