Exclusive interview with Mikhail Pashintsev, former EMEA Head of Growth Marketing at Rakuten Viber.
- Mikhail, you have over 15 years of experience with market giants like Viber and SberDevices. What are some of your professional interests?
"My interests revolve around digital product growth, loyal audience development, and increasing revenue. When I worked for media agencies, I was responsible for audience acquisition through paid performance marketing channels and outreach communications.
The secret of stable growth usually lies within the intersection of various teams' efforts. For example, a team of product managers could increase conversions by launching a referral program that allows users to invite friends to join the product. Meanwhile, a team of sales experts could introduce various tariff plans for a new audience segment. Growth is seen to be positively affected when these initiatives are looked at as a whole."
- What technical and creative skills does your job require?
"The key is to look at growth opportunities as an interconnected system. I believe most of my skills are technical. However, I can apply most of my technical skills creatively.
Let's imagine I need to reduce Customer Acquisition Cost. I'd use mathematical analysis and statistics to find the optimal solution-which is usually classified as a technical skill. But long-term problems with dozens of internal and external factors of influence affect my mathematical approach. To me, this feels like a creative task, though it is based on technical instrumentation.
I regularly step out of my professional comfort zone to expand my areas of expertise. For example, I'm getting more acquainted with product management as many of a business' growth points are managed through employees' spheres of expertise."
- Why did you start a career in digital marketing?
"There were several vital factors. I graduated from university in the era of the Internet's exponential growth, and as a user, I became increasingly involved.
Like any other teenager, I could spend hours playing video games online, surfing the web, and hanging out on early social networks. Additionally, I also used the Internet as an educational tool. The WolframAlpha I downloaded in 2009 significantly optimized my mathematical statistics homework.
My motivation to break into marketing was a genuine personal interest and aspiration to apply my mathematics to something progressive and innovative."
- Which brands have you worked with? What were your most interesting projects and insights afterward?
"I am firmly convinced that we win initiative when we apply the knowledge we believe in the most. Plus, a tiny pinch of professional luck.
I entered into marketing technology back in the 2000s when a media agency I worked at partnered with Microsoft.
In 2010, I joined the Grape Creative Agency founders team. Our mission was to build a media department. One of the first media pitches I won referred to the entire media coverage of Mercedes. We were able to offer average market prices for our services, but couldn't conquer the prices markets that larger organizations proposed.
So, I decided to bet on a comprehensive analytical approach. We guaranteed our client that we could accomplish an all-encompassing advertisement audit and solely base our decisions on technologies and analytics. This provided our client with several clear advantages compared to local platforms, and as a result, we finally won the pitch.
Similar experiences occurred while I worked with Intel, Viber, and other global technological giants. It demonstrates commercial excellence and has even advanced MarTech strategies. After all these years, it remains to be one of my best business strategies."
- How were you able to climb from Marketing Manager to Senior Marketing Manager and finally to EMEA Head of Growth Marketing at Viber?
"My main contribution was forming the Growth Marketing team within the internal marketing department.
Our responsibilities focused on external channels of audience attraction and advertisement, product metrics increase, and internal marketing activities. We greatly emphasized onboarding improvement and accrued additional percentage points for long-term retention. My role proved to be highly beneficial to our overall efficiency."
- What solutions did you implement at SberDevices as Head of Digital Marketing?
"I was responsible for two main areas of work. The first was to increase the active audience of the virtual AI Salute, which was released across mobile apps, websites, and electronic devices. The second was to form a sales strategy for our online channels through e-commerce retailers and marketplaces.
Digital retail is evolving and the digitization process is becoming more measurable and transparent. As a result, digital marketing strategy turned into a multifactor econometric model for effectively selling products in online channels."
- What are your plans for the future?
"I am still profoundly devoted to MarTech, where I find future cooperation with B2B companies that offer new products in Marketing Automation, HealthTech & Web 3.0.
On the one hand, I realize those markets are still unexplored, but on the other, I have an intuition that those fields are on the verge of a great burst of growth."
- What are the main current trends you consider the most perspective to your profession?
"The world is accelerating at a breathtaking speed. I can't even predict what will happen the day this interview is published. Trends are continuously developing at a rapid pace.
However, some technologies have already proved their extensive potential. One of them is generative artificial intelligence. I foresee massive usage in the coming years.
Another point of development is wearable devices, such as smart glasses. I expect a dramatic technological leap in this sector in the next few years. What would our future digital detox look like if we wore our gadgets right in front of our eyes? Honestly, I am excited to see it."
- What advice would you give to Marketers and Growth Product Managers who want to follow in a similar path?
"Marketing is becoming a more and more technically-improved field. When I started my career, our whole marketing strategy could be compacted in Microsoft Excel. Most processes didn't get more complicated than linear calculations. Nowadays, knowing Python/SQL is a base-level 'must' or certain entry threshold.
Professional networking is important as well. One of my favorite sources is Reforge and Lenny Rachitsky's podcast and newsletter. Keeping in touch with quality professional resources is one of the most effective ways to obtain trusted knowledge and exchange authoritative information."
