Sam Richards has joined  us as the UK Head of Sales (as Florian has been promoted to Head of Agency & International Client Servicing – congrats!)  He is a picture of Sam taken very close up to his face

Sam is from deepest darkest Kent, specifically a place called Crockenhill. Some quick facts about Crockenhill you ask? Well in the latter half of the twentieth century Crockenhill was an important area for growing peppermint. The village is also currently creating a habitat for badgers which is nice. Despite this Sam is looking to relocate closer to the office in the near future as it sounds like his commute is a bit of a mission.

Before joining CJ, Sam kept himself busy by travelling around the world and ‘sunning myself on various beaches’ which makes me a bit jealous on a cold and rainy Monday morning. Before that he was Digital Head of Sales for PFJ recruitment – he would like to make clear that he is now a ‘reformed recruitment consultant’. He was about to sign up to work for a digital agency when Alison, Cheryl and Florian convimced him that he is a CJ’er.

Here is a little interview with Sam:

• What is the remit of your role at CJ then?
• It is to develop new relationships with key merchants in the UK, get to know them, find out what their affiliate marketing needs are and design a Commission Junction solution.
• What do you find interesting about affiliate marketing?
• The fact that it is a bit of a no-brainer for clients. Well that is the first thing which is interesting but when you scratch beneath the surface it is the fact that there  are so many nuances to the solution – that it isn’t one size fits all and that the approach is different for each client. I work closely with the CJ Account Teams and I love watching them work out ways to launch and then grow programmes – there is certainly a  lot to it!
• What are your impressions of CJ so far?
• Really good, great people and always lots of chocoate (thanks Sam)
• What did you want to be when you grew up? An architect
• What is your favourite colour? Blue
• What is your favourite sandwich? I’m a bit old school – cheese and pickle
• What is your favourite cartoon character? Wile E. Coyote

So now that you know Sam a little bit better I will introduce you to a lady who has the best name I have ever heard – Lieke Schriks.

Lieke has joined us as an Account Manager for our Agency team. We have a similar in-your-face photo for Lieke below.

Lieke is from the Netherlands which, incidentally, gives her a certain kudos. The Netherlands is a very flat country sandwiched between Belgium and Germany. It is famous for clogs, tulips, windmills, canals and bikes. Nothing else. Lieke was born and raised in Eindhoven which is where something called the ‘fabulous PSV’ is based (football maybe? – Lieke seemed keen to point it out).

Before joining us at CJ Leike worked as an Account Executive for TradeDoubler in the Netherlands which she enjoyed but was curious to see if Affiliate Marketing was ‘absolutely positively my thing’.  She moved to work in the Events Management department at Shell and whilst she was with them she relocated to London. It was then that she realised that her heart was in Affiliate Marketing and started her quest to get back into the industry.  ‘For all my luck CJ appeared on the horizon and here I am working as an Account Manager on the Agency Team’.

Let us continue with the earlier format and hear from Lieke in her own words:

• What is the remit of your role?
• I work as part of a team which is reponsible for looking after the growth and development of the agency accounts in the UK. My day to day role consists of many things including: looking after publisher relationships, identifying potential affiliate/merchant partnerships. and basically ensuring the smooth running of the programmes.
• What are your impressions of CJ so far?
• It’s a great place to work! A floor full of funny and intelligent people and I feel like I have learnt more in two months at CJ then at one year at Shell. What makes CJ extra special for me is the opportunity to learn lots about not just Affiliate Marketing but also the other parts of the digital industry as all the ValueClick businesses work together out of the Putney offices.
• What do you find interesting about Affilate Marketing?
• I love the fact that Affiliate Marketing is totally diverse and innovative. Each day my  tasks are different and I am constantly dealing with new and interesting people. It makes me think outside the box and I get motivated by the results that we can achieve in a very short period of time.
• What did you want to be when you grew up? A tailor
• What is your favourite colour? Blue
• What is your favourite animal? A lyre bird – check out the amazing sounds from the lyre bird by David Attenborough and you will know why
• What is your favourite sandwich? Peanut butter with cucumber (Editor’s Note – I have no words to describe how disgusting this sounds, a deviant sandwhich)
• What is your favroute cartoon character? Peter from Family Guy

Well that is it. That is your lot. Welcome Sam and Leike to CJ. May you live long and prosper.

This is what Marta looks like (she is less blurry in real life!):

As Marta is not backward in coming forwards I will introduce her with a little interview.

I can tell from your accent (and the fact that you talk in Spanish with Brezo) that you are from Spain. Tell me about it:

Everytime someone asks me where I am from I think about making up a story about a terribley exciting place as nobody has heard of my home town, Logrono. I then explain to people that this is in the Rioja region. Automatically they smile, as if I am going to pull a bottle of red wine from my handbag.

Anyway, Logrono is a nice place worth a visit. There is a very popular road called Laurel Street where you can eat the most amazing tapas you could ever imagine – better than Brezo’s tortilla (Editor’s note – Marta is a liar, NOTHING is better than Brezo’s tortilla).

You’ve already been working at Commission Junction as an intern for a while. Tell me about it.

Yes, I have been working at CJ for quite a while. It has been and still is very amusing, and I mean at work, not when we go out…… This is my first job in the UK so I can’t tell whether this is normal or not, but I can tell you that it is very different from what I have seen in Spain.

I feel very lucky to be part of this company – the atmosphere and the people in the office  are things that make me enjoy coming to work every day.

What interests you about affiliate marketing?

It impresses me how many different ways there are to make money online. I find it really interesting every time we have publishers coming into the office to show us new/improved business models. I always wonder why I didn’t come up with the ideas, they’re awesome (Editor’s note – Marta is Spanish which means that she can get away with saying ‘awesome’)

Now some quick fire questions to help you get to know Marta better:

• Favourite colour – Green, but I never wear green clothes or live in the countryside.
• Favourite animal – Koala. I have never seen one in real life but they are so cute. Ross gave me a koala cuddly toy (one of the many random finds when we cleaned up the office) and I am much happier now
• Favourite sandwich – Anything without vegetables in it. I am not that picky, it is just that vegetables are not to be eaten between bread
• Favourite cartoon character – I would say Jessica Rabbit because of the resemblence (Editor’s note – hmmmmmmmmmmm). My favourite cartoon series is Fraggel Rock – and that is nothing to do with the resemblence.

Well thank you Marta. That was very enlightening. I will leave you now to get on with your day.

Welcome Marta!