Smolders previously held the position of Director of Commercial and Client Services at the company, and has been instrumental in growing Sprout into the premier digital marketing company it is today. He boasts more than 15 years of international experience in both traditional and digital landscapes, and is committed to understanding client’s business challenges and how the digital marketing mix can play an effectively role in solving these.

Originally from The Netherlands, Smolders has only been in South Africa since 2008.

Commenting on his promotion, Joshin Raghubar, iKineo founder and chairperson said, “Stijn has lead online media teams at Ster, DQNA.com and Habari Media, and has over 10 years in the digital media field. He is not only more than capable, but he emanates a deep passion about the science technology has brought to the marketing industry, particularly the spheres of analytics and data-driven solutions. We are eager to welcome his vision in taking Sprout to the next level.”

Sprout has been growing significantly over the past year and has succeeded in attracting clients that understand the role of digital performance media. Smolders shared, “The next step is to further improve our service offering and continue to grow our client satisfaction plus campaign results. I’m thrilled and honoured to be given this opportunity to lead the team and grow the adoption of digital performance media in the South African market.”

He continued, "We have seen a huge shift towards programmatic media in overseas markets where advertisers want to engage and target online consumers earlier on in the customer journey, in an efficient way. We have significant experience with the platforms, which allows us to strategise and run campaigns this way and understand the role of it in the total digital media mix. The time is here for South Africa to elevate its understanding of digital performance media and move away from the 'Last Click'- methodology.”

Offering online performance marketing and advertising solutions for large enterprises, SME's and capital backed start-ups, Sprout comprises in-house specialists who work with affiliate, email, retargeting, display, search, social and mobile channels to make for the best possible outcome. It is also part media provider with expertise in behavioural, similar audience and affinity targeting for display and social channels.

Clients include amongst others Net Florist, @Home, Superbalist.com, Sportscene, DueSouth, Skip, Knorr, Premier Hotels & Resorts, First Car Rental, Airey Scott Entertainment, EduLoan and RSA Web.

For more information, visit sproutperformance.com. Alternatively, connect with them on Facebook, on Twitter or on LinkedIn.