BOKISSONTHRONE: Initiating Bold Projects on Facebook's Marketing Science Team

At Facebook, we leverage data for good. Every piece of data helps us understand Facebook's products and growth, identify opportunities and execute ideas at global scale. We're able to make smarter, more informed decisions and develop better products that maximize our impact to bring the world closer together.

Facebook’s marketing science team is passionate about data and measurement. We are a diverse set of researchers, analysts, and data scientists who are shaping and defining the future of marketing.

We got together with Kishore P. from the agency measurement team in Asia Pacific to learn about his experiences and understand how he's bringing bold ideas to life, and helping businesses to grow.

What do you do at Facebook?

I'm part of marketing science team at Facebook and am the lead for agency measurement in Asia Pacific. The agency measurement team works with media, digital, creative and performance agencies to understand the business impact of advertising dollars spent on Facebook and our family of apps to improve the effectiveness of their advertising spend on our platforms.

What’s your favorite part about working here?

Facebook’s culture, mission, leadership and people are what sets the company apart. Unlike many organizations where the mission statement is only on paper, every employee at Facebook is supported by the leadership, demonstrating their relentless focus to our mission – giving people the power to build communities and bringing the world closer together.

You came from a diversified career background. Tell us about your career path prior to joining Facebook?

I started my career working as a software engineer designing embedded software for a telecom company. After four and half years in engineering, I left to take my MBA in IT Management, and upon graduating, I joined one of the biggest telecom companies in India to work on brand marketing and marketing analytics. It was in my second job that I discovered my passion for data analytics and measurement. I later moved on to a media agency based in Singapore to lead the data and analytics function for North Asia before joining Facebook.

Choosing to work at Facebook has probably been the most satisfying experience in my career. I am empowered to work on projects that I am passionate about, and see as making the biggest impact. This makes the work that I do at Facebook more strategic than what I used to do in my previous jobs because I work on projects that have a longer term impact as opposed to just focusing on short-term goals. What I really love about my job is piloting new initiatives in the ever evolving mobile market place.

Can you tell us about a project you’ve worked on that has really challenged you?

One of my projects required me to code and submit the code for review and testing - something I had not done in over 10 years! I took on this challenge, created the code, made the changes and got the project on track. This could only be successful in a community-driven workplace where autonomy is supported. I learned first-hand how Facebook's culture – of moving fast, focusing on impact, being open, being bold, and working together to build social value – is critical to fostering my growth and development.

Which Facebook value resonates most with your team?

It's definitely “Be Bold”. The problems we're trying to solve in agency measurement are often new, so existing solutions may not work. We often have to think out of the box and experiment with ideas which we have not tested before to come up with solutions. Even though we may not succeed on all our experiments, it’s crucial to push new ideas forward until we solve the problem. The work culture at Facebook encourages us to take risks, try out new things, and not be afraid of failure.

As an example, we took on an ambitious project to build a measurement program that had a radically different approach from the established way of working in the media ecosystem. Though the chance of failure was high, our leadership agreed to fund the project despite the risks. We launched the program and it was well received by our clients - many who readily adopted it! This project made me realize just how deeply Facebook values are embraced by our people, especially at the leadership level... being bold is a part of the Facebook DNA.

Being bold is also closely tied to “focus on impact” - another Facebook value that resonates deeply with my team. We measure the success of our programs based on the impact and value that we create for businesses to help them grow.

What kind of people will do well in the Marketing Science team?

People who are hands-on, who can think big picture, who are strategic and ready to work in a collaborative environment where they are unafraid to share bold ideas. They need to be intellectually curious, great communicators, data-driven and move fast while keeping focused on high impact projects. If you have a knack for taking complex concepts and converting them into clear, workable plans - that's a bonus!