Women in Mobile. Meet Roz Haijan, One of the Women Game Changers in the Mobile Industry


Roz Hajian, Senior Manager, Growth Marketing at Kabam at Aarki's Women in Mobile seriesMany women are now building a strong industry presence and taking leadership roles as the gender gap in tech industry leadership roles decreases.

To acknowledge and recognize their contribution and get to know them better, we continue our blog series featuring women game changers in the mobile industry.

Roz Hajian
Senior Manager, Growth Marketing at Kabam

  • How did your career in the mobile app industry begin?
    My career in the mobile app industry actually began with Kabam. Four and a half years later - I haven’t looked back since. I started my career in accounting but found myself gravitating towards digital marketing after working with the UA team during my first year. I’ve always had a strong interest in working with numbers so transitioning between the two fields was fairly smooth. The digital marketing industry is incredibly fast-paced and keeping up with the latest news and competitor trends makes the day-to-day really interesting. Wouldn’t have it any other way.

  • Can you share with us the most memorable campaign you worked on?
    My first marketing campaign was on Tumblr. I was ecstatic - not only to start learning a new craft, but I was a 3+ year Tumblr user at the time. Understanding the how a channel works on a personal level adds a deeper dimension to campaign planning and execution. I have since started campaigns on similar networks like Snapchat, Pinterest, and Reddit, all of which I'm also active on. Advertising on these networks is still a fairly new concept (compared to FB/Instagram/Twitter). Users tend to be a bit resistant to change, whether it be a simple UI update or the introduction of ads to a platform. I believe the responsibility lies on the digital marketer to use the tools at hand to reach the right people for your product, and to do it in a way that is native to the channel you're utilizing. Using the channel's robust targeting capabilities, understanding the differences between each channel's demographic makeup, and tailoring your campaign to fit the user's behavior (using native ad copy, creatives, etc) is what will take your performance through the roof.

  • What’s the most important lesson you got from your previous roles which helped you become the Marketing Manager you are now?
    A former VP told me when I first started: “we’re making games, not curing cancer”. Mobile marketers are faced with constant decision making and the ability to make the choices quickly is what makes the difference between a good team and a great team. These two tasks combined is the perfect recipe for stress and it can sometimes be tough to remember to take a step back and breathe. What we do isn’t life or death - however, if me doing my job right gets my game in front of the right people, and I make them half as happy as I am when I enjoy a good game, I can consider it a job well done.

  • What makes working in Kabam the bomb?
    I hate to give the cliche answer here, but it really is the people! I’ve had the pleasure of working with some of the most kind, intelligent people I’ve ever met. Working with every team imaginable...one thing everything has in common at Kabam is passion in their hearts. The passion to do good work, the passion to help others reach their goals, and the passion to make great games. The pleasure has been all mine. :)
    (Having an excuse to visit our HQ in Vancouver doesn’t really hurt, either!)


  • How do you champion a new idea or strategy in your workplace?
    When considering a new strategy, it’s important to consider how it will affect not only your team, but your larger department and entire company too. The best first step is to map out all key internal stakeholders in your prospective strategy; who will be involved in the execution? Who may not be involved in execution, but will be impacted by the outcome? Who may benefit from this change, who may be adversely affected? Lining up the answers to these questions and meeting with all POCs will remove any uncertainty around impact, deadlines, etc. Speaking from personal experience here - I have been sent back to the drawing board a number of times because quick assumptions, later proven to be incorrect, took the place of this step instead. All User Acquisition teams have one thing in common - we are tasked with shipping out a finished product. Our job cannot be done without preliminary work from other teams. Acting as a pseudo "project manager" and getting a deep understanding of other team's thought processes will ensure any UA strategy's success.

    Roz Hajian, Senior Manager, Growth Marketing at Kabam
  • What’s your favorite way to spend your free time?
    - Planning my next trip and/or concert
    - Watching basketball - mostly NBA, some college
    - Gaming - currently hooked on Super Mario Odyssey & Smash on the Switch; Clash Royale & Brawl Stars on mobile
    - Reading! I’m a bookworm when time allows for it. I just finished Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult, will be starting Becoming by Michelle Obama soon.

  • What fictional character best represents you?
    Hermione is main reason I felt such a strong connection to the Harry Potter series. She’s strong-willed, smart, and had no problem putting Harry and Ron in their place when necessary. What I admire most is her level-headedness when faced with adversity - I wouldn't say I'm quite as good as her yet, but it's something I strive for personally and professionally every day.

  • What movie can you watch again and again without getting tired of?
    Breaking the rules here because it’s impossible to narrow it down to one:
    - 10 Things I Hate About You
    - A Beautiful Mind
    - Inception
    - All Harry Potter movies

  • What is one thing that can turn your bad day into a good one?
    A good meme and/or baby video usually does the trick.

  • Who’s the most inspiring woman for you?
    Serena Williams, Michelle Obama, Jessica Alba...the list goes on. All of these women have been wildly successful in their respective fields but have faced much public scrutiny and criticism at the same time. What they all have in common is the ability to hold their head high and push through. I have a young sister and it makes me so proud that women like this are in the headlines today, portraying a healthy feminist image to look up to.
    “When they go low, we go high”.

     

Topics: Women in Mobile