In performance marketing, there’s no room for the weak. Every campaign competes for attention, every euro spent needs to outperform the competition and only the fittest strategies survive. Ronja Pohjavirta has spent over 10 years proving she belongs at the top of the food chain: from being the first employee for a neobank’s new market opening in Finland to leading Draivi’s performance marketing through one of the most competitive landscapes in fintech — where Draivi has been recognized as a Top 20 Fintech Company in Finland for three consecutive years. Now she’s taken on an even bigger arena as our Head of Performance Marketing, ensuring Draivi stays the fittest.
Ronja brings over 10 years of digital marketing expertise across different industries and maturity levels. She’s built high-performing teams, managed multi-market campaigns and turned data into decisive action. At Draivi for nearly three years (primarily focused on Finland) she stepped into this broader role in September after returning from parental leave. The role is designed to accelerate cross-market collaboration, knowledge sharing and stronger results across all of Draivi’s operations.
“This isn’t just a new role. It’s how we make sure performance marketing scales with the company.”
From Silos to Synergy: Building Better Collaboration Across Markets
For Ronja, this role represents a significant evolution from her previous focus.
“What excites me most is the opportunity to work across multiple markets and with many different people. My previous role was mainly focused on Finland, which naturally limited collaboration with other markets. I genuinely enjoy helping out, solving problems and finding solutions when they’re needed.”
Each of Draivi’s markets operates with its own characteristics and challenges. That diversity drives innovation, but it can also create friction: for example, insights discovered in one market don’t automatically reach another and teams sometimes reinvent solutions that already exist elsewhere.
Ronja’s mission? Turn that friction into fuel.
“This role is especially exciting because every market has its own characteristics and challenges, which makes the work both varied and rewarding.”
Bringing Structure Without Losing Flexibility
With over a decade of experience in media buying and digital marketing, Ronja has learned to recognize patterns.
“That experience has taught me to recognize patterns: what tends to scale well, what usually breaks as teams grow and where organizations often get stuck,” she explains. “My goal is to bring more structure and shared best practices to media buying across Draivi, while still leaving room for local market insights and experimentation.”
Her immediate focus: building clear frameworks that enable better collaboration.
“Right now, my main focus is on building clear frameworks that enable better collaboration between markets and teams. This includes shared ways of working, clearer ownership models and ensuring that knowledge flows more easily across the organization. The aim is to reduce silos without losing the flexibility each market needs to succeed.”
But structure without autonomy kills creativity. Ronja is careful to preserve that balance.
“My experience has taught me that in performance marketing there are often many different paths to reaching the same goals. That’s why it’s important to preserve the freedom for teams and individuals to shape their own ways of working in the way they see as most effective.”
A Clear Goal: Faster Learning, Better Scaling
When asked about concrete improvements she wants to see within the next 6-12 months, Ronja doesn’t hesitate.
“One concrete improvement I want to see is a more unified way of planning, evaluating and learning from our media buying efforts across markets. When insights travel faster and decisions are made based on shared learnings, we can move quicker, avoid repeating mistakes, and scale what works much more efficiently.”
That’s the difference between growing linearly and growing exponentially, and Ronja knows how to drive that transformation.
From New Market Opening to Marketing Leader: A Career Built on Curiosity
Ronja’s path to this role wasn’t a straight line; it was shaped by curiosity and calculated risks.
“Looking back, the most valuable thing I’ve gained from my earlier roles is a deep sense of curiosity and a relentless drive to learn,” she reflects. “I’ve never been comfortable just doing things ‘the way they’ve always been done’ – I genuinely enjoy digging deeper and constantly challenging myself to grow and improve.”
Her defining early moment? Taking a risk that most wouldn’t.
“One pivotal moment was taking the risk of becoming the first employee at Northmill Finland. I quickly found myself helping with everything from customer service to marketing. That experience taught me to stay curious and open to new opportunities, which has strongly shaped my career path.”
That foundation in financial services performance marketing, one of the most competitive arenas in digital marketing, gave her an edge. But staying there would have been the comfortable choice.
“Another important moment was deciding to leave Northmill. Working at a bank was an excellent foundation, especially since performance marketing in finance is highly competitive, but stepping outside that environment helped me broaden my perspective.”
The move to Draivi wasn’t random. Ronja and CEO Ville Kymäläinen had worked intensively together during their Northmill days, building mutual trust and a shared way of thinking. When the opportunity came to reunite and channel Ronja’s systematic approach into Draivi, first in Finland and now across all markets, it was a natural next step.
For Ronja, the best growth comes from variety.
“I’ve learned that the best ideas often come from mixing and matching insights from different industries, channels and ways of working. Combining best practices from unexpected places has shaped how I think and work today, and I know I wouldn’t be as fulfilled if I had limited my career to a single environment or way of doing things.”
When asked if this kind of role was something she consciously aimed for, her answer reflects her approach to career development.
“It evolved quite naturally. I’ve always been driven by curiosity and a desire to move toward things that genuinely excite me. Rather than aiming for a specific title, I’ve focused on developing myself and being open to new opportunities. My general career advice would be to stay curious, be open-minded and follow the opportunities that pull you forward.”
The Future of Media Buying: Back to Basics, Powered by AI
AI, automation, algorithm changes: performance marketing is being transformed by technology. But Ronja believes the fundamentals matter more than ever.
“In some ways, it feels like we’re going back to basics. As more processes become automated, especially with the help of AI, the fundamentals of good marketing become even more important: understanding your audience, having a clear value proposition, strong creatives and knowing what you’re actually trying to achieve with your campaigns.”
Technology changes how campaigns run. It doesn’t replace judgment.
“Automation changes how we execute, but it doesn’t replace the need for clear thinking, strong prioritization, and solid strategy.”
Looking ahead 3-5 years, she sees complexity increasing, not decreasing.
“The biggest trends aren’t tied to individual platforms, but to how we combine automation, data and human judgment. Media buying is becoming more complex, not simpler, which means teams need broader skill sets and stronger collaboration. At Draivi, we’re preparing for this by investing in people, shared processes and a culture where continuous learning and adaptation are part of everyday work.” It’s a strategy that’s taken Draivi from a Nordic startup to eight international markets and counting.
The challenge? Modern media buying requires expertise across multiple domains simultaneously.
“One of the biggest challenges is that successful media buying today requires expertise in multiple areas at the same time: data, creatives, platforms, regulation and business understanding. The opportunity lies in bringing these perspectives together instead of optimizing in isolation. My role at Draivi is to help connect these dots and ensure teams don’t operate in silos.”
Making Bold Decisions with Imperfect Data
In performance marketing, waiting for perfect information means falling behind. Ronja has learned to balance analysis with action.
“I always start by double-checking the numbers and making sure the fundamentals are sound. But at some point, you need to trust your experience and make a decision. In high-stakes situations, waiting for perfect data can lead to decision paralysis, which slows development and puts you behind.” This approach has driven real results — like Draivi’s recent Meta campaign in Germany, which achieved a 39% increase in completed registrations by combining data-driven targeting with decisive action.
Her philosophy? Data should enable decisions, not prevent them.
“That’s why I believe it’s important to have the courage to act, sometimes quickly, and be willing to make bold moves when needed. Data should support decisions, not prevent them.”
Why Draivi? Trust, Ownership and Real Impact
After nearly three years at Draivi, Ronja knows exactly what makes it different.
“What truly makes Draivi a great place to work is how responsibility and freedom go hand in hand. You’re trusted with real ownership early on, but you’re also given the freedom to decide how to get results. That combination creates a strong sense of accountability while still allowing people to work in ways that suit them best, which is both motivating and empowering.”
The culture is built on trust and continuous development.
“Draivi’s culture is built around trust, ownership and continuous development. People are given responsibility early on, but also the freedom to figure out how to succeed. For new employees, this means steep learning curves, real impact from day one, and constant opportunities to grow if you’re willing to take initiative.”
The pace, the people, and the stakes keep her engaged.
The people, the agile way of working and operating in a high-stakes industry: these are what make Draivi the right place for me. I genuinely enjoy working with the team, making fast decisions, and knowing that what we do really matters in a highly competitive financial environment.
More Responsibility, More Trust: Leading After Parental Leave
Returning from parental leave to step into an expanded leadership role isn’t the typical story. But at Draivi, it is.
“Personally, it felt great. More importantly, I felt extremely proud to be working at a company that can offer increased responsibility in this kind of situation. Unfortunately, that’s still not a given in today’s work environment.”
For Ronja, this reflects something deeper about Draivi’s values.
“I’m proud to work at a company that supports personal development both in your career and outside of it, because those areas of life can’t be fully separated.”
It’s about trust and evaluation based on what matters.
“To me, it shows that Draivi genuinely trusts its people and evaluates them based on competence and potential, not circumstances. Leadership here understands that strong careers and full lives outside of work can coexist, and that supporting both ultimately builds more committed and motivated teams.”
What’s Next: Scaling Performance Marketing Across Draivi
With Ronja leading the charge, Draivi is building a more connected, more intelligent approach to performance marketing: one that multiplies learnings across markets instead of duplicating effort.
Her focus is clear: create frameworks that accelerate knowledge sharing, improve cross-market collaboration, and help every team make better decisions faster.
The goal isn’t perfection. It’s momentum and sustainable growth built on shared intelligence.
Draivi is not a place to hide, but it’s a great place to grow if you enjoy responsibility and challenges. You’re expected to perform, but you’re given everything you need to succeed: trust, resources and brilliant people around you.
– Ronja Pohjavirta, Head of Performance Marketing
Ready to Join the Team?
Performance marketing at Draivi isn’t about following playbooks: it’s about writing new ones. We’re looking for curious, data-driven marketers who thrive in high-impact environments where decisions move fast and results matter.
If that sounds like you, we’d love to hear from you. Check out our open positions or learn more about what it’s like to work at Draivi.