Following last year's strategy shift, AdRoll has firm plans and a fresh focus around how it sees the business shaping up in Australia.
We caught up with AdRoll’s VP for International Markets, Marius Smyth, who is responsible for the region, to find out more.
“We’re really excited to bring the next generation of AdRoll to market, along with the first of many exciting new capabilities that empowers ambitious brands to confidently grow their business," Smyth said.
“Digital has never been more important and AdRoll is about making effective digital marketing simple for businesses no matter their resources, expertise or budget.”
Strategy change
The turning point five months ago, that saw the exit of some staff members in Sydney, was driven by this change in focus for AdRoll.
Smyth explained how, in focusing more on data driven performance advertising, meant prioritising investments in other areas of the business.
“The changes did affect a proportion of AdRoll’s staff globally but we repurposed that investment to allow us to increase headcount in areas that would help us realise this vision," he said.
“Product and engineering will grow 25% this year and we are already seeing the fruits of that investment in terms of new product releases to help ambitious brands grow.”
Smyth added that they will continue to have 'Rollers' on the ground in Sydney and that the new re-focused office team had a very strong first quarter in revenue terms.
“It has been great to spend the week here in the office with the team and I couldn’t be more proud of their efforts to embrace the new brand positioning and build out the business in support of it," Smyth explained.
A vision for the future
AdRoll says it is committed to making effective digital marketing, however complex, simple for marketers and business owners so they can attract, convert and engage more customers.
It says ambitious commerce brands today have discovered that finding new audiences and getting people spending requires a complete customer view.
"The enhanced capabilities that AdRoll has built enables brands of all sizes to advertise anywhere online by giving them access to rich data and powerful technology normally reserved for massive global businesses," Smyth added.
“The AdRoll platform allows you to do that and the capabilities we’ve brought to market recently, including a new guided campaign set-up, cross channel reporting, a new attribution dashboard and an expanded native offering, all solve for the challenges busy brands face.”
Smyth said AdRoll will work for "ambitious brands of all sizes", but the sweet spot is small to medium sized commerce brands which need a partner to support their digital advertising plans.
Filling in the gaps
“Businesses don’t wake up in the morning looking to prospect and retarget, they are focused on building their brand, attracting new customers and growing their existing base," he said.
He said being a true partner in facilitating that is what AdRoll is all about.
“Our customers are busy people with lots going on. And digital can be complex. Our aim is to make that easy in filling in the gaps in their digital marketing strategy and helping them reach their goals. We access media, but offer much more than that. We bring our customers’ data together, help them learn from effective customer journeys, and orchestrate across channels to win.
“If we can continue to focus on that, we should be ok.”
Opportunity
Smyth said he was confident in the ability of the new vision to resonate in the Australian market.
“We are at a good point of stabilisation right now in Australia and are focused on listening to our customers and supporting them in the way they want us to," he said.
“This week we kicked off our Customer Spotlight Programme, which aims to shine a light on some of the most ambitious brands in the Australian market: Budgy Smuggler, Esther & Co., Ribs & Burgers and Dermalogica joined us at this event to tell their story; the challenges and successes they’ve had, how they’ve approached them, the lessons they’ve learned and their ambitions for growth into the future.
“In doing that, it helps us to be a better partner for them while also giving other ambitious brands some great insight and motivation.”
Staying connected
In terms of local leadership Smyth said he has "huge confidence" in the Sydney team of sales executives and account management, led by head of sales Jean-Christophe Mignon.
“Talking with customers is critically important and while there's a lot of similarities within markets, there's also a lot of differences and nuances and this week was a great opportunity to get their perspective," Smyth said.
He said to expect even more from AdRoll into the future with a new attract product and video capabilities coming down the track.
He said the news has been welcomed globally by its 37,000+ customers who have between them generated $7 billion in revenue by partnering with AdRoll.
To find out more about AdRoll visit www.adroll.com
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