Olga, you’ve got a wealth of expertise as a digital advertising and marketing supervisor. Was it a path you at all times knew you wished to comply with? What have been your profession stepping stones to get you the place you might be as we speak?

I used to be interning within the audit division at KPMG throughout my fourth 12 months majoring in world economic system and politics on the Increased Faculty of Economics in Russia once I realised that wasn’t the job for me. Then, throughout my fifth 12 months of college, I used to be supplied a job as a monetary analyst at a global beer firm. 

I might have stayed there however I received a global competitors by Samsung – I used to be the one winner from my nation. It included expenses-paid schooling within the MBA program at a prestigious Korean college, which collaborated with the MIT Sloan Administration Faculty. The winners had been required to work for one 12 months on the foremost workplace in South Korea and one other three years in our house nation. My additional profession was decided by the Samsung International Scholarship Program, which led me to the event of digital companies and collaborating within the launch of the Samsung Apps cellular app retailer. 

My first job in digital advertising and marketing was at Samsung, the place my function developed right into a managerial place. It was at this level that I realised this was what I wished to do. After working in web advertising and marketing at Samsung, I turned a digital advertising and marketing staff lead in Adidas, then I moved to Unilever, taking care of the corporate’s largest class ‘Magnificence and Private Care’. 

Then I moved to TikTok. I used to be accountable for FMCG/CPG business progress at TikTok, partnering with giant worldwide corporations akin to P&G, Unilever, Kimberly Clark, Nestle, and others. TikTok gave me the prospect to increase my experience.

Why do you assume the job as a digital marketer captured your consideration? Why did you make the change from a possible profession in finance? And what’s it concerning the business that retains you ?

Ever since I used to be a toddler, I’ve loved fixing mathematical issues, and I used to be good at precise sciences – and I’ve an analytical thoughts. However, after my first job in finance, I realised that I liked the artistic aspect of labor and I missed working with individuals. 

After profitable the Samsung competitors and becoming a member of its digital division, I knew that was the place I may see my future. It was a mixture of every thing that pursuits me, and as a result of dynamic growth of know-how, it’s consistently evolving. It’s additionally multi-layered; I take pleasure in conducting analysis, figuring out client issues utilizing qualitative and quantitative information, producing concepts for options, attempting out and conducting A/B assessments, and analysing the outcomes. 

Now I’ve been on this area for greater than 13 years, and have gained a wealth of data. I’ve expertise in social media, CRM advertising and marketing, and quick video companies. I now specialize in discovering complete options for shopper duties, constructing model presence methods in digital, launching new merchandise utilizing digital channels, and increasing the shopper base.

Was there a selected mission or marketing campaign you labored on throughout your time at Samsung that’s your most memorable one? What was your involvement in it?

There was one mission , which I led, which was the #BeFearless marketing campaign. It was important for a lot of causes, not least for the ethos behind it, which was to point out how fashionable know-how may help individuals overcome their fears. It was a course with particular software program that was developed by skilled specialists in Korea, that linked all of the Samsung units – smartphones, puls-measuring watches and digital actuality glasses. 

The thought behind it was that by finishing this course, you could possibly face your fears and change into extra assured. As a part of the marketing campaign, we invited younger individuals to share tales about their fears – whether or not it was public talking or heights. Then, after finishing the course, they had been invited to face their fears head-on. 

One participant jumped with a parachute for the primary time, whereas the opposite gave a speech in a theatre earlier than a big viewers. As a direct results of the marketing campaign, figures confirmed that the model metric ‘essentially the most most popular model in client electronics’ elevated by 4 pp, and from a model picture perspective, the model’s ‘distinctive’ attribute elevated by greater than 9 pp. My nation was among the many high 4 nations with essentially the most profitable outcomes worldwide. It was additionally rolled out internationally.

Inform us extra about a few of your different campaigns. At Unilever, what do you assume was one of many greatest challenges confronted on the subject of digital advertising and marketing? Inform us about among the initiatives and what their outcomes had been.

I joined Unilever at a time when the corporate was restructuring its processes and actively implementing digital instruments. It was going via a digital transformation, and I used to be main its greatest class – magnificence and private care. 

With my staff, one of many subtasks was to work with information in any respect levels of the advertising and marketing funnel, to analyse it and finally to create and ship personalised messages. With these particulars, it was potential to compile personalised provides for various viewers segments. For a specialist in web advertising and marketing, gathering high-quality information is likely one of the greatest challenges confronted, particularly within the FMCG class. So, I discovered new methods of gathering information, akin to stickers and chatbots on VKontakte, partnering with the cellular loyalty card service “Pockets”, and putting in pattern machines in cosmetics shops. 

Along with my staff, we began actively gathering information, utilizing any indicators that clients left within the on-line area. We then analysed and segmented the viewers, and created personalised messages for all levels of the advertising and marketing funnel. One of many initiatives introduced in an unbelievable 180,000 new contacts in simply three hours after it was launched. 

The explanation this was so vital was that it allowed us to raised perceive our clients and what their wants had been, after which we had been in a position to present them with the most effective person expertise at each touchpoint with Unilever manufacturers on-line. The outcomes had been enormous, and due to the efforts of me and my staff, Russia entered the highest three nations in Unilever for this indicator, and the Russian outcomes of some particular person manufacturers, akin to Axe and Dove, had been recognised as the most effective on this planet. 

Alongside this, I used to be additionally concerned in launching main social campaigns for the Dove model. These included the hashtags #ShowUs and #LetThemShine. I used to be accountable for the digital half, the place a data-driven advertising and marketing strategy was additionally utilized.

You may have labored for world manufacturers akin to Samsung, Unilever, and Adidas. Are there any widespread traits that run via the event on the subject of their digital advertising and marketing?

Sure, information. Working with information is important for all of those corporations. Every of them was excited about working with massive information, together with gathering it, processing it, analysing it and utilizing it. As they are saying, information is the oil of the twenty first century! Technological merchandise from Adobe had been utilized in all these organisations. 

The information can be segmented into audiences, and personalised provides can be developed primarily based on the pursuits of every section – and that may be totally different for every of the manufacturers too. For instance, in Adidas, there may very well be an e-mail marketing campaign that highlights a suggestion for kids’s clothes, nevertheless it may very well be solely focusing on mums with kids. 

At Samsung, it could be a suggestion only for homeowners of flagship smartphones to enhance their picture with modern Samsung watches. Whereas at Unilever, it may very well be informing an viewers loyal to the Dove model a couple of new social mission. And that’s throughout the board, not solely e-mail advertising and marketing, but additionally banners, movies, and different artistic supplies used for launching on numerous media channels. 

That’s additionally one thing these three corporations have in widespread, all of them actively used on-line video as a device for constructing protection.

What attracted you to work at TikTok? How was the function totally different to your earlier expertise? Did it’s a must to develop or adapt your present abilities?

There was a lot buzz round TikTok in 2020, everybody was speaking about it. It was gaining a multi-million viewers quicker than any of its opponents. In fact, this was influenced by the Covid-19 epidemic, which meant everybody was at house, and the leisure app turned a go-to to those that wished some enjoyment. 

I’d additionally heard a variety of actually optimistic issues about working at TikTok from my colleagues within the business. One other side that I discovered engaging was that TikTok was a comparatively small firm, not like my earlier employers. This meant there was higher freedom in addition to that means it may create alternatives to point out myself and work in several markets. 

TikTok was rising quickly and I wished to be part of that. It had glorious prospects to vary the market. I knew it might additionally permit me to study one thing new and to increase my data of the promoting market as a complete. 

The apparent benefit was the chance to work with all main worldwide corporations without delay, in addition to to strive myself on the platform aspect. All my earlier expertise was on the shopper aspect, and TikTok gave me an opportunity to increase my experience, which I ultimately did.

What challenges did you face at TikTok? The social community was a brand new and rising model. How did you’re employed with corporations to persuade them it was the best platform for his or her promoting?

For a lot of world manufacturers, TikTok was an unfamiliar platform with its personal guidelines of the sport. Every part needed to be thought via from this distinctive perspective – it wasn’t only a case of copying the strategy and creatives from opponents as a result of commonplace promoting doesn’t work on TikTok. 

As TikTok’s platform is user-generated content material, it might imply nobody would watch it. Customers wished to see content material created by peculiar individuals, identical to them, not excellent commercials with an intrusive call-to-action to purchase the product. However some shoppers had been actually afraid to take a threat and alter their digital methods, because it was all unfamiliar to them. So I made shows, performed coaching, developed digital methods, and solved shopper issues associated to product launches. 

For one firm alone, it took 11 seminars for 9 product classes earlier than we noticed a big change of their promoting creatives. However it was value it, as a result of it yielded good outcomes. This led to advertisers asking us to develop an annual technique for his or her presence on TikTok – they’d stopped treating it like simply one other social community. I additionally discovered non-standard options that allowed shoppers to launch their first campaigns and see instantaneous outcomes. 

For instance, for the Huggies model, I discovered a option to shoot movies in 2 weeks and launch the marketing campaign simply earlier than the New 12 months. The shopper was very glad and redistributed rather more assets to TikTok. All of this was accomplished in order that shoppers would think about TikTok not as a platform for particular initiatives, however as a essential channel of their annual media plans. In monetary phrases in a single 12 months, I elevated the income from FMCG/CPG business by 180%.

Do you’ve got any examples of conditions that you simply had been in a position to overcome by way of digital advertising and marketing whereas working at TikTok?

As a result of world pointers from its HQ, my earlier employer, Unilever, was unable to begin working with me at TikTok. However, via an company, I’d heard how Unilever was stunned by the excessive gross sales of their Magnum Double ice cream in March – clearly not the season for ice lotions! 

I appeared into it, and I discovered one TikTok person had posted a video concerning the ice cream, and it had gained momentum – with greater than 2.3 million views in simply two days. It led to a number of individuals looking for the place to purchase the ice cream. 

The very fact it wasn’t straightforward to search out – it was offered on-line solely – and that it was costly added to the narrative. The curiosity continued, with different customers asking questions, sharing movies, and the views had been rising quickly. I in contrast the graphs of our inside statistics and related search queries in Google Traits and Yandex Wordstat. The March peaks had been utterly equivalent. It was the most effective proof that TikTok was the reason for the success. It was this instance that gave me the leverage to influence Unilever to think about working with TikTok. A couple of months later, they launched their first marketing campaign with us for the Axe model. 

The deodorant marketing campaign turned out to be very profitable by way of media metrics, and the outcomes had been twice as excessive as our closest competitor.