Our Industry Insights Profile takes a weekly look at some of the professionals working across the advertising, ad tech, marketing and media sector in Australia. It aims to shed light on the varying roles and companies across the buzzing industry.
Previosuly we spoke to SpotX ANZ country manager Christopher Blok, today we meet Sydney-based MD Asia-Pacific at Rakuten Marketing Anthony Capano.
Duration in current role/time at the company:
4.5 years
In one sentence, how would you describe what the company does?
Rakuten Marketing is the performance marketing arm of Rakuten Inc,. We help brands drive online revenue via our integrated marketing solutions that span affiliate marketing, display and retargeting, which are underpinned by our multi-channel attribution and insights technology.
In one sentence, what does your role involve?
My role involves overseeing the Rakuten Marketing business in Asia Pacific, where we have offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Singapore.
Within the last six months/year, what stands out as the company’s major milestones?
It’s been a big year! Our Asia Pacific business grew by 87% YoY, our affiliate channel experienced 66% growth and we saw our display and retargeting business grow 88% YoY. On top of this we increased staff numbers by 35% and opened offices in Melbourne and Singapore. Globally we were voted the world’s best affiliate network for the sixth year in a row, paid out more than $1billion in affiliate publisher payments in the past 12months and facilitated over 100million orders for our advertisers.
Oh….and Rakuten became the official jersey sponsor and digital partner of FC Barcelona and the Golden State Warriors. Great to see our name on Lionel Messi and Steph Curry’s chest!
See: Ad Tech 101: Performance Marketing
Best thing about the industry you work in:
The sheer rate of change and innovation.
Previous industry related (ad land/ad tech) companies you have worked at:
Salmat, working across traditional and digital media.
Career-wise, where do you see yourself in three years time?
Still with Rakuten, working with a great team and great clients.
What is the elephant in the room? The thing that no one is talking about – but they should be.
I wouldn’t necessarily say it is the elephant in the room, although I don’t think we talk enough about how Australian brands are taking on the world. There are some great examples of local brands utilising digital channels to expand beyond Australia and seeing great success in the US, UK and Asia, and we should give more coverage to that.
Tell us one thing people at work don’t know about you?
We are a close-knit team at Rakuten so I would suggest they already know too much about me!
Top networking tip:
Be yourself and listen.
My favourite restaurant for a business lunch is:
Alpha
My favourite advert is:
As a football fan, I always loved the Nike and Adidas ads pre-World Cup, with the Portugal v Brazil ad from 2009 a favourite
My must-have gadget is:
My Garmin Forerunner
My favourite media is:
TV.
My favourite TV show is:
Suits
The last book I read:
Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike
My mantra / philosophy is:
No risk, no reward
I got into advertising/ad tech/marketing etc because:
From a young age, I was intrigued by advertising. I remember that I enjoyed watching great TV ads and creative outdoor execution.
I fell into my first advertising job after taking an interview with a recruiter, organised by my soccer club at the time and remain intrigued by advertising to this day.
If I wasn't doing this for a living, I'd be:
A journalist…or a Formula 1 driver!
In five years' time I'll be:
Hopefully retired and fishing in Portugal, but more realistically still in the ad tech industry.
Define your job in one word:
Rewarding
What's your poison:
Beer. A nice Kosciuszko Pale Ale preferably.
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au
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