Saint Joseph's University - Erivan K. Haub School of Business

Mäkelänrinteen High School

Director, Asia at Myllyn Paras Russia

Sales and marketing of grain-based products in China in B2C and B2B channels. Developing sales channels, distribution (online and offline), customer negotiations and promotions. Development of new products in B2C and B2B segments. Managing cooperation with factory production, OEM partners, subcontractors and suppliers in Europe and Asia. Cross-border logistics planning and execution between Europe and China.

Myllyn Paras China

Commercial and Business Development Director, China

Worked with large Finnish and international brands to improve their online business. Executed tactical Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategies for large company websites with annual traffic of 10,000,000+ and ecommerce sales of 1,000,000+ Euro

iProspect

Digital Strategist

Terramonitor is a pioneer in satellite data solutions with applications in forestry, city planning and agriculture management. I spearheaded the company's sales efforts, managing customer relationships in Finland and internationally.

Terramonitor

Account Director

Built a company to help Finnish food companies to enter the Chinese market. The main services included go-to-market plan, product concept creation, marketing planning and support, and sales strategy creation.

Kisu Company

Partner

I was in charge of Myllyn Paras marketing activities in Russia and China. The main activities included: 
Marketing strategy, digital marketing, concept creation for products, team leadership, budgeting and reporting, and execution of a marketing plan. 

The primary marketing focus in both countries was mobile and digital, where we focused on creating content and experiences which help people solve their dietary problems. We aimed to build brand awareness through organic search results on Google, Yandex and Baidu and complement it with contextual advertising. The above-mentioned search engines provided us with sound analytics tools which we used in our reporting and planning.

We built a solid marketing technology stack in both countries, in accordance with legal and practical needs. Drupal was the driving engine of our web experience and offered a solid base for content marketing activities and SEO.

On social media, the primary goal was to build an engaged community. In Russia, we used Instagram and VKontakte; in China, it were WeChat and Weibo.  

Understanding the customer and the market was paramount for our successful marketing. We conducted face-to-face and online market research, organised focus groups in several Russian cities, used website visitors’ aggregated demographics data, and did social media questionnaires to our followers. In addition, we were in close dialogue with supermarkets and received valuable feedback from them on what was popular amongst our consumers. 

Successful execution depends on effective teamwork. We organized our local teams in Russian and China with clear targets, joint planning and active communication. Although barriers in culture and communications existed, it did not stop us from executing on high level. Mistakes happened but the key was to learn, adjust and improve. 

The best part of this job was that there were never a boring day!

Myllyn Paras Oy

Marketing Manager, Russia & China

I was in charge of digital marketing at Technopolis Plc. I budgeted, managed and developed digital channels the company uses to promote its offering to customers and to generate leads. The areas of responsibility were the group website (5 languages, 4 countries), extranet, intranet, social media, digital signage, digital asset management, marketing analytics and online advertising.

Technopolis Plc

Digital Marketing Manager

I worked as an analyst in the Enterprise Risk Services. My main responsibilities revolved around the coordination of Deloitte Finland's Russian Desk and being a member of several larger client projects.

Artur Surov