As the end of the year draws to a close, our final Spotlight for 2023 is with Adem Aplin, Mando-Connect’s Senior Account Manager. Adem told me all about his favourite partnerships, dream brands and a sprinkle of Christmas cheer!
How did your career start in Partnerships & Marketing?
My career started in Partnerships & Marketing right here at Mando-Connect. I have a background in media, where I worked at ITV in their ‘Commercial Sales Department’ for a long stint and I decided I needed a new challenge. I had spoken to a few people that worked in Partnerships, and I thought it sounded really fun and collaborative. The thought of working with different brands appealed to me so I started to search and found my role at Mando-Connect. I’ve been here just over a year and I work on the ‘VeryMe Rewards from Vodafone’ account, which is Vodafone’s loyalty platform which has been a great ride.
Who would be your dream brand to work with?
I have two that I would love to work with. Firstly, Nintendo for pure nostalgic reasons. They have a universal appeal and they create such original characters. I think they would be a very fun and exciting brand to work with that has a lot of creative potential. Secondly, it would be Adidas. I think they are a really iconic brand, and if you look back over history they have such a vast presence in multiple industries so it would be cool to be part of something so big.
What has been your biggest achievement that you are most proud of outside of work?
I would have to say getting my degree in ‘Communications & Media Studies’ at Brighton University. It was a fantastic experience- moving to a new area, meeting new people and achieving my degree. I was also the first person in my family that went to university, so they were happy too!
I would also say, I’m really proud of all the people that I am surrounded by in my life. I am lucky to have amazing friends and family and I think that’s something to be proud of as well.
What has been your favourite Partnership you have worked on whilst at Mando-Connect?
When I started on ‘VeryMe Rewards from Vodafone’, my first Headline Partner that I worked with from the beginning to the end of a reward was ‘Jimmy’s Iced Coffee’ so they are one of my favourites, as it was a landmark moment in my career at Mando-Connect. The reward was ‘Pickup a free Jimmy’s Iced Coffee’ in participating Co-op stores and it was really well received by Vodafone’s customers.
I also have three of my other Partners that I manage that I really enjoy working with. They are Bicycle Partnerships, who we run fun and exciting prize draws with like giving away free theatre tickets to Westend Musicals with a hotel stay- who doesn’t want to win something like that?
Home Things, as they are a cool brand and slightly different to my usual partners. Their tag line is ‘time to re-think what’s under your sink’ and they are on a mission to make cleaning products more eco-friendly which I think is really important. The Partner also comes up with lots of different suggestions of what we could do together so it’s a really collaborative relationship which I enjoy.
Finally, Morrisons- they are the biggest partner I manage and we do rewards that are really popular with the Vodafone customer base like ‘Pickup a free advent calendar instore’. It’s great to work with such a mix of partners on a daily basis.
As Christmas time is nearly here, what is the best Christmas gift you have ever given or received?
I have a few gifts that I received when I was much younger that stick in my mind, like my first bike- everyone remembers that one, or my N64 console which must have been back in 1996, so only people of a certain age will remember that one! The best gift I have given anyone…that’s trickier but I got my girlfriend tickets to see Celine Dion in concert which went down VERY well at the time. They only downside is that poor Celine got sick, so the concert got cancelled!
Could you tell us about a Loyalty Scheme / Brand Partnership that you think is really impressive?
Based on where I currently live, I get A LOT of use out of my ‘Pret Perks’– it’s definitely the one that I use the most,. ‘The more you Pret, the more you get’ and I definitely Pret a lot. Then I also really like ‘Vitality’, it’s a perfect example of a partnership- if you are active and healthy you get rewarded with some fantastic rewards like 50% off trainers at ‘Runners Need’- which feels very relevant.
Who has influenced you most when it comes to how you approach your work?
I would have to say my sister Ayshe. Ayshe really impresses me every day with how she is so motivated, has such a strong work ethic and how she juggles her workload. Her approach to work and life is really inspiring.
If you could do any job for just one day, what would it be?
I would have to say playing for Liverpool football team would be my dream. As it’s just for one day, it needs to be something drastically different and something that could never happen so kicking a ball for Liverpool would tick those boxes. If it was something slightly more realistic, I would quite like to design my own trainers- I chatted about it with two of my colleagues Jamie and Sami recently, we would make a great team so it could be our side hustle!
What is your most used app?
Definitely ‘Spotify’, I use it daily and really enjoy seeing the yearly wrap up. My top artist this year was ‘Mobb Deep’ which is quite old school! I also use ‘X’ quite a lot, when the football is on but I can’t watch it as ‘X’ is the quickest way to see the score, it’s much quicker than waiting for it to come up on BBC or Sky Sports.
Finally, can you tell us what your Christmas Day looks like for 2023?
My Christmas is always a proper family affair. This year I will wake up in my flat with my girlfriend, and we will head over to my Mum and Step-Dad’s house for lunch time, where lots of other family will be too- my Sister, her Boyfriend, my Nephew, Auntie and Uncle. Then there will be lots of eating, drinking, Christmas games like charades- it’s a pretty traditional jolly Christmas and I can’t wait!
