SIMON YENCKEN, CEO OF FANPLAYR - INTERVIEW WITH WBM TOP 100 INNOVATION CEO

SIMON YENCKEN, EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF FANPLAYR HAS BEEN SELECTED BY THE JUDGES OF WORLD BIZ MAGAZINE'S ANNUAL AWARDS TO BE A RECIPIENT OF THE TOP 100 CEOS IN INNOVATION AWARD 2021. THIS SELECTION FOLLOWS A STRINGENT PROCESS THAT EVALUATED OVER 40,000 NOMINEES TO SELECT THE EXCLUSIVE LIST OF 100 WINNERS.

"We have been growing our company throughout the pandemic at 50% year on year revenue growth."

Simon Yencken is the Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Fanplayr. Simon co-founded Fanplayr and has held the role of Chief Executive Officer since 2012. Additionally, Simon has been a Non-Executive Board Member of Damstra Technologies, an Australian-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider of an enterprise protection platform to a global array of industry segments since 2019. Simon also served 10 years as a Board Member of Aconex Limited including 3 as Chairman, a provider of cloud-based collaboration software which went public on the ASX, and was subsequently acquired by Oracle in 2018 for approximately US $1.2 billion. Simon is also an active investor in other start-up technology companies including Blackbird VC, Matrak Industries, Moda Operandi, and Dokio. Simon is a member of the Monash University US Leadership Group – West Coast. The leadership group is made up of senior alumni of the University in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Please share with some insight into Fanplayr's mission.

Fanplayr's mission is to make ‘behavioral data actionable’. Its breakthrough approach consists in analyzing site traffic and providing intelligence and real time segmentation to improve and personalize every interaction with users. Fanplayr’s patented ‘Segmentation as a Service’ provides a powerful real-time segmentation engine across the enterprise to multiple data bases & applications. The Fanplayr Service is a cloud-based platform that combines machine-learning and big data analytics to generate significant uplifts to revenue by delivering real-time personalization to visitors. Fanplayr has hundreds of enterprise customers globally in many different languages and currencies (including: Guess, Alitalia, Maserati, eBags, Party City, Air Europa, Kiko Cosmetics, Hankyu Hanshin, The New Yorker, Samsung, Sports Direct, Vodafone, Dolce & Gabbana) and has tracked over 2.5B+ visitor sessions.

"Fanplayr has hundreds of enterprise customers globally in many different languages and currencies (including: Guess, Alitalia, Maserati, eBags, Party City, Air Europa, Kiko Cosmetics, Hankyu Hanshin, The New Yorker, Samsung, Sports Direct, Vodafone, Dolce & Gabbana) and has tracked over 2.5B+ visitor sessions."

What are some of the key successes Fanplayr has achieved recently?

We have been growing our company throughout the pandemic at 50% year on year revenue growth. We opened new offices in London, Mexico City and Brazil with new enterprise customers and global partners in those markets. We also acquired our Japanese reseller Jamu Inc in Tokyo and have since substantially expanded our presence and customer base in Japan. We launched Personalized SMS Messaging for Brands, and received the grant of a patent in the USA for ‘Segmentation as a Service’. We have corresponding patents pending registration in other markets such as Europe, UK, Japan, Australia and China. We also added 3 experienced public company board members to our Board.

Talk to us about innovation at Fanplayr.

Innovation is the lifeblood of our company. We are constantly oriented to find new solutions that through the use of technology can improve business results as well as add more value also to their customer. We have hundreds of segmentation rules to deeply understand users’ behavior that totally respect their privacy. For our new Product Recommendations service we are among the early adopters of Recommendations AI through the Google® Cloud Platform.

What values and product/ service advantages make Fanplayr stand out in the market?

We have a patented “Segmentation As a Service” approach, powerful cutting-edge technology, and an incredible team of customer success managers who develop custom made strategies based on our customers’ needs and goals. In addition, Fanplayr focuses on growing our clients’ business, by providing a unique personalized experience for every site visitor, thereby increasing user loyalty and engagement.

Fanplayr focuses on growing our clients’ business, by providing a unique personalized experience for every site visitor, thereby increasing user loyalty and engagement.

Please tell us about your Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability initiatives.

At Fanplayr we have clear policies against on-the-job harassment and discrimination. Also for Fanplayr diversity in the workplace is very important; we embrace people of all races, genders, cultures, disabilities, and sexual orientations.

What improvements do you want to see in your industry and how are you contributing to realizing them?

At Fanplayr we would like to see overall ethical improvements in the ad-tech industry. For example, we support developments that are pending to protect user privacy and to stop invasive cross-site tracking.

In your opinion what makes a good leader?

A good leader should always have a vision for the future. It is also important for a leader to have an effective short and long term plan for the organization, and to clearly communicate that plan to the executive team and more broadly throughout the company. A good leader should be able to solve problems and be always looking to discover new things. A good leader is the one that takes care of other people, that has a high sense of respect and who is always encouraging, helpful and kind to people. Another important value for me is the constant sharing of experiences, only by sharing we can get to know both people and business better and can therefore learn to do our best.

Fanplayr

Fanplayr's suite of proprietary SaaS technologies drive e-commerce revenues and lead advancement for businesses across a wide array of market verticals including retail ecommerce, travel, telecommunication, car companies, banking, energy, insurance, entertainment and B2B.

For more details, visit: www.fanplayr.com