On a hot July day, Hossein Houssaini and I recorded this episode as a starter for season 3. A week before DMEXCO, we talk about the adtech and digital industry, and of course about success. Hossein recently launched his own consultancy and advisory company which can be found at www.houssaini.com - so the timing is right for him to tell us all about what success for him and in digital looks like, and if you want to meet with him at DMEXCO, please get in touch.

 

Ho/Pe Advisory helps brands to understand the digital data-driven marketing landscape better by simplifying complex subjects to ease decision making in programmatic advertising, strategy, business processes and implementation and offer services in consulting, workshops and keynotes around the digital transformation and marketing automation.

 

He left Havas this year, where he was responsible for the Global Programmatic Strategy of the group and he also managed subjects like GDPR, transformation and education. Previous jobs include Doubleclick, Google, IPG and brands like L’Oreal and IBM. 

 

We address the challenge of the uptake of consultants in our industry. Hossein focuses on digital, anything from a media and creative perspective but also beyond that; I, on the other hand, also launched my own executive and productivity coaching business which is more industry independent, whilst I still work in the industry as a consultant.

 

I confronted Hossein on his opinions, which I personally like. He challenges the industry, and sometimes in a very confident way. He suggests that failure is part of the success journey, and thinks that you can still join a more prominent company later in your career; it’s opposite to what my guests said before, and this leads to an interesting discussion on what success means, and how things have evolved from our parents generation’s viewpoint on a success path compared to our generation and future generations. 

 

We discuss family, and how Work-Life Balance is key to all of our endeavours, plus how our children see the future differently, growing up with technology at a much earlier stage. Also, we discuss his upbringing and his view of success; his family would have had high expectations and that lead to him becoming very competitive. And this of course had an impact on his private life too. So success for him turns into being able to spend time with his children, and to be present with them, and to start a company of his own based on his values and beliefs; as we get mature, we refocus on our values, understanding that our main job is to have a family and look after it. For Hossein success and happiness are closely linked, and further closely linked to culture and values. 

 

From an adtech perspective, we review the meaning of advertising, and what is essential for a consumer? We get quite into the weeds. What does really work in advertising? How do we measure advertising successfully? Why does re-targeting still work without a proper frequency capping? How could companies still not understand why they should connect their online and offline data? This and other questions were what we discussed prior to the biggest European trade show coming up, DMEXCO in Germany next week. Somehow we lost the story telling in advertising, didn’t we?

 

You can find out more about Hossein or get in touch via any of the following links:

 

Instagram: @hopeadvisory | @hosseinhoussaini

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hhoussaini/

Ho/Pe Advisory: https://www.linkedin.com/company/hopeadvisory

Facebook: @Hosseinhoussaini | @hopeadvisory

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1z7U9wDIdyFwbwSbWcbypw

 

This podcast is hosted by Volker Ballueder (Ballueder Partners), an executive and productivity coach and growth consultant. Volker also wrote a book on productivity and life improvement #BeBetter. Next week he will publish his second book based on his successful podcast Stories of Success, so stay tuned. 

If you are interested in being coached by Volker Ballueder or you are interested in discussing mindfulness trainings or consulting work, please reach out to him via email (mailto:volker@ballueder.com).