Ville Sillanpää joins Columbia Road

How did you get good at what you do?

I’ve been taught by the brightest minds Finland can offer when it comes to marketing. Having a Master’s degree in marketing from Aalto Business School gave me a very solid foundation. I did venture abroad during my studies, first to Bangkok and then to Lisbon – gaining new perspectives is always good, and I can proudly say that Finnish digital marketing is top notch!

Where have you earned your spurs?

During my studies I first worked at a Stadium sports store doing sales and customer support for their webstore, and then moved into the country office for customer support for ecommerce in Finland – which actually was my first touchpoint to digital sales. Next, I went to a SaaS company called Recright, where I was a technical customer service agent with one foot deep in marketing and online sales (inbound & omnichannel sales).

At this time I recognised for the first time the things I was doing as growth hacking – even though no one talked about it as such. After graduation I joined marketing agency Dingle as a digital media planner doing media planning, digital marketing, analytics, SMM, and SEM.

Why Columbia Road?

I stumbled across a job ad on social media that piqued my interest. I’ve always considered myself as both technology and business oriented and Columbia Road is a perfect match for those specs and my skills. Everyone in the local marketing field talks and talks about AI and A/B testing and growth hacking – but here at Columbia Road we actually get to do those things. I also love the new way in which we do marketing, when compared to other agencies in Finland.

Sampo, what will make our clients love Ville?

“In addition to having the required skills in SMM, SEM, inbound marketing and marketing automation, VIlle has a mindset that makes him question both his own and our clients’ processes. He’s totally against doing things as they’ve always been done. He preaches about the holy trinity of doing, testing and learning – and lives by it,” says Sampo Hämäläinen, Managing Partner.

What makes your heart beat a little faster?

I love sports! I used to play football on a national level along with some floorball and ice hockey. Nowadays I’m more into adventure sports such as surfing, off-piste sking, trekking and motorcycling. “I’m 100% sure that challenging the status quo runs in my blood. Trying out new things, be it in marketing or sports, never ceases to attract me,” Ville says.