Lars Ahntholz – Poly

#RunMarketing Award Winner: Agent of Collaboration

Why They Won

When Plantronics set out to improve how the marketing organization aligned its investment in time, money and people to top-level corporate objectives and put in place a more efficient system to plan, track and measure marketing resources, Lars rose to the challenge. Even then, it became quickly apparent that he had a special talent for bringing key stakeholders together and building alignment in a way where each individual felt supported and valued, all while meeting formidable requirements for budget accuracy. These attributes have manifested themselves ten-fold as Lars has been a key contributor of the Poly Marketing Investment Operations team during the complex consolidation of Plantronics and Polycom.

By demonstrating the outcome of every marketer’s contributions he has been able to drive adoption in his signature good-natured way, and his blend of insightful training, good communication and gentle nudging has greatly impacted the company’s accuracy of investment – so much so that the Poly team closed within 0.05% of quarterly budget. Lars proudly credits the team effort and ongoing support of the Marketing Investment Operations, Marketing Leadership, and Finance/IT teams. 

“Lars is someone who doesn’t fear change. When faced with merging two teams, two budgets, two ways of doing budgeting and multiple processes, he applied his calm manner and constructive analysis to accomplish what some might feel is the impossible. The integration of marketing finance systems of two companies is a complex thing to navigate but to achieve this while also striving for, and reaching, operational excellence, is exemplary.”

Jocelyn Brown, Allocadia SVP of Customers & Revenue