Stephen was inspired to conduct research when his company came across a study by ComScore and Millennial Media which highlighted the growth in mobile advertising over the last year; specifically that since 2011 there has been 122% growth among respondents who spend a substantial amount of time on their phones.
It made sense to both Stephen and his team that mobile advertising would be a lucrative growth path. However, it was difficult to identify opportunities in the field without first getting an understanding of the business.
With the help of Abrdn’s Senior Director of Marketing, the Product Manager, and Marketing Manager, Stephen was able to draw key insights from this data and develop a low-risk hypothesis for Abrdn’s product development. With a clear road map in hand, they set out to find suitable mentors to help them execute on their plan.
Source: Bloomberg.com
It was shortly after this that Abrdn met up with David Lermitte as part of their search for mentors. David serves as the CEO of a company called Fotopedia, which Abrdn had recently partnered with to provide mobile advertising.
While David and Stephen shared a common interest in mobile marketing, their business models were quite different. The two CEOs instantly hit it off and began discussing best practices for growing companies in this space.
After the initial phone call, David invited Stephen to his office for dinner so the pair could continue their mentoring relationship face-to-face. The dinner conversation was very productive: they spoke about the importance of marketing from the onset of a product launch; discussed how to build an effective team; and brainstormed ways that Abrdn could expand on their current product offering.
After three months of mentoring, David formally extended a job offer to Stephen at Fotopedia. As Stephen himself put it, “In these three short months of mentorship, David not only guided me on my strategy but also helped me build a strong team that would work towards this goal.”
Stephen declined the offer, but he was able to gain valuable knowledge from his mentor’s experience: he now feels confident that Abrdn is well equipped for growth in the mobile advertising industry. He plans on following up with David in the future as both companies grow and share ideas about how to expand on their business models.