Why Travel and Retail Experience Landed Me in MarTech

By Zachary Gray On Apr 1, 2020

Sometimes, we benefit from seeking out a fresh perspective. After finishing my University studies, I set out to travel the world. I knew that it would be the only time in my life when I’d have the time, freedom, and be free of obligations to see the world. After spending my entire life in Ohio, including attending the University of Cincinnati (go Bearcats!), I set out to see the world—South America, Europe, and Asia. This experience opened my eyes to new cuisines, experiences, and ideas.

Traveling the world opened my eyes to some trivial things. Questioning if dinner really needs to be eaten at 6:00 pm accompanied by the evening news? The Spaniards sure seem to be on to something with their dinners at 9:00 or 10:00 pm. But more than new experiences, traveling the world taught me to be open – giving me a new perspective and embracing different ideas, challenging mundane and comfortable but complacent activities.

As we celebrate 25 years in digital marketing, it’s definitely time to question some of the activity over the last two and a half decades to make advertising more privacy-friendly and less intrusive, and celebrate the steps we’re already taking as an industry. Asking ourselves similar questions when the industry questioned the banner ad after seeing engagement rates plummet from nearly 40% to .001%, or when we moved on to video, native, and social.

One way to reimagine Mobile AdTech is by integrating people with diverse experiences from other industries and folding them into the mobile industry. I was recruited into the mobile marketing company YouAppi from the fashion merchandising industry.

Prior to joining YouAppi, I was working with fashion-focused retail brands, helping to merchandise clothing to increase in-store sales. Fast forward to YouAppi, I manage relationships with our leading clients, initially from our Berlin office, and now from New York. I use my fashion merchandising skills and analytical scrutiny for positioning every day at YouAppi, providing me with a different lens through which to analyze my work.

The managers who recruited me to YouAppi were open enough to look beyond the fact that I had never read MarTech Series or worked in Mobile AdTech and saw how I could effectively build relationships with YouAppi’s clients. There is a common ground between fashion and mobile AdTech On the one side, you are optimizing fashion trends and forecasting the market to sell more clothes. While on the other side, you are optimizing ad campaigns to sell more products or subscriptions. I was able to hit the ground running with YouAppi and quickly provided value to my clients and my work colleagues.

Did I mention YouAppi recruited me from Ohio to Berlin, Germany?

In 2019, two years after joining YouAppi, I was looking to return home to the US. Instead of parting ways, YouAppi moved me from Berlin to New York.

There is no doubt that my YouAppi colleagues benefit from my experience in fashion merchandising. The fact that this native Buckeye traveled made me more open and worldly, enabling me to provide more value to my clients and teammates.

There are a lot of talented people with years of experience in Mobile Ad technology – including many of my teammates at YouAppi, however, there is also so much value in being open to the skills and experience achieved in other industries.