What exactly is the job of... Team Publisher: straight from the suite into the pool

Sounds like a luxury holiday? Well, that’s what it’s like in our youngest team. And, no, we don’t mean the age of the individual team members, but the fact that the Publisher department at advanced store has only existed for the last 3 years. This closes the circle in the world of online marketing as, besides advertisers who want to take their products to the people, we also need website operators who offer their pages as advertising space. Both worlds are connected by our media platform, the advanced suite. And the pool? Well, that’s where all the advertising is, adapted completely individually, carefully maintained and intelligently optimised, so that our ads are sure to make a big splash. Let’s raise the curtain for Team Publisher!

Who’s in Team Publisher and what do they do?

Jenny, Christian and Judy at advanced store are behind Team Publisher. A further successful trio alongside Team Marketing, which we introduced to you in February. We asked them for an interview and they were brave enough to answer our questions. Let’s get started!

What do you do all day? Or, to put it more elegantly, what are your duties in detail?

Jenny: I advise and optimise new and existing publishers to make sure they have the best possible setup and performance. I also plan the strategic further development of the Publisher Team and coordinate all of our activities.

Judy: On the one hand, I’m responsible for customer acquisition, especially for the travel and fashion sector. But my main focus is on the many processes that take place in the background. This means, for instance, that I monitor, control and optimise all of the ads that we have running for our publishers.

Christian: Broadly speaking, I’m responsible for Sales. This involves customer service and support as well as customer acquisition. I’m the direct point of contact for our publishers for all of our publisher products.

What else do you take care of? We mean all the gory details (“supported by product placements”)!

Judy: (winking) I have the great honour of taking care of content management for the compare ads and supporting Lisa from Team Marketing.

Christian: Simply everything to do with publishers. Everything.

Jenny: As a product manager, I’m responsible for our advanced ads and our media platform – the advanced suite – from the point of view of our publishers. This includes tasks such as regular communication with other product managers and IT. Our goal at the end of the day is to offer high-quality and innovative solutions that provide publishers with an easy way to monetise their websites.

So, you don’t just work with clients but also with other colleagues. Which teams do you work very closely with?

Christian: We work closely with virtually all of the teams. We are in contact with IT, for instance, for the purpose of product development, with Team Advertiser (DACH & INT) due to our advertisers, which are presented in our ads, and with Team Operations due to... well, operational matters.

Jenny: Most of our internal processes are interlinked. All of this creates a very lively and close collaboration with our colleagues.

Judy: Exactly! And Team Marketing shouldn’t be missed out here. We wouldn’t be where we are today without them and their many sales materials such as presentations, handouts or the website.

Speaking of collaboration: how do you prefer to communicate? Telephone, email, hand signals...?

Jenny: Naturally, a great deal via video chat at the moment. I like the new kind of ease in communication that working from home has brought with it. Everyone’s in the same situation and there are always a few minutes spare to share a couple of tips or tricks. Tip: encourage yourself and your colleagues to get outside and collect a few steps in an app. At the end of the week, the whole group should have managed a certain number of steps during the week. It’s fun, good for you and motivates you.

Christian: I prefer to communicate on the phone or, even better, in person face to face (unfortunately that’s not really possible at the moment). Personal contact with people is ultimately one of the most important parts of sales, no matter whether it’s with partners from our existing network or with new partners.

And you, Judy?

The personalities behind the team

It’s pretty clear that you know how to enjoy yourselves. Now, alongside your duties, we also want to get to know you a little better as a person. Let’s start with the basics:

Where do you all come from?

Christian: I’m originally from wonderful Brandenburg and have returned after a 3-year interlude studying in Dresden!

Judy: I’m proud to say I’m a Berliner through and through. Nevertheless, with both a smile on my face and a tear in my eye, I moved to Halle (Saale) to study. But I can already say that such a small town also has its benefits.

Jenny: Also from Berlin. Grew up in Treptow-Köpenick and still have my roots here. In Berlin’s greenest district, I can quickly escape the hustle and bustle of the city, but can reach the centre just as quickly again to work through my bucket list of restaurants or to soak in the international atmosphere of Berlin.

Who or what can you not live without?

Christian: I couldn’t live without my family, my girlfriend and my friends.

Judy: I’m with Christian. It’s wonderful having a family and friends who are always there for you.

Jenny: Judy and Christian have already said it all. I’m going to add my glasses and contact lenses. Without them, keeping sight of things would be really difficult.

We’ve warmed you up enough: What’s your big passion?

Judy: Since we’ve had to work from home, it’s probably houseplants. I’m not sure whether or not that’s a cool big passion... (embarrassed laugh)

Christian: Wow, that’s a really difficult question. Before coronavirus, I would probably have said travelling was my big passion. Now it’s probably trying to create great birthday presents. And food. (laughs)

Jenny: Currently cooking. I’m trying to bring the flair of Asian, Mexican and Spanish cuisine into my home. So, instead of travelling, the country’s coming to me in my apartment.

There are lots of similarities there. And why are you the best team in the world?

Judy: (laughing) Because we’re Jenny, Judy and Christian. That speaks for itself!

Jenny: We combine expertise, fun and bite. Further development takes priority for us; both for the publisher setups and for ourselves personally.

Christian: The simplicity of our working relationship is great. We’re also always there for each other if someone needs support. And that’s not always a given.

And what would the mascot of the world’s best team look like?

Christian: Difficult, I think an alpaca. I don’t know why but they’re just funny.

Judy: I’d tend to go for a friendly hydra. We simply never lose our heads and, if we ever do, we come back with increased brain power.

Jenny: The killer whale. Although it has “whale” in its name, it’s actually the world’s biggest dolphin. For me, orcas represent intelligence, adaptability and cohesion. By the way, while they sleep, one half of their brain remains active and they keep one eye open, as they need to return to the surface regularly to breathe. This also happens sometimes when I’m sleeping.

Editor’s comment: Anyone who manages to create a graphic form of this mascot should please get in touch with us! They’re sure to get a post on our Insta channel and our deepest appreciation.

So where are we going now, and how do we get there?

Team Publisher is characterful, humorous, optimistic, committed and complements each other wonderfully in terms of product and client management as well as in all operational matters that crop up for our publishers day to day. In 2021, too, the focus will remain on expanding our media platform and offering easy access to processes and workflows for all of our publishers. We’d like to ask one final question because it was so wonderful:

Last but not least: What makes you especially proud and why?

Christian: I’m proud that we – even during this difficult time – work so well as a team and as part of advanced store and grow every day with our tasks.

Judy: I agree with Christian. It’s really lovely how well we work as a team.

Jenny: Beautifully put. I feel exactly the same way.

PS: As a little taster or teaser for the upcoming honours that we will be bestowing on the March Team of the Month on Instagram, here’s what we’ve created:

Over and out.