The Fishbowl: David Trencher, Reddit
The Media Leader’s interview series asks the media industry’s top salespeople 10 revealing questions, drawn from our fishbowl. The questions will be drawn at random and contain some tricky posers set by the commercial chiefs themselves.
This week is David Trencher, head of large customer sales, UK, EMEA & Australia at Reddit.
David Trencher started his career at agencies with media buyer roles at UM and then MediaVest, now Spark Foundry.
He has held senior sales and leadership roles at Facebook and Spotify before joining Reddit in 2019 as senior manager for brand partnerships. Trencher was promoted to head of sales for the UK, EMEA & Australia in 2021.
What was your first paid job and why did you do it?
Coincidentally, my first paid job was as a newspaper delivery boy. The local paper rep was going house to house when my older sister answered the door.
The rep pitched her on the gig and while eavesdropping all I heard was $200 a month! Nothing excited me more than earning my keep even at the tender age of 12. I guess sales has always been in my blood!
What are the three most important skills that a media salesperson needs in 2023?
I’ve been fortunate enough to build an incredible sales team at Reddit over the last two years. The team has excelled by providing excellent customer service to our clients by listening and understanding their marketing and business objectives.
The focus is on providing a full-funnel solution that drives real business success, and above all, taking the time to build relationships at the agency and client level on a day to day basis.
What podcast do you regularly listen to and why?
I don’t listen to podcasts. You’ll usually find me lurking on r/casualuk or r/avfc when I have a spare moment on the Tube!
What is one of your greatest achievements?
You are only as good as your last win. And right now, my current role feels like my greatest achievement.
I established Reddit’s go-to-market strategy for EMEA and Australia back in 2019. When we began planning our Reddit UK office launch it happened to be a month before Covid hit, which forced us to rethink everything we thought we knew and start over.
Through it all, we still found a way to grow our business — thanks in large part of the real value a platform like Reddit offers people in times of uncertainty — and I’m proud to say that we’re now working with some of the largest advertising agencies and brands in the world like Disney, Sky, and KFC.
**Peer question** Who was your first media lunch with and where did you go?
I was an assistant media buyer at Universal McCann, and in my first week a colleague of mine was in the cubicle next to me and suggested we go out to lunch. He wanted to act like a big shot and tell me how things worked around the office, so we went to Docks Oyster Bar and a blossoming friendship began.
Nearly two decades later we are still close friends, he stayed on the agency side while I went into sales and he has always been my toughest client. That said, he is bought in on Reddit so it’s my turn to buy a dozen oysters!
** Question from Emma Callaghan, Reach sales and invention director.
What one thing would you change when dealing with media agencies?
In my experience working with media agencies, it always feels like they never have enough time in the day. At Reddit we are constantly holding office hours at the agencies to help them better understand our platform and value proposition.
I think it would be intriguing to see agency folks host open hours at the platforms as well. As partners, we would love to hear what challenges they have, what their client expectations are, and have a simple, open dialogue on a monthly basis with no agenda other than getting to know each other’s business better.
Has selling media become easier or harder?
You can’t ignore the macroeconomic environment right now, but we’re confident in our strategy and continue to see momentum at Reddit.
Reddit is where people find community, form opinions, and take action, and they’re doing this all day, every day, regardless of the wider environment, which means there is always opportunity for brands.
Our team is therefore completely committed to helping advertisers find their people, and their home, on the platform in a way that sets them up for long term success.
**Peer question** From a work perspective, what were you most proud of last year?
I’m proud of Reddit’s continued growth, particularly outside of the US. The UK is home to our second largest audience outside the US and we’re continuing to grow what we call our “rest of world” presence from a user and business perspective, which is energizing. We also proved out through a recent white paper study that Reddit is additive to users’ lives and has a positive impact on user wellbeing. With all that’s happening in the world, this is something I can say with pride when I tell people I work at Reddit.
**Question from Kelly Williams, managing director commercial at ITV.
**Peer question** What advice would you give your younger self?
Lead from the heart. Be yourself and never stop wanting to learn or experience new things. Stay curious.
Question set by Ed Couchman, former UK general manager at Snap, now head of sales for UK and Northern Europe at Spotify.
If you could take a year off from work, what would you do?
I would rewatch my top 100 movies of all time and also try my best to impress the r/smoking community with my BBQ skills.