Page 45 - AdNews magazine Jul-Aug 2021

VASUDEV KITTUR•AUNZ SALES MANAGER
What’s the biggest challenge in your role?
My biggest challenge is also my biggest opportunity — namely how to stay top of mind with brands and agencies. As most of us know, the walled gardens dominate market share in digital advertising and there is tremendous competition for the rest of the pie. However, going above and beyond is a challenge I relish. Another major challenge with the adtech industry is that the technology
is evolving at a very rapid pace. I have to be constantly on top of developments or risk missing opportunities. It certainly keeps me on my toes.
What’s your favourite part
of your role?
It is generally said that a doctor can have a stronger impact on a patient than any drug and I like to think I have a similar impact.
My job is to educate clients and provide them with the right solutions on mobile programmatic and these conversations can
often lead to marketers rethinking strategy — pretty rewarding. Additionally, I love the fact that my role in advertising means I get a bird’s-eye view across various verticals (telco, CPG, ecommerce, retail, etc) which means I’m continuously learning how each vertical is evolving with the changing times.
Have you learnt anything surprising since joining InMobi about the industry?
As a digital-savvy and connected consumer myself, I have always been interested in data privacy and making informed choices. I’ve been pleasantly
surprised that, on the
whole, the industry is
making great strides.
I’ve seen that it — or at least the adtech world that touches me — is focused on building technology
to avoid privacy infringement while ensuring that advertisers’ and consumers’ common goal of personalised engagement can be met.
VALENTINA LIZZI•AUNZ LEAD ACCOUNT STRATEGIST
What does a typical day look like for you?
As a strategist, my role is primarily focused on the InMobi Exchange platform as I curate and grow
the programmatic side of the business. I’m the main point of
contact for SSPs, DSPs and ATDs. Honestly, an adjective that I will never use to describe my day
or job is “boring”. On any given
day I’m collaborating with a number of different
internal departments (supply, demand
partnerships, engineering, sales,
etc) across the globe. On top of this, I quite often
work on data analysis and I love to delve into numbers to figure out the next steps to add to my to-do list.
What attracted you to InMobi?
I really love the fact that InMobi
is a company that continuously innovates. There is always something exciting waiting to be launched in the pipeline and since I started my new role at InMobi, we’ve gone live with a number of new products. Continual innovation gives a lot of room for learning opportunities, which is something that’s important to my personal career development.
I’m the type of person who really likes to dig into the details and understand the technology behind the products I work on.
What was it like joining the team during a pandemic?
My first day at InMobi was during the first week of lockdown in Australia and it would be fair to
say I wasn’t expecting to start this new job working from my dining table. The first few weeks were
quite challenging as I had to get used to a new job and the concept of “new normal”. There was no tapping colleagues on the shoulder to ask questions or grabbing
coffee together. But the team did
an amazing job of making me feel welcome and part of the family. That said, I’m really glad we were given the option of going back to the office recently as I’ve got a chance to bond even more with my team.
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