This week, we are shining the spotlight on Yannick Kabangu, an experienced professional with over a decade of expertise in Digital Marketing, AdTech/MarTech, and Enterprise SaaS.
In the course of his career, Yannick has held significant commercial lead positions, where he has been at the forefront of groundbreaking innovation across the marketing and advertising ecosystem in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).
Currently serving as the Commercial Director for Sub-Saharan Africa at Adform, Yannick continues to drive growth and shape the industry in the region where he serves.
ADMARP: Did you choose marketing, or marketing chose you?
Yannick: I chose DIGITAL Marketing
ADMARP: What is your greatest weakness?
Yannick: I always give the benefit of the doubt…I guess that can be viewed as a weakness, right?
ADMARP: What is the idea of you people have that is quite contrary to who you really are?
Yannick: I am too serious and barely have fun.
ADMARP: What can you describe as the most groundbreaking moment/period in your career journey?
Yannick: My first training on how retargeting worked during the infancy stage of programmatic. This was more than 11 years ago and my then trainer is now one of the top Machine Learning Engineers at Google!
ADMARP: What is your favorite food?
Yannick: Pap (Fufu) any well-cooked veggie and some nice fatty fish or a great piece of flame-grilled steak.
Pasta is a close second.
ADMARP: What food do you think is the most overrated?
Yannick: Tofu
ADMARP: Tell us something, an unpopular opinion about marketing that you think people should embrace more?
Yannick: Brand Awareness Campaigns are not a waste of money if it is part of a holistic strategy aimed at meeting overall brand objectives.
ADMARP: If you weren’t a marketing expert, what would you have done differently in life?
Yannick: I’ll be a stock day-trader or an entrepreneur with the aspiration to be a VC or Equity investor.
ADMARP: What state are you from?
Yannick: I am from the Democratic Republic of Congo, living in South Africa
ADMARP: What are you afraid of the most?
Yannick: Complacency.
ADMARP: Who is your bestie in the industry?
Yannick: I have too many to mention…each contributing to my growth in a way or another.