Each month, meet a new member of our team – this month we speak with Shanil Chande, Commercial & Partnerships Director, UK and international at Hawk (Azerion)!
Hi! Can you quickly introduce yourself?
Sure thing! I’m Shanil, Commercial & Partnerships Director (UK & International) at Hawk. I’ve been at Hawk now for close to 8 years pretty much since we launched into the UK market back in 2015 and was our first agency sales hire in the UK.
What is your position and role at Hawk specifically?
My role within the business entails working closely with all of our partners both in the UK and across multiple other markets to ensure mutually beneficial business outcomes, that customers of our platform are supported with everything they require to run the most successful ad campaigns possible and to drive innovation through collaboration by identifying new partnership opportunities that can enhance our product in-market. This means that I get to work with so many great businesses and people across the market, as well as heading up what I truly believe is one of the best commercial teams in-market; something I count myself very lucky to be able to do every day.
What was the most striking thing about your arrival in the adventure?
Having been at the business for close to 8 years now, the most striking thing I’ve noticed is just how much and how quickly our platform has evolved over the years. When I first joined, we were a mobile-only business helping brands and agencies to enter this space and navigate what was at the time, a rapidly emerging and new channel. Fast forward 8 years and we are now one of the leading omnichannel businesses in the market specialising in helping brands to unify their approaches to planning, activation and measurement across mobile, audio, DOOH, CTV and in-game environments. It’s been one hell of a journey so far and I’m looking forward to what the next 8 years will bring from here; especially given that we are now, excitingly, part of the Azerion family!
What are your daily challenges in this position?
The biggest challenge, I would say, is that no two days are ever the same; however, this is also what keeps me motivated and is one of the reasons I’ve been at the business for so long. Given that I get to work so closely with agencies, brands, data & supply partners, verification companies and many other great businesses in our diverse ecosystem, I’m also fortunate enough to be able to get a holistic view of the challenges that all of our partners are facing and work closely with them to turn these challenges into opportunities. Ad-tech evolves at lightning pace and ensuring that we are building future-proofed solutions to help our agencies and brand partners to execute more efficient and effective campaigns is something that drives me every day.
In your opinion, what is your greatest success at Hawk?
My greatest success would have to be being part of an amazing UK team who have positively disrupted the market. Looking at how we have evolved and the campaigns we are now running, I couldn’t be prouder of the journey we’ve been on and we owe it all to our amazing agency and brand partners for trusting us with their business and helping us to shape our product into what we have today. I’m also proud of the values we’ve instilled within the team over the past 8 years of passion, pride and perseverance; or “the three P’s” as we refer to them. It means that we’ve created an environment where people genuinely care, both about each other but also about what they do on a day to day basis.
What 3 adjectives would your team use to describe you?
Approachable, collaborative, conscientious (I hope!)
Your passion outside of work?
My passion outside of work is definitely my fitness. I enjoy a range of different activities like boxing, swimming, spinning (although I can’t actually ride a bike…), yoga and weights and try and do something active every day. Apart from the physical benefits, I feel like it has a huge impact on my mental health and ability to focus properly throughout the day.
Finally, what message would you give to future employees?
Be curious. Hawk as a business encourages you to learn more about anything within the industry that interests you so don’t be confined to the perceived boundaries of your day-to-day work. We’re lucky to be surrounded by great minds both inside and outside the business so make sure you take every opportunity to enhance your learning and knowledge. Whether that’s attending industry events, dialling into webinars or just catching up with someone over a coffee. Advertising is still a people-based industry so get yourself out there as much as you can!
