Welcome Back Renu! + 6 Years at Vovia!

Just recently, the Vovia team was lucky enough to welcome Director of Digital Media, Renu Deswal, back from her maternity leave while also celebrating her 6 year anniversary at Vovia. We figured it would be a great time for Renu to reflect on her time with us, along with her new challenge of parenthood amidst the unique conditions the pandemic has presented. We caught up with Renu to hear about how she joined Vovia, what has changed since then, what she’s been up to personally, and more. Read on!

How it Started 

Immigrating to Canada after my marriage in 2015 marked the start of a new chapter in my life. Everything was new for me, both on a personal and professional level, from starting my married life to starting a new job, with a new company, in a new country. Coming from a digital media agency background in India, working in a media agency was my first choice and something I was passionate about, and I feel so lucky to have landed at Vovia in April, 2015.

While I began my career as a search engine marketing specialist, I am now the Director of Digital Media here at Vovia, leading a fantastic team of digital media experts that are similarly enthusiastic about the job. I almost can’t believe I’ve been with Vovia for six years now! I suppose time flies when you’re having fun, and that’s why I’m still here at Vovia.

Vovia was more focused on digital marketing when I joined in 2015, largely managing paid ads across Google, Facebook, and Bing, as well as some SEO and CRO-related projects. However, much has changed over the last six years and Vovia evolved into a Full Services Media Agency over this time. I’ve had the privilege of working on a highly varied portfolio of clients over the last 6 years, ranging from e-commerce to financial services, to small businesses, and more. It’s been a fantastic experience, and working with each of these clients has required continuous learning; what works for one customer may not work for another. Each company’s strategy and advertising tactics must be deliberate and distinct in order to be effective. For example, while channels could potentially be similar, e-commerce strategy is vastly different from post-secondary lead generation strategy and must be treated as such in order to drive great results for our client partners.

Much Has Changed

So much has changed in the media world and how we view our clients’ business in recent years. While Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are still very important channels in the social space, platforms like Snapchat, Pinterest, and Tiktok have surged in popularity in recent years, enticing brands and companies to experiment with them to reach their target market in new and interesting ways. Google and Bing are constantly developing new ad types, audience targeting, and bidding strategies that enable more precise targeting and optimization.

Many third-party platforms and partners have also emerged over this time; each with its own unique audience targeting options. This means that the team must stay current with platform updates and industry developments in order to identify new opportunities and innovate. As a result, the team is constantly encouraging one another to attempt new innovative ideas in order to provide the best results for our clients. The Vovia leadership team does an excellent job of ensuring that the team has enough time to do research and development, which allows them to come up with unique concepts that we can test for our clients. 

So Why Vovia? 

My friends and family frequently ask me what I enjoy most about working here, and I always tell them it’s an array of things that make this a great work environment. I won’t drone on about this for too long, but a few key elements include work/life balance, schedule flexibility, positive work environment, amazing people, cuddly dogs, and exciting client portfolios. We don’t work in silos here; instead, we work as a team, and that’s what makes us strong. We respect each other’s viewpoints, always support one another, and always push each other to be the best we can be. This team and teamwork is a large factor that distinguishes Vovia from other agencies.

How did you maintain this teamwork in the face of the Pandemic? 

It was an unusual year (or more) to say the least! Luckily, Vovia was already set up for remote working as we have remote offices and many full-time remote staff, so we were able to hit the ground running when the lockdowns came into play. It wasn’t without effort, but the team was really there for each other over this period, and we are proud to say that this sudden shift to working from home did not affect our productivity nor our effectiveness as an agency.  Everyone on the team really made an effort to remain in touch with one another and to collaborate as often as possible with our teams and peers, and this made all the difference. 

Vovia itself also made a great effort to keep us together by instituting virtual “Beers and Cheers” get-togethers every Friday, virtual team builders every quarter, and Innovation Presentations on the First Friday of every month. These pleasant and fun interactions became the social glue that would help hold us together. We are all very grateful to work at a company that cares so much about our mental health and well-being, and Vovia really proved this to us over this very challenging period of time. 

What Have You Been Up to Personally? 

In the midst of all the Pandemic chaos, I gave birth to my first child in May, 2020. This means I was actually out of work for a year (the best part of being in Canada in my opinion!). The first year with a baby is an exhilarating roller-coaster journey full of surprises. There are new developments that happen day-by-day, week-by-week, and month-by-month, which can sometimes be hard to keep up with but are always fulfilling on a deep emotional level. Breastfeeding, changing nappies, and playing and cuddling with my baby took up most of my time. They develop and grow at an amazing speed. It’s exciting to witness each of their developmental milestones, including rolling over, sitting up, crawling, and speaking their first words. I have thoroughly enjoyed my maternity leave, and while I have learned there is never enough time to spend with your child, it feels fantastic to be back at work and driving results for our clients.