What taking a step back taught me about going ‘all in’

By Ran Avrahamy

It is no surprise that Mobile World Congress is one of, if not my absolute favorite time of year (I mean, I even wrote a blog about it!).

From the insane booths we are able to create year after year to the growing and more culturally diverse group of people we have joining us every time: MWC is pure magic for me and everyone at AppsFlyer.

Mobile World Congress is the largest event in the global telecoms industry and, as such, we were looking forward to welcoming many thousands of visitors to our exhibition stand and social events during the week. As a people-obsessed company that places the best interests of its customers, partners, and people at the heart of everything we do, the potential risk of exposure to the coronavirus for attendees is not one the company is going to take. It is for these reasons that we have decided to withdraw from this year’s MWC.

It is important for me to say here, that even within this extremely tough decision, I have learned so much about our team and even more about AppsFlyer’s “People-Obsessed” mantra than I have during years when we were able to bring this to the forefront in Barcelona.

I’ve seen team members not get upset about missing the event itself, but about missing a chance to catch up with their customers and prospects. I’ve seen them check-in and offer help to the Marketing Department as we take a step back and withdraw from this year’s conference.

It is one thing for me to say we put people first, but it is another thing for me to see it day in and day out.

Last year I described this magic, and the joy I get to experience as a CMO as a roller coaster. Our journey as marketers is a roller coaster of exciting creative peaks as well as ‘boring’, day-to-day tasks. In this journey, it’s important to keep the balance, be true to what you really believe in and execute really really well on those creative peak moments. Even when those creative peak moments come at a time when you think there’s no way that plan A will happen.

I still believe in that, even in times when we have to change our plans unexpectedly.

The decision to cancel our attendance was made with a heavy heart, but with the welfare of many people in mind.

Not just the fifty-plus members of staff who were scheduled to represent us in Barcelona and their many colleagues across the world, but our clients, customers and friends in the industry as well. While it is a tough decision to make, we know we’re doing what’s right given the available information.

We look forward to coming back again in full force next year.