Highlights from Rakuten Advertising’s Digital DealMaker

The first half of the day focused on forward thinking content and speakers while the second half focused on networking, the heart of our DealMaker events both in person and virtually.

Here are some highlights from the event:

Key Insights in Executive Remarks

Our Executive Remarks kicked off with Chief Revenue Officer, Jeff Wender, diving into our mission at hand; ensuring we are delivering performance done right. He spoke to key insights and trends that have been driving success within our network. Jeff then handed it over to Managing Director of North America, Anthony Capano, to dig further into this initiative. Anthony touched on Rakuten Advertising’s plan to “have the right partners, access to the right data, products fueled by the right technology, and guidance from the right people.” Attendees started off the event with a clear picture of where Rakuten Advertising is investing its resources and how these resources will benefit the network.

How to Harness the Power of Joy and Lead with Purpose with Shabnam Mogharabi

Next up on the agenda was our powerful keynote from speaker, Shabnam Mogharabi, Co-Founder of SoulPancake. Shabnam struck a chord with attendees, focusing on the power of positive psychology. She highlighted how important it is to embrace the power of joy as an act of rebellion in this world full of stressors. Attendees were left feeling uplifted and ready to take action in their own lives.

Industry Panel Discussions

Attendees had the opportunity to select from four different session topics and listen in as innovative brands took the stage to discuss their latest findings and share their success stories:

Influencers and Beyond: Tapping into Social Media’s True Potential

Influencers are, and will continue to be, a driving force for marketing performance. But the truth remains that there are endless ways to create and distribute content across the core platforms that people engage with every day. Our panelists discussed how businesses can fully utilize this dynamic channel — from niche influencer groups to publisher partners and even the highly-tuned algorithms behind retargeting and prospecting strategies.

Perform with Purpose: Building a Diverse and Inclusive Culture and Network

The session discussed Rakuten Advertising’s current diversity and inclusion (D&I) framework and focus on building partnerships with BIPOC and women-owned businesses. Attendees heard from enterprising brands and organizations who are pushing the D&I path forward as they share how they’ve created successful businesses, navigated obstacles in their path and fostered social connections that not only grow their business, but empower their communities.

Reshaping Financial Partnerships in a Post COVID World

Advertisers, publishers, and Rakuten insiders discussed how the COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped the finance vertical. Panelists shared learnings and observations of how the past year’s trends could define the future landscape. Discussions focused on how the vertical has shifted our expectations and compliance best practices, as well as how Rakuten Advertising plans to meet evolving requirements from both our advertiser and publisher partners.

Travel Redefined: As People Start to book, Will You Be Ready?

Between changing restrictions and increasing comfort levels, people are eager to venture out again –whether that’s intercontinental travel or closer-to-home road trips. Alongside our panelists, Rakuten Intelligence led a data-driven discussion around the latest insights for lodging, cruise lines, and future-proofing affiliate programs to meet the demands and opportunities of the traveling consumer.

Reconnecting Through Open Networking

In classic DealMaker fashion we closed out the event with open networking for all attendees. Our network was finally able to reconnect, strengthen existing relations, and develop new ones through virtual meetings and private messages.

• Attendees scheduled over 1,000 meetings.
• Sent over 7,500 private messages leading up to and during the event.

Through prescheduled meetings, posts on the discussion board, and comments made during content sessions it was clear our networking was happy to be together again. We look forward to seeing everyone at our next DealMaker event, hopefully in person!

To stay up to date on upcoming Rakuten Advertising events on our website.