Joanna Plona

Consulting in field of digital strategy & business growth, communication and leadership.

Lately: Communication project for Jeronimo Martins (over 80k employees)

BaseLinker is one of the top e-commerce B2B SaaS with over 23k active customers, operating internationally.

Scope of responsibility:

• Global Customer Experience Management
• Customer Acquisition in Poland
• Subscription Revenues in Poland
• Communication & Knowledge Base management
• Team: 13 people

Key Achievements:

• Double-digit, above-market growth in customer acquisition, along with 10%+ conversion improvement in Poland
• Increased engagement by several percentage points
• Created team responsible for knowledge base (over 200 tutorial videos and 150 comprehensive product content pieces within four months)
• Managed communication to customers (including inbound & outbound), executed more than 30 webinars with over 15,000+ participants in total
• Implemented advanced analytics related to customer acquisition, loyalty, and retention, as well as advanced Marketing Automation setup.

Wirtualna Polska is one of the biggest Polish online companies, employing over 2,000 people. Its portfolio consists of both: media and e-commerce brands delivering comprehensive offers in fields of tourism, finance, home & decor, and automotive.

Scope of responsibility:

• Full business (P&L) and technological responsibility for all media products, advertising products & tools, subscription-based online TV product & mailbox services used by 20 MLN people every month
• Creating business strategy for all products, defining growth opportunities & taking part in all M&A processes
• Building and deploying strategic approaches in marketing, product, and branding to enhance user base
• Managing diversified team of 200 people (business & product teams, IT, project management, UX & design, marketing)
• Talent management & coaching support within team
• Close cooperation with all departments (IT, Publishing, Sales, Finance, Legal, HR)
• Representing company within WP Holding and outside Organization (working with WPH portfolio CEO's & WPH owners)
• Yearly Revenue ~US$ 85 MLN

Key achievements:

• 100 points in Leadership Trust Index (max) in direct team 4 times in row
• 25% higher engagement rate in whole team than average market results (AON survey)
• Revenue growth well above market average (3 years in row)
• WP Pilot's revenue dynamics more than twice as high as market dynamics
• Significantly above-market revenue growth in WP Poczta 3 years in row
• Rapid page view & revenue growth of o2.pl (>40% y2y)
• 1st position in all key categories (i.e. homepage, business, sport, lifestyle, moto)
• Increasing the number of monthly and daily active users by >10% y2y
• Building and launching internal Ad Serving System which optimized costs by US$5 MLN
• Launching Self-Serve Advertising System dedicated to new clients (WP Ads) as first publisher in Poland

Scope of responsibility:

• Co-creating strategy and business growth opportunities for Wirtualna Polska Media
• Full business (P&L, strategy) and technological responsibility for: all advertising products, TV Subscription-Based Product: WP Pilot, Mailbox services: WP Poczta & Online Radio: Open.fm used by ~19 MLN users monthly
• Managing team of ~120 people (Business, Product, IT, PM teams)
• Talent management & coaching support within direct team
• Yearly Revenue ~US$75 MLN

Key Achievements:

• Highest revenue growth on market in Mailbox services
• Four times more subscriptions and threefold increase in Freemium user base in WP Pilot on 2-year scale
• Three-digit increases in WP Pilot's EBITDA within two years
• Over 25% annual revenue growth in Open.fm
• Finishing 4-year strategic project of migrating mailbox service to new infrastructure - one of most complex IT projects in Wirtualna Polska
• Hiring new WP Poczta Director & changing structure of the team (reducing turnover to 9%)

Scope of responsibility:

• Full responsibility for all advertising & video products (strategy, pricing, new offer & technical development)
• Managing team of ~30 people (Ad Specialists, Product & Project Managers, IT)
• Close cooperation with IT & Sales department
  Yearly revenue: ~US$100 MLN

Key achievements:

• ~26% revenue growth 2 years in row in video product
• Successfully introduced new market standard for ad billing based on visible impressions (vCPM)
• Becoming market leader in advertising standard based on ad viewability
• Creating brand new advertising strategy directed to new & key customers

Scope of responsibility:

• Building and managing 7 people sales team focused on strong customer relations, service delivery and advocating for specific requirements to achieve targets and maximize satisfaction with company service
• Developed strategic plans to achieve short- and long-term revenue objectives
• Full responsibility for negotiations, building relations & ongoing cooperation with key B2B and direct players -15 media houses ((incl. OMD, Dentsu, IPG, MullenLowe, Havas, Group One, PHD Media Direction) and Key B2C clients
• Responsibility for approx. US$12 MLN revenue/ yearly

Key achievements:

• Above market revenue growth (+30% y2y), 2 years in row
• Building effective team that remained unchanged for next 3 years
• Team Award for best service from one of Media Agencies
• Receiving prestigious WP Award "Szacun" for outstanding results, attitude and commitment as 1 of 10 people within whole organization

Scope of responsibility:

• Meeting sales plans given to the team
• Building strong relationships with B2C and B2B Clients: Media Houses and PR Agencies
• Acquiring new clients
• Negotiating prices, terms of sales and service agreements
• Creating new products for clients

Key achievements:

• Fostered lasting relationships with Media Houses and Direct Key Clients through effective communication and quick response, resulting in long-term loyalty and expanded client base
• Building trust and recognition within the organization
• Convincing my direct manager & VP Sales to create fifth team within sales structure with me as a manager

Edipresse Poland is one of leading media players in Poland, mainly on women's interests, personality and parenting segments (both in traditional media segment and digital market).

Scope of responsibility:

• Building strong relationships with B2C Beauty & Fashion Key Clients (i.e: P&G, L'Oreal, H&M, Kappahl) and B2B Clients: Media Houses and PR Agencies
• Acquiring new clients
• Meeting individual sales goals
• Creating new products for clients
• Managing advertising projects (creating ideas, selling concepts and delivering results by cooperating with graphic designers, IT developers, editorial office, traffics, administration)

Key achievements:

• Doubled revenue from fashion industry within 6 months
• Acquired more than 40 new clients
• Exceeded quarterly targets 10 times in row
• Managed over 50 special projects on Wizaz.pl & Polki.pl in 2 years