One of the founding members of Torstar’s Olive Media, Mladen Raickovic has taken a new role as general manager, social with the global ad network AdKnowledge.
Raickovic, who started his new job March 4, will oversee Adknowledge’s Facebook advertising management unit AdParlor. He is charged with accelerating the division’s global growth strategy, managing the unit’s day-to-day business, overseeing strategy and unifying global operations. He expects to spend about 30% of his time working outside of Canada.
Raickovic co-founded the online advertising network Performer Media in 2004. That company was acquired by Torstar and eventually became one of the building blocks of Olive Media when the latter was launched in 2006.
“When I started [at Olive] I was employee number one, two or three,” said Raickovic. “I have nothing but amazing things to say about Olive. It’s probably one of the best companies in Canada… But I was there for a long time. I did a lot of things there, I worked with a lot of amazing people on some really cool products, but when this opportunity came up I saw it as the right evolution in my own career.
“It was an opportunity to look beyond Canada, work with a global company and work on a business that is really exciting.”
Established in 2004 and headquartered in Kansas City, AdKnowledge has offices throughout North America and in several global markets including the United Kingdom, Germany, France and China. The company places online ads across multiple channels including e-mail, search domain and social networks.
Acquired by AdKnowledge in 2011, AdParlor is at an exciting juncture in its evolution, said Raickovic. The company boasts a global client roster that it serves clients in multiple markets around the world. “There’s a huge opportunity for AdParlor to continue growing in other markets and expand its product base across additional social platforms,” said Raickovic.
