Get to Know…Tony!

Tony joined the Vovia Marketing Intelligence team in November of 2023. Being a Marketing Intelligence Specialist, he derives actionable insights from marketing data, provides data-driven recommendations, and automates reporting processes and workflows.

What is your role at Vovia?

I am a Marketing Intelligence Specialist. The first question I am always asked when I tell someone my job title is: “What does that even mean?” In a nutshell, it’s a data analyst position in a digital marketing agency. I collect, analyze, and present data to demonstrate the effectiveness of marketing campaigns for our client partners.

While AI, Machine Learning and Data Science have become buzzwords in recent years, data collection is actually the cornerstone of those fancy concepts. In a digital world, marketing data is collected through web and app tracking. One of my tasks is ensuring that our data collection works correctly on client websites and apps. Next, I work on combining data from multiple sources into our data warehouse, which we call ETL (Extract, Transform, and Load). Data pipelines are built to secure data readiness. In a sense, I am like a digital plumber, ensuring there are no clogs or leaks and that everything is updated and accurate. Lastly, I present data on an informative dashboard and share findings with the rest of the team. I know all this sounds boring, but as a data geek, I truly enjoy it!

What do you do in your spare time?

I love playing board games and video games with friends. Playing board games is so interesting as you’ll see different personalities of the players. Camel Up, Avalon, and Exploding Kittens are my favourites (just to name a few). If I want some me-time, I will read or watch some shows on Netflix. Friends is my ‘GOAT’ sitcom. Matthew Perry – you will be missed.  

Tell us something about yourself that would surprise people.

My Bachelor’s degree was in Business in Hotel and Tourism Management. While I also value social interaction between people, I am really into data and numbers. I worked as an analytics intern at an airline and I found my career aspiration there. It’s quite unusual for a data nerd to graduate from a hotel school, but life is full of possibilities and changes, isn’t it?

What do you love/what are you most passionate about?

I come from Hong Kong, where we call Soccer “Football”. It is by far the most popular sport there. I love watching soccer matches and because of the time difference between Canada and Europe, an exciting game is usually my very first activity on a Saturday morning. I used to stay up late on weekends to watch games when I lived in Asia. What an interesting change. I can’t wait to attend the 2026 World Cup, jointly hosted in Mexico, the U.S., and of course, Canada! I am going to cheer for team Canada at a stadium in Vancouver or Toronto for sure.  

What is your favourite part about working at Vovia?

There are plenty of things I love about working at Vovia. To name a few…the office dogs, a great variety of treats and snacks, and the regular team builders. What I like the most about Vovia is definitely my fellow coworkers. I attended a team builder event before I officially started my first day and that was amazing. Vovians were so welcoming and friendly to me. Frankly, that was the best way to start a new job that I could have imagined.   

One more thing I really appreciate is the guidance and advice I’ve received. Leaders and senior members of the team are always willing to take up responsibility, make decisions, and give directions on tasks that I am not familiar with. I am truly grateful for that.

Favourite quote (lately)

“Dike wasn’t a bad leader because he made bad decisions. He was a bad leader because he made no decisions.” – C. Carwood Lipton, “Band of Brothers”