Employee Spotlight: Yas Davami

Having just recently joined the Acceleration Partners team in September, what is your initial first impression of Acceleration Partners?

Day one at Acceleration Partners is not like many first days I’ve had before, especially being remote. I felt welcomed, connected and valued; the immediate game changer was the culture.

At Acceleration Partners, the culture stands out more than anywhere I’ve previously worked. The environment is all about transparency, openness and a growth mindset; all of which stems from the top and cascades down. This makes it a very attractive place to work.

Welcome to the team Yas! So, what do you do as a Global Account Director?

As a Global Account Director, it’s my job to lead and influence my global team by demonstrating how to:

• Build trust-based relationships
• Make strategic staffing recommendations
• Monitor strategic investment opportunities
• Establish a key escalation point for critical issues

What’s the best part about working with a global team?

I get to work with a diverse team that comes from different cultures and experiences. Their life journey to get to Acceleration Partners all differ, but what everyone has in common is a growth mindset that bonds us together. I love how Acceleration Partners brings localized expertise, ideas and challenges to the table to help our internal team and clients to thrive.

You’re a part of the exciting Amazon Music partnership – can you tell me more about this program and what makes it so unique?

I’m incredibly excited to be part of a truly unique, global partnership, where I’ll be leading localized teams focused on building a music community and driving free trials to Amazon Music. Acceleration Partners will be working with artists, podcasts and social influencers (initially in the UK, US, Germany and Japan, with the intent to expand further over time).

What makes this partnership so unique is that Amazon Music is an organization that’s not afraid of entering new industries and putting the customer in the center of their ecosystem. After all, they’ve already changed the speed in which we shop and receive goods, how we read and listen to stories, and built strong communities through video and music.

The affiliate industry has been battling with big brands on how to harness influencer budget over the years, and now we have one of the Big Tech oligopolies leading the way in how the channel is valued by increasing their investment.

What’s something about the affiliate industry that a lot of people might not know?

There are three areas in the affiliate industry that I tend to talk about a fair amount, and also feel quite passionately about:

1. Partnership marketing can run in anyway if it’s how a consumer connects with your brand.
2. Who owns influencers? If a website blogger was once considered an affiliate in the affiliate industry, how is that different to an Instagram influencer today? Therefore, I believe influencer marketing should sit within affiliate marketing—not just because of the channel it comes from, but because influencers come with an ecosystem using other platforms such as a website, YouTube and other social channels.
3. Brands need to drive the narrative internally; advertisers don’t always drive the narrative of affiliates with stakeholders and even peers. As tech and affiliates become more sophisticated, how we communicate and take stakeholders on a journey is the only way we can elevate and increase spending in affiliate marketing.

What are some of your hobbies outside of work?

Would riding on a city bike to get from A-Z count? You can also find me travelling and trying everything ever eaten on Anthony Bourdain’s Unknown Parts series.

You can visit any fictional time or place, which would you pick?

I’m going to choose a fictional time, so take me to 1992 on the set of Home Alone 2 where I can stay in the best room at the Plaza Hotel in New York and enjoy a cheese pizza and a coca cola out of a wine glass with Kevin McCallister in a limo driving around Central Park.

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