We recently caught up with Hamid Qayyum, Stirista’s Chief Commercial Officer, to get his insights on the leadership team’s vision for the company’s future data-driven marketing growth.
RS: You’re several months into your tenure at Stirista. It is a great company that is planning to expand its product portfolio. What are your plans for the existing and future line?
HQ: My focus is to get AdStir, our powerful new DSP, out to customers, and to build additional products off of it, specifically in the measurement area. Stirista has long had great data, and the ability to offer email marketing. With AdStir, our customers can onboard their own first-party data, take advantage of the top-quality data we have available and find audiences more effectively than they could have dreamed.
What has been missing was the measurement piece, which we’ve very recently added. Our customers can run their campaigns—CTV, OTT, video, display, whatever—and we can show them the results in detail. Which households saw the campaign? Who responded? Did they buy? This is the next layer for customers, to understand the effectiveness of their marketing.
RS: There are so many hot concepts in B2B marketing today: ABM, intent data, sales engagement, AI. How do you steer the product strategy through all these bright shiny objects?
HQ: It all comes down to what we do best, which is data. And what I call our identity spine. Our roots are in data, offering target audience profiles based on email, IP address, and names, all privacy compliant. That has been our core. Off of that core, we create segments, deliver email—billions a month, and run digital campaigns.
When it comes to focus, it is fairly straightforward. We know what we can do, and what we cannot. Our goals are clear, based on what our customers are asking for, and where we see the market headed. We will stay focused on what we do best: onboarding, enriching, and activating.
RS: Are you seeing competitors on the horizon that Stirista should be addressing?
HQ: There are lots of great companies in this space, and plenty of investment money is being thrown at it. I feel we have a great niche and the opportunity to grow it. There are tons of companies out there who need what we have to offer.
So, what we say to them: Bring us your first-party data. We can onboard it, activate it in the market, and measure the results for you. We can serve as your marketing arm. We are not an agency. We are not LiveRamp, and not The Trade Desk. But we can do what each of them offers, in one solution.
At the same time, we offer piece parts or point solutions. Customers can use the pieces they need, whether it’s our proprietary prospecting data or our cool self-service tool for their campaigns. We can manage their email. Or they can just rely on us for the measurements piece, because of our superior identity spine. We can track their responses to close. We can match back, track store visit foot traffic—and more.
RS: You come from a career rich in sales and data-driven marketing. What was it about Stirista that made you decide to make them your next step?
HQ: The identity spine we have, and Ajay Gupta, co-founder and CEO. His drive and focus on who we are and what we do. Lots of small companies wobble their way to what they want to be. But thanks to Ajay’s clear vision, we have a laser focus and consistent strategy. That leadership is what brought me here. When the CEO knows the path, and can communicate it, that’s a great thing!
