Karl Filtness

Experience

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  Engel Palvelut Oy

  May 1999 - Jun 1999

  Slaughterhouse Cleaner

  Probably one of the most important jobs I have had. Brutal manual labour makes you appreciate life, studying and gives you the insight to what a tough job really means. Working, on the verge of breaking in to tears, mans you up and prepares you for the future challenges you will face. Buckle up boy, the ride has just begun.

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  Osuuskauppa Keskimaa/Prisma

  Jun 1999 - Jun 2003

  Sales person

  Four years of working while studying – financing own education and preferred lifestyle. Gruesome early awakenings prepare you for the future of professionalism. Sacrificing spare time and hobbies is the ultimate prep school of prioritisation. Mornings, evenings and weekends spent between the aisles teach you how to encounter strangers and have them leave your attendance feeling happy and aided. This is a valuable life long lesson.

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  Jyväskylän Elohuvi Oy

  Jan 2002 - Jan 2004

  Marketing Manager

  My first serious full time marketing job. Doing a lot of hard work payed of and I was appointed to be a member of the executive group at the mature age of 23. Thank you for asking, I did shave daily. The most valuable learnings were related to trust and responsibility. Looking back, I had a lot of say on how things were done and the amount of faith was immense. We ended up rocking the town and we were the market leader for years in the volatile nightclub business.

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  Markkinointi Osuuskunta Kosmos

  Jun 2002 - May 2003

  Marketing Trainee

  My first gig as a paid marketer. Our team created an event concept for our client nightclub Elohuvi. You have to start somewhere and this was the perfect point to begin learning the ropes about professional marketing. We had guidelines, but as long as we stayed within them, we could wiggle any way we wanted. This was a liberating possibility.

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  Markkinointi Osuuskunta Kosmo

  Apr 2003 - Aug 2003

  Marketing Assistant

  Slowly working my way up the marketing ladder, I was able to land a new project in the world of event marketing. I created a weekly concept for our customer nightclub Elohuvi and almost single handed delivered the whole concept from marketing to budgeting and organising to funding.

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  University of Jyväskylä

  May 2003 - Nov 2003

  Researcher

  My first and last job as a chemist. I started my university studies as a chemistry student and I don’t believe in giving up. Even though I knew that this will never be my profession, I wanted to complete the degree. How many business directors can say that they have crystallised different molecule forms of gold thiosyanide or characterised the molecules by x-ray crystallography? If you don’t believe me, I have the Master’s Thesis to prove it.

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  Glorium Oy

  Aug 2004 - Jun 2005

  Office Manager

  My first taste of management and having employees, fifteen of them. The unappreciated world of direct marketing opened before me when my future wife got an unique job opportunity in Hämeenlinna and I wisely followed her steps to the unknown.I was the head of sales and I was able to increase sales over 500 % through leadership skills by creating a positive, pleasant and profit orientated working environment. The secret is simply caring and listening to people.

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  GSK

  Jul 2006 - Dec 2006

  Product Specialist

  After graduating I was in the weird situation of having to seek for a job. I ended up choosing an opening as a pharmaceutical representative in Tampere. I learned a lot about on-hand sales, handling PR and regional stakeholder relations, but the position was not what I expected and desired.

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  Valkeakoski’s Adult Education Center

  Jan 2007 - May 2007

  Instructor

  Teaching, mentoring and public speaking has always been a professional turn on for me. As an instructor of sales and marketing, my different talents could be combined. I enjoyed creating the pedagogical material, educating adults and inspiring people about marketing. My responsibilities were growing, but a new unplanned opportunity arose and I decided to return to a corporate career.

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  Adecco Finland Oy

  Jun 2007 - Sept 2008

  Branch Manager

  The industry of HR and staffing is always in change and the opportunity to be responsible of an international company’s branch that specialised in technical and IT professionals was a huge honour. The branch was located in Tampere’s University of Technology and I had the privilege to visit and sell our services to some of the top companies in Finland. Together with my three employees we were able to double sales and maintain a high gross margin during my term – mainly because of a new strategy that I developed and implemented. Show less

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  Haapaveden kaupunki

  Sept 2008 - Aug 2011

  Director/CEO

  One of my goals was to become a director before I turned thirty and I achieved this goal at 28 years old. The job was highly educating and gave me vast knowledge on how the public sector works.My responsibilities could be divided into three: 1. Member of executive group and responsible of general management of the town and business promotion. I incorporated customer centric views to the town organization and a corporate way of thinking. 2. Responsible of town marketing. I created a new marketing strategy that promoted the strengths of the town and helped implement the town’s strategy. My goal was implementing strategic marketing and brand awareness. The used tools to achieve these goals were changing the town’s brand and integrating a marketing oriented approach. 3. I was the CEO of Haapaveden Teknologiakylä Oy which is a business advisory company and property developer. Its main task is helping businesses promote themselves, develop and thrive. Success was achieved by affecting the regional business environment, gathering tools that the companies can use and creating a resource network to utilise. In addition I was able to turn the company in to a very profitable and financially independent strategic partner. Show less

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  LivingStone Kodit Oy

  May 2011 - May 2014

  CEO

  Starting a high-end consumer product business in a declining and struggling market is a demanding task. During the first two years we, my business partner and myself, succeeded in building a recognisable distinctive brand, offering a completely new product to a conservative industry, hitting our sales targets, gaining vast brand awareness and reasonable share-of-mind in a very short time, all with a shoestring budget. This was mainly achieved by using the web, social media and content marketing as our main marketing strategy. This led to numerous victories and milestones; for example we were a key player in many customer's dreams and we were able to gain over 20 000 visits to our website every month.Expectations aren’t always fulfilled and companies don’t always flourish. We found this out the hard way. In a difficult economic climate, we ended up failing. This venture was not financially rewarding, but the lessons learned are priceless. Show less

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  Descom Oy

  Feb 2014 - Nov 2015

  Content Manager

  Descom merged with Solteq Oyj.My main responsibilities were:1) Marketing on a strategic level. Part of a fantastic marketing team that consisted of three personalities. We concluded core messages, dissected the desired brand, carved out customer personas, conceived content strategies, managed marketing tools and chose channels. All before lunch. 2) Marketing automation and inbound marketing. It is vital to understand the buyer journey and how different stages of the funnel and decision process effect the potential clients. Understanding the core analytics and utilising them generates more leads for sales to convert. 3) I created unique content on a daily basis. My typical day was as exceptional as the content. I wrote web pages, blog posts, news, statuses, copies, headlines and even busted the odd rhyme (the macho way of saying I write poems). I made visually beautiful presentations that packed a punch. Being creative is like a magic trick: you just pull things out of thin air. Show less

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  Solteq Oyj

  Nov 2015 - Nov 2017

  Marketing Director

  Solteq and Descom merged to become a international digital commerce service provider. My prerogative was to transform the new company’s brand and marketing to be inline with the new strategy. The strategy relies on growth and internationalisation – success required a modern and unexpected approach. This position was full of new and exciting responsibilities and it broaded my perspective and expertise in numerous forms. Brand building and marketing on an international context are the cornerstones of catalysing growth. New intriguing focus points were establishing account based marketing, pipeline marketing, programmatic content marketing and reforming recruiting marketing. A completely fresh aspect for me were investor activities and shifting a sales oriented mindset to a very different target group.It was a very exciting phase of Solteq’s history, and I was privileged to be in a key role of writing the next chapter. Show less

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  MEOM

  Nov 2017 - Dec 2024

  You have the know-how and understanding, I have the means to turn that into insights. As a strategy consultant, I don't have all the answers, but together we can create the best way to proceed that works in your current situation. It's all about seeing through the noise, prioritising and focusing on what really matters. And as a bonus, my experience will probably provide a few knowledge nuggets to enable growth. My focus is on B2B companies, startups and Saas-businesses. My strategy strenghts are positioning, product strategy, GTM strategy, customer acquisition & marketing strategies, identifying customer segments & ICP's, growth strategy, incorporating AI, website strategy etc. Lets discuss, how I can help. Show less I help our clients create better products and find their Product/Market Fit. The results are products that users love & need and thus more successful businesses. One of the highlights of the role was creating and running a Product Accelerator for 2 years: my expertise in frameworks, concepts, business models, startups, growth and consulting was utilised and challenged.My 20+ years experience in generating growth combined with constant learning, has provided me with unique insights, knowledge and best practices. This accumulated hands-on know-how is one part of the equation that benefits our clients and substantially increases the probability of building a successful product business. Show less My main responsibility is consulting our clients on growth and strategies. I help our clients by creating future roadmaps on how to grow and improve their businesses. I'm also responsible of leading our marketing team and utilising everyones skills so that they are beneficial for our clients. My other responsibility is improving MEOM's own business by creating new ways to serve clients, build scalable processes and lead our own marketing efforts. We have been successful and our business is growing on average over 50 % per year Show less

  • Strategy Consultant

    Aug 2023 - Dec 2024

  • Director of Growth, Partner

    Oct 2019 - Aug 2023

  • Marketing Director, Partner

    Nov 2017 - Oct 2019
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  Humm

  Mar 2020 - now

  Board Member
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  Filtness Oy

  Dec 2024 - now

  Marketing & Strategy Consultant

  Markkinointi- ja strategiakonsultointia yrittäjille ja PK-yritysten johtajille. Palvelut: Käytännöllistä konsultointia = tekoja ja tuloksiaVuokrajohtaja / Interim CMO = navigoi muutosNeuvonantajan näkemyksiä = Hallitus / advisor työskentelyä25 vuotta markkinointia, 8 vuotta konsultointia, johtotehtävissä vuodesta 2008. Erityisosaaminen: positiointi, markkinointistrategiat, asiakashankinta, viestit, tuoteliiketoiminta ja tekoälyn hyödyntäminen sekä liittäminen osaksi omaa toimintaa. Show less