Observed Signal · Mar 16, 2026 · Hiring · Source: https://martechseries.com/feed/ · Impact: 2/5 · Sentiment: Positive
Özal Joins impact.com to Boost DACH Partnership Growth
impact.com has appointed Hakan Özal as Director Sales DACH to lead sales strategy across Germany, Austria and Switzerland, targeting enterprise advertisers with complex, cross-channel partnership programs. Özal will help brands integrate affiliate, creator, referral and B2B partnerships into a single platform to improve measurement and visibility across the customer journey, with particular focus on regulated sectors such as financial services. Erwin Plomp, Senior Vice President for EMEA at impact.com, said Özal’s regional and partnership experience will support scaling measurable programs. Özal’s background includes leadership roles at Groupon, Awin, DKB and bunq, executive management at financeAds, and chairing the Affiliate Marketing Committee at the German Association for the Digital Economy (BVDW). The hire underscores impact.com’s push into the enterprise DACH market.
A regional senior hire signals impact.com’s investment in enterprise partnership capabilities in the DACH market and focus on regulated sectors, but it is a company-level personnel update rather than industry-shifting news.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- impact.com appointed Hakan Özal as Director Sales DACH.
- Özal will lead sales strategy across Germany, Austria and Switzerland, focusing on enterprise advertisers and cross-channel partnerships.
- impact.com positions its platform to unify affiliate, creator, referral and B2B partnerships and offers products named Performance, Creator, and Advocate.
- Özal previously held leadership roles at Groupon, Awin, DKB and bunq, served in executive management at financeAds, and chaired the Affiliate Marketing Committee within the German Association for the Digital Economy (BVDW).
- impact.com says more than 5,000 global brands (including TUI, Uber, Shopify, Lenovo, L’Oreal, Skyscanner and Levi’s) rely on its partnership platform.
Connected Companies & Entities
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Recent verified developments and strategic activity across this market segment.
Hakan Özal Joins impact.com as DACH Sales Director
On 16 March 2026 impact.com appointed Hakan Özal as director of sales DACH to lead sales strategy across Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Özal will focus on enterprise advertisers with complex, cross-channel partnership programs and help brands integrate affiliate, creator, referral and B2B partnerships on impact.com’s commerce partnership marketing platform. impact.com positions the hire as part of continued investment in the enterprise segment and in supporting regulated industries that require transparent, measurable partnership programmes. Özal’s background includes leadership roles at Groupon, Awin, DKB and bunq, international expansion work at financeAds, and chairing the Affiliate Marketing Committee at the German Association for the Digital Economy (BVDW).
Hakan Özal Named Director Sales DACH at impact.com
Impact.com, a partnership marketing platform, expands its presence in the German-speaking region with the appointment of Hakan Özal as Director Sales DACH. Özal will lead growth in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, focusing on enterprise clients and regulated industries, notably finance. He will shape the regional sales strategy, targeting large advertisers managing complex partnerships across multiple channels, and help consolidate Affiliate, Creator, Referral, and B2B partnerships on a single platform to increase transparency along the customer journey. Özal brings extensive performance-marketing leadership from roles at Groupon, comdirect, DKB and bunq, and previously drove international expansion at financeAds; he also chaired the Affiliate Marketing Committee at the Bundesverband Digitale Wirtschaft (BVDW). Erwin Plomp, Senior Vice President EMEA at impact.com, highlights the DACH region as a central growth area. The article is based on impact.com’s press release.
Oliver Hülse Joins Audienceproject to Boost DACH Growth
Audienceproject, a Danish adtech company focused on cross-media audience measurement, has appointed Oliver Hülse as Managing Director for the DACH region (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) to drive growth. The move aims to deepen the company’s presence in Europe as demand for cross-media insights increases. CEO Thomas Gregers Honoré welcomed Hülse, praising his more than 20 years in adtech and his leadership track record. Hülse’s career spans Tomorrow Internet AG, Interactive Media, Adconion Media Group (now Amobee), Rocket Fuel in the DACH region, and Integral Ad Science (IAS), where he served as managing director in the DACH market. IAS was reportedly approaching an acquisition and delisting by a Canadian private equity firm. After consulting and a stint at Audigent (acquired by Experian), Hülse returns to focus on growth at Audienceproject in the DACH market. Michaela Schmitz, former DACH head, moves to Commercial Director.
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