Adform is a global digital advertising technology company with a major site in Lithuania. The people filling the client-facing roles work in a truly international environment with the biggest brand names in the world.
To get a glimpse of life in a global adtech company, we interviewed Karolina Baltuonytė, currently a Global Platform Solutions Consultant at Adform. She has travelled to the US & Asia to work with clients and now helps global brands with technical onboarding.
🔵 How would you describe Adform as a product for the people outside the adtech industry?
Adform’s business might sometimes be confusing for outsiders, but actually, most people interact with us daily! Every time you see an ad online, it might be served by us. Adform connects brands to the right audiences in the right environment, making digital advertising work in an automated and seamless way.
🔵 How did you find your way to joining Adform?
It’s an interesting story, actually! Back in 2016, some of my former colleagues were working at Adform, and I only heard the best things about this company and the work environment. I was 100% sure I also wanted to work there, even though I didn’t even know what Adform did.
Back then, I had just graduated and went around the world travelling. Whenever someone asked about my occupation, I said without any hesitation – once I’m back in Lithuania, I’ll work for Adform. When the time came to move back to Vilnius, I sent a single CV – to Adform. I was just so sure that I’d get the job. And luckily, I did!
🔵 You have worked in various positions within Adform, including relocating to the US office way back in 2017. How did you get this opportunity? How did that experience go for you?
It still feels unbelievable I got to work in our New York office, in the center of advertising! I’m very grateful for that opportunity to this day.
My Team Lead at that time encouraged me to apply for a temporary position in the US, even though I had only worked at Adform for 1,5 years and still felt like a beginner. If someone had told me then that I would soon lead a client meeting in the Empire State Building, I would have just laughed.
But as soon as I moved across the pond, I was soaked in the advertising world – Our American team took me to a client meeting on my very first day. In addition to being jet-lagged, I was a bit intimidated and confused as it was a completely new experience for me. Before that, I had supported clients exclusively via digital channels and emails. So the first days felt like a lucid dream at times, but it forced me to adjust to the new situation rapidly.
I was also living very close to Times Square, which stunned me completely. Such experiences really make you believe in the ”If I can make it here, I can make it anywhere” mentality.
Overall, it was an exceptional way to get out of my comfort zone, boost my confidence and gain more industry knowledge. The time in the US office built a solid base for my next career steps in Adform.
🔵 What were some of the US-specific challenges?
One of the biggest challenges initially was the time difference with the tech people from the Vilnius office. If I had any questions before, I could simply approach the correct person in the office. But by the time I got to the office in New York, the people in Vilnius were already wrapping up for the day. This turned out to be a great learning experience: to support clients independently and on time, I had to expand my knowledge about the various aspects of Adform’s products.
🔵 What did you learn about the US market from your time there?
NYC’s hustle and bustle gets you into a workaholic mode, which was very enjoyable for me! I saw the American way of doing business and pitching clients. Their style is more fast-paced than in Europe – if you don’t impress the client during the first minutes, it will be much harder going forward. It felt like a constant battle for everyone. If it’s not you, then it’s someone else. You simply cannot lose focus.
One more thing I learned – you can always blame the subway if you’re late to the client meeting. 😁
🔵 What’s your current role? How would you explain your job in layman’s terms?
My current job title is Global Platform Solutions Consultant, meaning I’m managing the accounts of well-known global brands. I focus on the technical side of things, for example, making sure that Adform’s products are smoothly onboarded and used across the markets the client requires – no matter if it’s the US, Spain, Japan or Australia, they all must operate in sync. Or if I had to explain this to a 4-year-old – I’m building a customized puzzle and making sure it doesn’t break.
My role is global, so working at Adform’s Vilnius office makes cross-team and cross-office communication really easy and fun! Having client support and development teams here is very convenient as you can easily have a “coffee chat” about your business case followed by a good pool game. The foreign colleagues also often visit the Vilnius office, which gives us a chance to catch up.
I’ve never worked around such inspiring and supporting people before. Even though the company is vast, you still feel like a part of the team and working towards a united goal.
🔵 What have you learned from working alongside the biggest advertisers in the world?
It was most interesting to see that we speak the same adtech language anywhere, but it’s wrapped in a different cultural environment. Out of personal experience – eating a fried pigeon in China or raw chicken in Japan makes you feel like a complete outsider. But once you get into the meeting room, we’re back on the same page, speaking adtech.
Jokes aside, onboarding large multinational advertisers usually means staying with one account for at least two years, as it takes a while to build that customized puzzle across all the markets. In the end, you are so involved that it almost feels as if you’re working at the company. It is a priceless experience as I get to see the digital marketing strategies in different industries – retail, automotive, telecommunications. Not to mention meeting the brightest, most inspiring people along the way!
Check out Adform’s open positions on MeetFrank:
- Sales Operations Specialist
- UX Researcher
- Sales Analyst
- Publisher Support Specialist
- Scrum Master – Big Data
- Digital Advertising Specialist
- QA Engineer (Billing Automation)
- View all open positions
🔵 And finally, you have now worked in Adform for nearly six years. What has kept you in the company for so long?
I previously thought that even three years at one company would be too long. But here we are… 😁
Adform keeps challenging me to this day, and I still see a lot of opportunities to grow. That’s the most important thing for me. Additionally, the team is hands-down one of the best things in Adform. It’s difficult to explain to people outside the company, but we have a special vibe that all our people share due to Adform Guiding Principles, the seven of them in total. It really is a great environment for kick-starting or accelerating your career!
