Life in Adtech: Building an Effective Brand Strategy Through Design

In our blog series “Life in Adtech” we’re showcasing the different ways in which StackAdapters are driving innovation in adtech, and creating a progressive tech culture. From using modeling and data to create advanced algorithms to building stylish and robust user interfaces, everyone at StackAdapt is contributing to evolving the StackAdapt platform and providing the best product and service to our clients.

This month features Phuong Nguyen, a Graphic Designer at StackAdapt. Phuong shares his journey into adtech, what his role entails, and how the graphic design team at StackAdapt supports the success of StackAdapt users.

Can you share a bit about your journey into working in adtech?

My background in graphic design helped me start my career in the US as a design intern at an advertising agency. While in that role I learned a lot about the industry, and it nurtured my passion for advertising. After that internship I moved to Canada to study Marketing and Advertising Communications as a complement to my design skills.

I found a job opening at StackAdapt shortly after I graduated from my program. The role was Junior Designer, and I felt like I was the perfect fit for it. I got the job! Since joining StackAdapt I’ve been able to broaden my knowledge about programmatic and adtech even further. 

What is the main focus of your role as a Graphic Designer and the Design team at StackAdapt?

I am responsible for keeping StackAdapt branding consistent across all our content. I create visual assets and marketing collateral that are on brand, appealing, and of course, well-designed. I collaborate with the broader marketing team to conceptualize designs for editorials, presentations, and videos—just to name a few. 

Often, my designs go through a few stages of revisions and edits to make sure that they align with the objectives of the Marketing team and are consistent with our brand. The challenge is that programmatic advertising is intangible, which makes it hard to express visually. As a result, I get the chance to be very creative!

Can you describe what type of design you do and why it’s critical to the StackAdapt brand?

I specialize in creating motion graphics, as well as editing videos for our educational channels like StackAdapt Academy. Working on motion has been an exciting learning curve for me, that’s really broadened my skill set. 

My work is a big part of making sure that StackAdapt’s educational content is not just beautiful, but accessible and engaging. The videos I work on help to shape our clients into experts in programmatic and the StackAdapt platform, which helps them become successful and expand their own client base. I love that my work contributes to this learning, and helps our clients become self-sufficient users who love StackAdapt.  

Can you tell us about your process when it comes to graphic design? 

In my approach to graphic design I work through four phases: Definition, creation, delivery, and feedback. In the first phase, I define for myself the brief or the task description that I’ve received from the Marketing team. This phase is just about making sure I understand the objective of the task I’ve been given, and the expectations for it.  

From there, I start to create the design, collaborating with the Marketing team throughout the process. I like to keep communication open so that I can incorporate ideas and address any concerns that might come up. The most important part of the entire design process is the final two phases. This is when I hand off the designs to collect feedback from stakeholders. I learn a lot from the feedback I receive, which I think is helping me to become an even stronger designer. 

In what ways do members of the Design team collaborate with each other?

StackAdapt’s Design team collaborates on everything! We all have a unique set of skills, experience, and expertise. We have open and ongoing conversations about our projects so that we’re able to bring our creative ideas together, and share feedback with each other. In some cases, two or more of us will work together on a design, because by tackling it together we’re able to more easily work through challenges that come up. 

What is most rewarding about being a Graphic Designer at StackAdapt?

I find it really rewarding to work on projects that are all in support of one brand. All of my designs are focused on elevating StackAdapt, which means I get to develop a very detailed and in-depth understanding of StackAdapt’s target audience and goals. This helps me to keep all the designs I produce consistent with messaging and StackAdapt’s style guide. With StackAdapt growing so fast, it’s exciting to contribute to a long-term brand strategy. 

Interested in joining StackAdapt? See our open roles and apply here.

In each new addition, we will be highlighting our teams and team members in our “Life In Adtech” series—stay tuned for more!