Apadmi welcomes Global CMO as part of international expansion

Mellissa Flowerdew-Clarke joins Apadmi with twenty years’ experience leading Marketing teams across EMEA. A strategic leader with a creative mind and a commercial approach, Mellissa’s background spans a range of sectors, including digital, software engineering and mobile. 

We sat down with Mellissa to dive further into her mobile experience, and hear more about her plans to make Apadmi a global success.

What lessons or experience from your previous roles will shape how you lead the Global Marketing function at Apadmi?

I was fortunate to spend the past decade at a hugely ambitious agency. What started as 80 people in the Netherlands in 2015 grew into a global powerhouse by 2025; 4,000 people across five continents, generating €500m+ in revenue and working with some of the world’s biggest brands.

It was a wild ride. We had to fail fast, scale at pace, and become experts at acquisition integrations and rebrands. During my time there, we acquired and rebranded nearly forty agencies. So, I’ve joined Apadmi with real, lived experience of scaling quickly and growing a global brand.

That experience includes both successes and failures; it’s not always sunshine and rainbows, but the failures are where the real learning happens. I have the benefit of a metaphorical crystal ball — I can see Apadmi’s growth trajectory and the pitfalls we’ll face if we don’t get certain things right now. 

My focus will be on building the foundations that allow us to scale into new markets and integrate new consultancies effectively, efficiently, and successfully.

What was it about Apadmi's culture, vision or opportunities that made you feel now is the right time to join as Global CMO?

This is a pivotal moment for the business and the ambition and energy here are palpable. With further acquisitions planned this year, 20% revenue growth forecast for 2026, and new enterprise clients coming on board, there’s real momentum. I feel fortunate to have been brought in to add firepower to our global growth ambitions.

As we scale, it’s vital we protect what makes the business special: our culture. It really matters, as you can’t build a credible global brand without real substance behind it. Apadmi’s culture is ambitious but grounded. There’s confidence without ego, and genuine pride in the work delivered for clients.

Our 92% employee retention rate speaks volumes. In a fiercely competitive industry where retention typically hovers around 70%, that’s significant. People here are happy, bought into the vision, and committed to doing the best work of their careers.

The Global CMO role is a completely new role at Apadmi - what has driven the need for this role, and what does 'global' look like in the near future for Apadmi? 

The role exists because Apadmi has outgrown a local mindset. There’s a proven track record of mobile expertise, and the clients, talent, and delivery excellence are already in place. What’s needed now is a sharper global story and a marketing engine built for scale. That’s where I will be focused.

We’re already working with international brands, but the way we tell our story, build awareness, and generate demand needs to match that reality. The Global CMO role brings cohesion, with one vision, one strategy, one plan, and one standard of excellence, adapted locally where it matters.

In the near term, “global” doesn’t mean everywhere at once. It means being intentional,  prioritising key markets, and showing up consistently, whether someone meets Apadmi in Manchester, Amsterdam, Colombo, or New York.

What are you most excited to get stuck into in your first 6-12 months at Apadmi? 

There are three main things that I can’t wait to get my hands on. Firstly, building the team and operating model to support our ambition. Great marketing comes from strong foundations, shared goals, and the space to do great work properly. 

Second is sharpening the brand. Apadmi does exceptional work, but we can be clearer and bolder about what sets us apart, especially in new markets.

Third, welcoming new consultancies into the group and ensuring smooth marketing onboarding and integration. That will also mark our entry into new markets and, potentially, new regions. 

Mobile experience is at the core of what Apadmi does - what do you feel is the next big opportunity in mobile, and how are you planning to position Apadmi to lead in that space? 

From my perspective, the next big opportunity in mobile is the shift from reactive apps to predictive, AI-native experiences. For the past decade, mobile has been about optimising journeys, reducing friction, improving UX, and refining flows. The next step isn’t better screens; it’s fewer screens. The companies that will win in mobile over the next five years won’t just have better apps, they'll have adaptive, anticipatory ones.

AI will be baked directly into apps in a way that allows them to anticipate intent and orchestrate actions, removing the need for users to manually navigate. The winning mobile experiences will move from “tap and scroll” interfaces to proactive systems that understand context (location, time, behaviour patterns, preferences etc), and act on the user’s behalf. So instead of opening an app to ‘do something’, the app already knows what you’re likely to need.

Predictive intent modelling will use behavioural data and contextual signals to surface the right action at the right moment. Agentic workflows will seamlessly complete multi-step tasks (booking, reordering, resolving service issues etc.), rather than simply responding to prompts. The goal is helping users achieve outcomes with minimal conscious effort.

Apadmi is already setting the standard for the mobile industry. We sit at the intersection of mobile product, data, and platform engineering, with the skills and expertise to deliver complex, enterprise-grade solutions. From AI-native product design to deep integrations and outcome-led transformation, we have the strategic and technical capability to turn future trends into present-day reality.

Join us in welcoming Mellissa to the team!

Looking to unlock Apadmi’s growing global expertise? Get in touch today - our experts would love to learn more about your mobile ambition.