Kick Zandbergen
About Me
Senior Commercial Leader with extensive and deep experience driving growth and innovation in Ad Tech, Digital Media, Retail Media and Publisher Monetization. Proven track record in business transformation, product strategy, and building high-impact teams. Vast experience in international digital businesses, owning the revenue side of P&L, influencing C-level executives, and leading across complex organizations.
My leadership style is authentic and involved, championing my people whenever possible but also no stranger to taking the wheel myself to steer my team and organisation through challenging times and situations.
Seeking: Strategic Advisory roles or (Fractional) Leadership roles in E-commerce , Ad Tech, Digital Marketing, Retail Media. Open for projects globally
Education
University of Amsterdam 1997
Master degree in Economics
Major in: Strategic Marketing Management/Logistics Continuing Education: Advanced Business Valuation - Amsterdam Institute of Finance
Work & Experience
Adevinta 06/01/2021 - 07/01/2025
VP Global Advertising
Responsible for advertising monetization, Ad Tech and (product) strategy for Adevinta's global portfolio of digital publisher sites and marketplaces. Reporting to: COO Adevinta; Key Stakeholders: Board, C-suite, GMs, functional leadership; Span of control: 10 direct, 250+ indirect - Responsible for delivering EUR 300 million in annual advertising revenues across Adevinta markets, including Benelux, France, Germany Spain and Italy, driving significant revenue and margin growth, including budget- business performance- and long term planning process - Spearheaded global alignment and delivery of strategic initiatives and product development strategy for advertising across all Adevinta markets and functional teams, including annual budgets and investment needs. - Negotiated commercial terms with leading ad tech companies, including Google, Microsoft, Index Exchange, Adomik, Mediarithmics & Taboola, securing deals valued at over EUR 175 million per year. - Led advertising workstream in diligence efforts in Adevinta’s $13.1B sale to private equity, ensuring seamless integration and strategic alignment, transitioning to a new target operating model.
eBay Classifieds Group 11/01/2018 - 06/01/2021
Senior Director Advertising Centre of Excellence
Responsible for advertising monetization, Ad Tech and (product) strategy for eCG’s global portfolio of digital publisher sites and marketplaces. Reporting to: eCG C-suite; Key Stakeholders: Board, GMs, functional leadership; Span of control: 6 direct, 130+ indirect - Accountable for future-proofing and delivering $300 million in advertising revenues across eCG markets, including Australia, Benelux, Canada, Germany & Italy, driving significant revenue growth. - Negotiated global partnerships with suppliers like Google, Index Exchange, Magnite, and Xandr, enabling delivery of $200m+ in advertising revenues annually. - Led due diligence efforts for Advertising in eBay’s $9.2B sale of eBay Classifieds Group to Adevinta, identifying and delivering EUR 20m+ in advertising synergies post integration
Google 09/03/2007 - 10/31/2018
Head of Northern Europe - Global Partnerships
During my 11+ years at Google, I grew my responsibilities and impact from an individual contributor business development manager role focused on Search syndication (AdSense) to a senior leadership role running Global Partnerships and a team across Benelux and the Nordics. Reporting to: VP of Northern Europe; MT Google Northern Europe, MT Google Netherlands; Span of control: 15 direct, across 6 countries (Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden) - Led full P&L and team management for the Benelux & Nordics region, including direct oversight of the teams based in Amsterdam, Brussels, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Oslo and Stockholm. Grew revenues across the region to $400 million per year, with the highest growth rates across EMEA. - Built and managed a team delivering the highest revenue/fte in Europe - Drove various EMEA-wide and global initiatives for Google, including sustainable advertising, anti- ad blocking, and YouTube partnerships. - Drove initiatives in navigating Google's response to legal and regulatory changes in Benelux
Portfolio
