At Babbel, our endgame is getting people to have conversations with other people, in a new language. There are fantastic folks here making that possible. In our “Behind The Scenes” series, we sit down with them to provide a glimpse into who makes it all work, what they do, and where their heads are at.
This round we’re talking to Philipp Strotmann, Babbel’s newest Offline Marketing Manager.
What’s your role at Babbel? What do you do on a typical day?
I am the Offline Marketing Manager for the German speaking markets. On a typical day, I kick it off by checking the performance of my channels of the previous days. Looking at the various offline channels, TV is still the largest one with the most impact and thanks to advanced tracking measures we are also able to optimize and plan TV campaigns in the short term.
On top of that, my colleagues and I are always on the hunt for new offline opportunities, from podcasts to video-on-demand campaigns. Offline marketing is so much more than just TV, and we really try to be the spearheads of the industry and reach our target audience in more various and innovative ways than ever. So, I guess you’ll also find a lot of elements of a project manager in my daily routine.
Where are you from and which languages do you speak? Did you live in Berlin before you started at Babbel?
The question of my heritage despite being German is always a little difficult since I don’t have a typical hometown that I feel attached to. I moved several times within Germany and also lived 4 years abroad in Spain. Unfortunately, my Spanish got very rusty so this leaves me with German and English as my go-to languages. I have been living here in Berlin for three and a half years and am still not sick of this vibrant city with its various opportunities and mix of diverse people and cultures.
What were you doing before Babbel?
Before Babbel I was working for several companies of various industries within the Berlin startup scene. During my last job at an international online dating company I was responsible for the French, British and Australian offline market, while also supporting the Canadian and US markets. Being now responsible for the German speaking markets completes my portfolio of the biggest TV markets, so I guess you can call it B-I-N-G-O.
What drew you to Babbel?
The main reason is that Babbel offered me a perspective to develop professionally. Moreover, I really enjoyed the innovative vision of the offline marketing team. Also, I noticed right away that the Babbel company culture is great since I was able to experience some members of the marketing team playing cards while I had my interview and I can tell you, they had a blast!
How was the remote onboarding process for you?
Of course the remote onboarding process made everything a little bit more difficult, but in my opinion it was very well handled by HR as well as by management. There was a virtual welcome day and I had several onboarding calls with all the different departments so even while being apart I was able to connect to my new colleagues which is great.
What’s most exciting for you at Babbel at the moment?
That is easy! It is the bold and agile adaptation to the current situation. Due to lower market prices and people consuming more media, we are testing new offline media channels like podcasts and video on demand services which is very exciting.
What’s surprised you most at Babbel so far?
Despite being a company with 500+ employees the social interaction between colleagues is very personal and therefore makes it easy to integrate yourself right away.
What do you want to do/accomplish/pursue at Babbel?
I want to grow further professionally and become a true offline marketing expert. Also, I would like to learn more about the other marketing teams here at Babbel to see how we can share resources and develop ideas together to create new and exciting marketing projects and initiatives.