Hi John, congratulations on joining the Incubeta team as its new US CEO. Tell us about your journey in tech and how your professional milestones shaped your career so far.

I joined the market-leading adtech company DoubleClick in 2006 to lead client relationships across their advertiser, publisher and software products. The industry was learning a lot about what was possible with  technology and DoubleClick was at the forefront.

DoubleClick was then acquired by Google in 2008 and this led to a huge increase in product stability, client growth and scale. I decided to pivot towards Google in 2011 and led the team in EMEA in developing, launching and selling a brand new enterprise measurement product offering – Google Analytics Premium (GA360).

At the end of 2015, I moved to Google NYC to head up the GA360 Partners program across the Americas and have recently been leading Global partner strategy for the Google Marketing Platform

You bring in a sea of experience and wisdom from Marketing, Sales and Operations. What galvanized you to join Incubeta as a CEO?

The opportunity to work with an exciting and talented group of people in the US (and our International operations) combined with the stage of development of the organization were key factors in my move. I believe there is a huge amount of opportunity within the US market and I know Incubeta has the client solutions needed to be a market leader.

From Adtech to full-fledged Digital marketing company — what’s the most exciting part about being a CEO in the fast-growth tech company?

It’s a great honor – and an exciting responsibility – to be leading the US group during this high-growth phase in their development. There has been a great deal of planning to get Incubeta US Corp to this stage and I know the team has the know-how to succeed in this next phase. It’s exciting to be a part of the story and to continue to work closely with our partners at Google.

Go-to marketing strategies have changed overnight during the COVID-19 crisis. As a CEO, would you stick to your gut feeling, or would you likely explore new synergies floating in the ecosystem.

The current situation has led to an extremely tough environment and many businesses are having to pivot to succeed. It is always worth exploring new ideas and synergies in order to offer the flexibility clients need at this time.

I have generally preferred to make decisions based on knowledge and data as this often leads to good outcomes.

Please tell our audience about your remote workplace technology suite : 

We rely on cloud productivity platforms, such as Google’s GSuite. These are invaluable to allow our team remote access to all the documents and tools they need, while being able to update and share work with colleagues or jump on a video conference in an instant. GSuite also enables us to continue the personal development of our employees by conducting “upskill yourself” courses on coding, soft skills and cross skills.

Workplace messaging platforms, such as Slack, have also been incredibly helpful for those quick check-ins, or questions someone may have, to ensure the smooth running of our operations. And for those fun, social moments we try to recreate in the absence of not being able to get together, we have been using Kahoot.it for quizzes and games.

How hard or easy is it going to be for a B2B Marketing Technology company to achieve Revenue goals as customers have no choice but to shrink budgets?

I think it’s key to understand the challenges of our clients and to adapt our solutions accordingly. We want to grow and develop with our clients and we’ll succeed by helping them to succeed

Our clients are on a path to digital maturity and we can help them on the journey by providing them the expertise they need. It’s a tough environment but one that we’re very well placed within.

Your favorite webinar / podcast series in the B2B marketing space:

I really like Quartz and CB Insights for daily information and like to listen to a podcast called “Marketing over Coffee” for trends, thought leadership and industry content. There is a lot of innovation in making content engaging and these companies do a great job of it.

A piece of advice to all young marketing professionals in the current context of shrinking jobs and opportunities in North America:

“Businesses are experiencing a generational shift towards digitization and with it will come opportunity. It’s very valuable to keep up with the trends in the industry as expertise is often in very short supply.

“Translating clients’ business challenges into marketing solutions amongst a landscape of ever-changing tech solutions is also a highly valued skill. This starts with mastering basic marketing principles.”

Tag a person from the industry whose answers you would like to see here:

I’d like to see a female voice from Google here. I would recommend Sharen Phillips – Google’s Head of Channel Platform Partners US.

Thank you, John! That was fun and hope to see you back on MarTech Series soon.