Today we have selected Philipp Enders to take his interview. He is the CEO of Tiki-Taka.
First of all, how are you and your team doing in these COVID-19 times?
First, let me explain why we’re called Tiki-Taka. ‘Tiki-taka’ is a playing style ideated by the Spanish National Team and later adopted by Barcelona, ‘... characterized by short passing and movement, working the ball through various channels, and maintaining possession.‘
For me, that embodies everything a good agency should strive for – teamwork, agility, and the recognition that the sum is usually better than just a part. By working on client challenges through various people and skill sets with agility & rigour, we achieve a level of solutions & service for our clients, ultimately leading to client possession and retention.
Tiki-Taka was born during Covid-19 and has grown to be a leading Performance Marketing agency in Germany. If we can grow 50% YoY during a pandemic, the sky’s the limit for the future!
Tell us about you, your career, how you founded or joined this company?
I spent the first 8 years of my career working with juvenile offenders in Australia before taking a complete change of direction in 2011 and beginning my career in Digital Marketing. At a Performance Marketing Agency in Sydney, I honed my skills working on clients such as Vodafone and World First before returning to Hamburg in 2018, where I slowly began planning to build my agency.
We are lucky enough to have partnered with some amazing brands and wonderful people in Germany, including Uniper, Hyundai, Jaguar Land Rover, and Mate. Bike.
How does your company innovate?
By putting our money where our mouth is when dealing with our clients and our staff. Our team can work 100% remotely (with the option of coming into the office whenever they want!) and works 100% flexibly. We don’t just say these things, we do them, and I model the same behaviours I expect in my team.
Two of the reasons I started my own business, were to spend more time with my son and travel with my family as often as possible. At Tiki-Taka, we work hard, but ultimately, we work to live. By delivering solutions and excellence to our clients, we enable them to do the same. Sure this might mean crafting a Facebook Ad while sitting in a campervan halfway up a mountain, but we work hard, deliver results and then get on with the good stuff!
How has the Coronavirus pandemic affected your business, and how are you coping?
Despite it being the new norm, nothing replaces the power of face-to-face contact. This has been impossible during the pandemic, and I believe the resultant societal and behavioral shift won’t go away unless we consciously revert to a more human way of working.
Our next challenge as a business and as humans is to commence face-to-face meetings once again and return to the office. I think it’s vital for relationships and mental health preservation.
What specific tools, software, and management skills are you using to navigate this crisis?
Regular in-person Standups, Slack, Zoom, and all the usual suspects. Remote working demands honesty, transparency, and accountability – all things our team excels at.
Who are your competitors? And how do you plan to stay in the game?
Here’s the thing – we might be a Performance Marketing agency based in Hamburg, but actually, our competitors are everywhere. One thing remote working guarantees is that your competitive net widens and gets more sticky. Clients can be based in Shanghai and have their agency in Stockholm – never before has this business model been so prevalent.
Furthermore, the remote job market has exploded, meaning our team can work on anything, from anywhere in the world. Gone are the days when you had to suck it up in a role you hated because there were no more jobs in your local city. Covid-19 and remote working means everyone has to up their game – or be relegated!
- Spokesperson: Philipp Enders
- Company: Tiki-Taka
- Website link: https://tikitaka.digital/