In Focus: Interview with Mete Gulec

Mete Gulec and his partner, Koray Askin decided to establish Reklam5 while he was studying at Boston University. At the time, Koray was working as a marketing professional in Renault Turkey. Right after graduation, Reklam5 was up and running in December 2007. The company reached a number of customers that allowed them to grow very quickly. At the end of the third year, they started to provide service to customers in 9 different countries around the world. 

Mete Gulec's job as a Managing Partner in Reklam5 is almost identical to the job description of a COO. His daily routine involves management of the process between the start and the delivery of a project, coordination of the relationship between the development team and the creative team and helping them stay on track. One of the Partners is always a leader in any of the projects his company works on. Under the supervision of the partner, the account and project teams work collaboratively with the developer and design teams, who create and work on the project/job.
 

First, tell us about yourself, your company, job profile, etc.

My partner, Koray Askin, and I decided to establish Reklam5 while I was studying at Boston University. At the time, Koray was working as a marketing professional in Renault Turkey. Right after graduation, Reklam5 was up and running in December 2007. We reached a number of customers that allowed us to grow very quickly. At the end of the third year, we started to provide service to customers in 9 different countries around the world. 

My job as a Managing Partner in Reklam5 is almost identical to the job description of a COO. My daily routine involves management of the process between the start and the delivery of a project, coordination of the relationship between the development team and the creative team and helping them stay on track. One of the Partners is always a leader in any of the projects we work on. Under the supervision of the partner, the account and project teams work collaboratively with the developer and design teams, who create and work on the project/job.
 

Tell us a bit about your business and what you do.

After gathering information about the aims and objectives of our customers, we start by designing the platforms that we will use to achieve their goals. This can be a website, e-commerce, or a landing page/microsite. With the decision of the communication strategy, we begin to bring traffic to these channels. The process is constantly optimized from start to end until the process of optimizing the traffic and the defined goals are obtained in the most cost-effective way.
 

Congratulations! As the winner of the 2018 Muse Creative Awards, what does winning this award mean to you and your team?

The creative work awards motivate all team members in Reklam5. Over the past three years, Reklam5 has received more than 50 awards from Global design awards. On top of that, this year Campaign Turkey awarded Reklam5 as the Agency of the Year in Web/Mobile Design and Solutions category. Of course, this is one of our teams’ greatest successes and we want to ensure the continuity of this success.
 

Where do you see the evolution of creative industry going over the next 5-10 years?

We think that artificial intelligence and neuroscience will be the trending headlines of the creative industry over the next 10 years. Big data will dominate the user's experience with more effective use of artificial intelligence. This effective touch to the user experience will also make the data-flow design the base of the design approach. Who knows, maybe we can even design with artificial intelligence!
 

What are your top three (3) favorite things about our industry?

Data, User Experience, Conversion.
 

What makes your country specifically, unique in the creative industry?

Turkey has a young and educated population. This young population is closely following technology and trends. For example, the most YouTube content producing country in Europe is Turkey! There are great talented young people out there, such as Okan Usta, who I got to meet when I visited Reklam5’s NYC office. After his successes working with Google and IBM at Wieden + Kennedy New York, he is now in charge of Nike and BMW at Wieden + Kennedy Shanghai too.
 

If you could give one piece of advice to someone considering a career in creative industry, what would it be?

First of all, they should never give up. All undesirable jobs can be the beginning or first step of an enjoyable and desired one. Data-centric jobs will always win!
 

What resources would you recommend to someone who wants to improve their skills in the advertising industry?

Read about everything related to the sector from detailed sources and examine projects that receive awards in targeted marketing fields every year.
 

Finally, what is your key to success?

Expertise, Experience, and Creativity.