Our people
James Oh
Director of sales
vivo… makes you feel alive!
Hey. I’m James and I’m with vivo since the summer of 2018. I’m Korean born, with an international background in both academics and career. My philosophy and approach are to be a strong multitasker, with focus on strategic views.
Before joining vivo, I was working in the automotive industry at well-known brands, taking on different roles, from sales, strategy to product management. As I’m always open to new opportunities and challenges, I saw the speedy growth of vivo in the international and Chinese markets, which tickled my curiosity; also, just as I was to join vivo, the company introduced the first APEX concept smartphone which, to be honest, showcased those kinds of innovations that take a bit of guts – and that fascinated me.
I’ve been with the team at vivo EHQ in Dusseldorf since the very beginning, starting in July 2019. It’s been quite a journey – a great team of ambitious minds, driven to make vivo successful in Europe. At the same time, we’ve been facing the unexpected and dealing with history-first situations such as the Coronavirus pandemic, which impacted all business alike, and the smartphone market as well – but it’s great to see how we as people, and as a company, are agile and flexible to adapt to changes that we have to take. We’re here to overcome these uncertainties and properly roll-out what we’re here to do.
Currently, I’m leading the sales strategy team, and supporting the business development for the German market; I contribute to the team by providing them market insights and strategic forecasts, to help that we can better understand, better prepare and react to market developments.
If I’d have to describe vivo in a single word, it’s alive! It’s a great joy to work here. It’s energetic!
Kwame Berchie
vivo… is family
Hey, I’m Kwame, from Ghana, a proud father, with a strong passion to work with people. I’m tech savvy and solution oriented. Before joining vivo, I’ve been working for eight years in the telecoms industry, with background in Arts and Business Administration.
With a strong drive for working with people, I was looking for a new challenge that would give me the boost to give my best performance, and to work with amazing people. But in turn, to help me acquire experience and sharpen my skills in an organisation with professional work culture. vivo offered me the chance to be part of its European journey right from the start, and to contribute to the company success in Europe. So, the company culture on one hand, and the opportunity to create, execute and continuously learn and improve, was one I couldn’t resist.
To be honest, my worst days at vivo have been better than my best days in previous jobs. The people here are simply amazing and are the centre of everything. There’s a great sense of community, which brings us together in a very inclusive and diverse team, with a wealth of experience and talent. And the flat hierarchy in the company creates a sense of belonging, making everyone very easily approachable.
My role as People Manager (we don’t call ourselves Human Resources, it sounds so cold and distant, right?) is to first gain a deeper insight into the business, find the right target, to become a strategic partner for the business and also drive teams’ engagement across the organisation.
When people ask me about the challenges, it’s a bit hard to say as we are new in Europe, so we’ve just been facing the expected and usual obstacles in setting up the business, integrating the people, drawing up processes etc. The only major surprise came from the global Coronavirus pandemic, that threw some hurdles in our business progress, but I believe these are challenges every single business around the globe is facing now.
vivo is family – it’s happy employees, united by a common goal, with a strong hunger to succeed and feel accomplishment. To be honest, life here doesn’t feel like work because of the great camaraderie, transparency, and flat hierarchy. I love this very inclusive environment which values the inputs of all.
Giuliana Moroni
vivo… is evolving
Hey there! I’m Giuliana – Argentinian born, of Italian descent, with a family spread across three continents, yet feeling closer than ever. I’ve moved to China in 2016 to pursue an MIB and work, and I’ve joined vivo in 2019, to embark on the European project and, finally, moved to Germany.
I studied international trade and economics, Chinese and International business. Before joining vivo, I was working in marketing, sales, and business development. The motive for joining vivo was the work itself – tech companies are the Mecca of research, development, and innovation, and I love it.
I’ve been part of the European HQ team for nine months now, and it’s an amazing experience. I enjoy surrounding myself with likeminded people that I can grow with and learn from. There’s a strong sense of teamwork here at EHQ, and it feels like a big family.
I work in business development inside the sales strategy team, and my main roles are conducting market analyses, ad-hoc research and keeping track of the industry development and competitors. There are challenges every day. This is a fast-paced environment, things change often so you must adapt, think quickly, and find new solutions. Also, as we’re starting with a blank canvas, your work often has a clear and immediate impact on the company, which adds some pressure but it’s rewarding at the same time.
To describe vivo with a single word, I would say it’s Evolving. It’s a progressive realisation of a shared and worthy vision.
Mark Ren
vivo… it’s about doing the right things, the right way
Hi – I’m Mark from China, and I’m an outgoing and communicative guy who likes to talk to different people and make friends with different kinds of people. I believe sensibility and rationality coexist – I love reading books about business and logic, to travel around the world and enjoy the humanity and scenery.
I love the smartphone industry and enjoy working as a product manager. I study strategy and human behaviour, which gives me insights to make the right decision – and that’s also one of the reasons why I’ve joined vivo six years ago. Since the first days, I’ve been working in the product department, it’s a great place to learn a lot about the business.
Experience of working with vivo? Excited! I’m excited to have a chance to work with so many colleagues from different cultures, and to exchange new ideas that influence you positively. At the same time, the harmonious and open company culture and atmosphere allows every colleague to be fully respected and heard.
In my current role as the Product Manager, I’m responsible for the very definition of vivo smartphones, in both hardware and software perspective. I write related consumer insights, product strategy books, product definition tasks, promotion planning… Also, I cover consumer insights, as the person responsible for researching the European consumers, and diving deep to understand consumer research methods and programs.
As in any business, there are challenges, of course. I like to look at them as internal, external and personal; internally, it’s about learning as much from your colleagues and soak in their experience and knowledge, which helps you improve fast, and to learn from other departments such as sales and branding, which gives you tons of insights. Externally, I challenge myself through reading books relating to work, and personally, to get in-depth market knowledge, not only of the smartphone business but other industry verticals as well.
Summing up vivo in two sentences or less it’s all about doing the right things the right way, about maintaining balance, and returning to the origin of things.
Plamena Boutchakova
vivo is… agile
Hi, my name is Plamena and I’m a media professional, coming from Bulgaria. I’ve always been looking for new challenges and motivating experiences, which is why I came to Germany in 2016, and eventually joined vivo’s EHQ team in 2020.
As almost everyone working in media, I started my career in a media agency, but then curiosity naturally led me to different roles on vendors’ and clients’ sides. I’ve been working in many industry verticals – FMCG, pharmaceuticals, airlines – and in many different markets, from Europe, MENA, and Asia. Right before joining the vivo team I was working in the automotive sector, with full focus on the European markets.
vivo is not a broadly known brand on our continent yet, but just knowing you can contribute to the expansion of such a giant in Europe and build everything yourself, is a challenge one wouldn’t like to miss. During the past six months, I feel this is a very young, knowledgeable, and motivated team, eager to do their best for the company and for the customers.
I’m responsible for media buying, planning and strategy in EHQ; and I would like to think I enrich the team with my versatile knowledge in the field of marketing and media strategy, especially in the European markets. Apart from this, I try to spread positivity around the workplace; it does sound like a cliché but having a positive atmosphere at work helps everyone do their best, throughout the day.
As you can imagine, starting a new job amidst a pandemic and adapting to all the challenges caused by the pandemic, haven’t been easy for any of us, but we all know these are unprecedented times and we all need our highest level of adaptability and flexibility, to answer any upcoming challenges.
If I had to describe vivo in a single word, it would be agility. This is a great opportunity to meet people from all over the world, learn a lot and contribute to vivo becoming one of the love brands of European customers.