The Company: Fotolia and Adobe Systems
Fotolia was acquired by Adobe Systems for $800M at the end of 2014 and was a world-leading marketplace of stock photography, providing instant access to over 100 million royalty-free images, vectors, illustrations, and video clips.
Powered by a diverse international community of artists, graphic designers, and agencies, Fotolia added tens of thousands of new and unique images daily. More than 5 million clients worldwide used Fotolia’s affordable royalty-free image library for advertising, enhancing websites, brochures, reports, slides, and other business or marketing collateral.
After Adobe’s acquisition, the platform was migrated to the Adobe Stock brand, which continues to provide stock assets to creative professionals worldwide.
The Project (March 2014 – October 2015)
Colin joined Fotolia LLC as Head of Operations to work closely with the Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) in building an enterprise sales channel for their subscription proposition in new markets.
In 2014, Colin played a pivotal role in developing Fotolia’s enterprise sales channel, which included launching into new markets such as the UK and US. From a standing start, the team generated over $4M in revenues in the first year. In Q4 2014, Colin established a multilingual contact centre sales team focused on selling to the SME market. By the end of 2014, Fotolia was on a 40% subscription growth run rate.
In early 2015, Adobe Systems acquired Fotolia for $800M. Colin took over from the CRO and led the global sales effort for Fotolia, managing the commercial and operational transition into Adobe Systems. Following the successful integration into Adobe, Colin moved on to his next project.
Key Achievements:
- Enterprise Sales Development: Colin helped develop the enterprise sales channel, generating $4M in revenues during the first year of launching into new markets such as the UK and US.
- Multilingual Contact Centre: In Q4 2014, Colin established a multilingual sales team that focused on selling Fotolia’s subscription service to SMEs, which contributed significantly to the company’s 40% subscription growth.
- Global Sales Leadership: After Adobe’s acquisition, Colin took over from the CRO, managing the global sales team during the transition into Adobe Systems, with 100% staff retention during this period.
- Adobe Stock Rollout: Colin was a key stakeholder in the successful rollout of the Adobe Stock brand and platform, which was integrated into Adobe’s Creative Cloud suite.
Testimonials
- Sales Manager:
“Colin is probably the best sales director I’ve ever worked with. His ability to get things done combined with his personality, people skills, and professional ambitions is highly appreciated, and he’s definitely an asset to any organisation.” - Sales Representative:
“I worked with Colin for almost 2 years. I was a remote worker in California and he was my manager. Even with the 8-hour time difference, he was always helping me and teaching me as if we were in the same room. He is a great leader and worker.” - Marketing Leader:
“Colin has been a super colleague to work with. His enthusiasm is infectious, and he has the ability to build departmental bridges to ensure the smoothest of workflows. He has provided help within the marketing team by seeing potential areas where the sales team could assist and be assisted. Colin is a fantastic communicator and team leader, raising spirits when required and always being available to help others within his management and outside it.”
