The Influencer Marketing Awards’ Rising Star category recognises the success of individuals that have not long entered the influencer space who are excelling in their area of work.
Following a final judging round where the shortlisted candidates voted for by the influencer marketing industry were interviewed by the esteemed judging panel, only one winner could be chosen. This year, Paulina Solway Paulsen, managing director of Pulse Advertising, took home the hotly debated prize.
Paulsen has played a pivotal role in Pulse Advertising’s expansion and is an integral part of the senior management team. She is a dedicated, pioneering manager working hard to ensure her team and clients are happy.
“Paulina showed expertise way beyond just researching, selecting and working with influencers,” commented one judge.
Congratulations on winning the Rising Star award at the Influencer Marketing Awards. To have been voted for by industry peers and then chosen by industry experts as the Rising Star must feel pretty good?
Ah, yes of course it does. When we first came to the UK we had no presence here. Pulse was very well known and established in Germany, Italy and the US but not here, so I guess we achieved something?Why do you think events like the Influencer Marketing Awards are so vital for the industry?
I think it certifies and shows the impact our industry makes and how much we have been shaping the advertising arena – especially if you look at the calibre of brands Pulse and our peers are working with today.When did you start working in influencer marketing and how has your career progressed since then?
I started my career in fashion and advertising, steering more and more from print into the digital space and finally started working in influencer marketing only about three years ago. Best decision yet!If you could go back and give yourself one piece of advice at the start of your career, what would it be?
Good question. I think it would be something along the lines of going with the flow, being open-minded to new challenges and opportunities as well as welcoming all different types of working and learning. I used to always think my way was the right way (and the only way) and have learned a lot from others after challenging my own ways.You’ve helped create a working environment that encourages your team to feel like part of the #PulseFamily. How do you help make the team feel connected during the pandemic?
I think it’s safe to say this pandemic has been one of the biggest challenges of my career but I am so impressed with how our company has handled this. Chris, our CEO, reacted immediately and led a clear way of going into overdrive and creating opportunity during this time whilst others were still busy figuring out what to do. We moved together closer than ever, introduced routines the first day of going into the home office of speaking every am and pm on camera, hosting digital team nights, picking up the phone to just chat across offices. With the clear messaging that now is the time for us to do more not less, produced incredible results, proactively pitched, advising clients how to move forward and have been winning projects. For example, we ran a big awareness campaign with the German Department of Health with the hashtag #stayhome to spread the message of how important it is now to stay home and help the government and people.Your day-to-day job sounds pretty busy. What is the best part of your job?
The people! I love coming into the office every morning and seeing a motivated bunch of young individuals who are pushing to make all of this possible.What has been your favourite Pulse Advertising campaign to work on?
I can’t point my finger on one because our clients are so diverse, whether it is working with the government of Dubai on their entire influencer and celebrity programme or the Formula E where we turned the entire championship into a digital gaming race series during COVID.Also very recently we worked with Beats by Dr Dre and Warner Music on a global hashtag challenge on TikTok launching artist Ashnikko’s new track while promoting a new product range in the making. Thousands of user-generated content pieces, some of which
we later used in her official music video extending TikTok users incredible creativity beyond the platform itself.Tell us some of the biggest challenges you face in your role and how you are helping solve them?
I think the challenge is to focus on our growth and at the same time ensure that our results and product consistently gets better, to always stay ahead of the curve and innovate. Our industry moves so fast, there is no time to snooze but that’s what I love.What do you think the future holds for influencer marketing?
I think influencer marketing has really established itself in the marketing mix. Our founders Chris and Lara started six years ago, and that feels like a lifetime now, no? I think more and more that performance marketing will play a significant role in establishing how can we connect influencers with performance marketing to drive a high ROI for our clients.Do you have any tips for those who may be thinking about entering the Rising Star category next year?
I don’t think there’s a recipe to win this except for knowledge and confidence in what you do.Find out who won and why by downloading the Book of the Night winners guide to delve into the #IMA20 details.
