Author: Hannah Wehrly

Imagination's Jo Ashford - Marketing Expert Interview

As part of our Marketing expert series, we interviewed Jo Ashford, Technology Communications Manager at Imagination. Similar to our previous interviews, we asked a variety of questions, to learn everything we could about our latest marketing expert. 

• What do you like to do in your spare time (hobbies)?

I’m a keen baker in my spare time, something which my colleagues, friends and family seem to appreciate. I’d say cupcakes and macaroons are my specialties. I also like going to the gym (probably a good thing considering the baking), photography, cocktails and shopping. Possibly not in that order or as standalone activities/hobbies!

• What food do you like?

Everything except sprouts, swede and oysters! I’m a total foodie and I’ll try everything once, except for Chicken feet. When I was in China I just couldn’t bring myself to try them, even if they do go well with beer!

• What other career would you have chosen if you weren’t in marketing?

If I had my time again, I’d probably do something more creative such as photography. I love capturing moments with my camera, whether it’s the Northern Lights in Iceland or my friend’s kids playing in the garden. I think it would be an interesting career, exposing you to lots of cultures, adventures and experiences.

We then asked Jo to share her future thoughts and insights on marketing, asking her questions surrounding effective campaigns, marketing challenges, and the main activity she would spend an increased budget on. 

• What do you think have been the biggest changes to B2B marketing in the past 3 years?

From my perspective, I don’t think looking back at just the last three years highlights how much things have changed in the world of PR, you must go back further to understand the true evolution that has taken place.

1. Increased channels. One of the biggest changes in B2B PR is the number of channels that we can now communicate to our audience through. While still highly influential, the media no longer controls everything. Today brands adopted a strategy that embraces both owned and paid media.
2. Measurement. When I started out in PR Advertising Equivalent (AEV) was used in all reports when highlighting our successes to clients, along with the volume of press clients. Today, it is a completely different world (and that’s a good thing). Personally, I’m intrigued to see how measuring sentiment will evolve as no one seems to have cracked it yet.
3. Social media. Can you imagine a world without Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn? Like them or loathe them, social media has changed the face of PR, providing a platform for companies to engage with their audiences, while building awareness, credibility and trust. Social media provides a way for customers to directly speak to brands, as well as acting as a targeting tool. A massive game changer in my opinion.

• What do you think will be the biggest change in the way you approach your campaigns in the next 3 years?

1. Will press releases still have a role in campaigns?
2. Content amplifications will become more critical
3. Better campaign measurement will mean more effective campaigns

• What are your 3 biggest marketing challenges?

1. Budget. Marketers always seem to be trying to do more with less. Sadly, I don’t think this will ever change as budgets will always be squeezed BUT on the positive side, I do think it breeds creativity.
2. Measuring ROI. Tracking the ROI of every singly marketing activity isn’t always easy or possible.
3. Reaching customers in a meaningful way. Today audiences are exposed to so much noise it can be hard to cut above the rest and deliver meaningful information that resonates with them on a one-to-one level and ultimately, converts leads into sales.

• Describe the future of the trade media - will it thrive or do you think there are problems ahead?

The debate about the future of media in the digital age has often been dominated by the fate of national newspapers. I believe often the future of trade magazines has been absent from the discussion.  Many assume that, “if the nationals can’t make it, what hope is there for trade magazines?”

While it’s difficult to generalise about the future of trade magazines because each sector has its own unique set of challenges and opportunities, I do think they have a future. I believe that trade magazines are well placed to identify their respective niches and utilise them. It comes down to how Editors package their offering while ensuring they are profitable businesses.  Quality editorial is not enough, sadly.

• What is the most over-hyped marketing tactic?

Mobile marketing. While mobile devices have grown massively in popularity in the last few years, it doesn’t mean that traditional PCs will become obsolete in the next few years. Desktops still serve some important purposes and have advantages that cannot be matched by devices with smaller screens. It’s crucial that businesses understand this and don’t get swept away by the idea that mobile devices and mobile advertising are the absolute future of online marketing. While it’s good to have a responsive website that can be viewed equally well on all devices, it’s important that business don’t put all their efforts into a mobile website. At least for the foreseeable future, users on devices of all shapes and sizes will be checking out your website.

• What was the best campaign you've run?

The campaign that I’m most proud of was for Sensus, who were bidding for the GB smart meter programme. Compared to the likes of Vodafone and O2, they were considerably smaller in terms of budget but their product was better. However, they had limited experience in EMEA. I developed key messaging that appealed to all the audiences involved in the decision-making process, playing on Sensus’ strengths and highlighting the weaknesses of their competitors. The campaign lasted five years and resulted in Sensus winning one of the three regions that were up for grabs. That was a good day in the office.

• If there is one thing you could change about the electronics press, what would it be?

To be honest, nothing. I know that sounds like a rubbish answer but they are a nice bunch and so far, they have been easy to work to. Ultimately, if do my job properly and get them interesting and timely news then all will be fine.

• If there was one thing you could change about how agencies work with you, what would it be?

Having been agency side for several years before going in house, my advice would be simple. Make the client’s life easier, don’t add to their workload but make it lighter. Make yourself invaluable so that your client can’t live without you and they’ll love you forever.

• How important will social media be for your campaigns in the next 3-5 years?

Social media is very important to our campaigns at Imagination and that’s only going to increase. For me, I see social media as a more informal way of engaging with customers and prospects and educating them on who we are and what we’re doing. If they have a question, they can ask us directly and get an honest and informative answer. I see that being more important in the coming years.

• If you could get more budget, what activity would you spend it on?

Video content. Yes, content is still king but the kind of content the rules the web is changing. People are busy and don’t always have time to read a 1500-word opinion article or whitepaper. Let’s make life easier and give them more digestible content that they can consume when they like, on any device that they like. Let’s tell a story that can come to life through visuals and truly catch their attention.

by Hannah Wehrly

Niroshan Rajadurai - The Second in Our Series of Marketing Expert Interviews

Niroshan Rajadurai, Executive Vice President of EMEA and ANZ at Vector Software, is the second interviewee in our marketing expert series. From his 3 biggest marketing challenges to his favourite hobby, we wanted to learn everything about our latest marketing expert.

1. What do you like to do in your spare time (hobbies)?

I enjoy playing cricket, reading business and technology literature and playing the Trumpet.

2. What music do you like?

My favourite type of music is Jazz, this is influenced by my interest in brass instruments.

3. What other career would you like to have chosen if you weren't in marketing?

It is an interesting question. Marketing is something that became essential as part of my day to day role. My original background was in Electrical & Electronics Engineer and Computer Science. The industry I work in today uses these skill sets. What I discovered early on when I worked as an engineer is that selling and marketing are essential skills both externally to a business and internally to your management. I think irrespective of any career path, marketing is a critical skill, and with the innovation taking place in digital marketing right now, my back ground and modern marketing are merging together. As a child, aeroplanes and robotics/AI always interested me. If I wasn't doing what I was doing today, I would be more involved in the technology in robotics/AI and it's modern day applications.

We then asked for Niroshan 's insights, opinions and expertise into marketing, to help us understand how marketing has developed and changed over the years, especially with reference to Vector Software. We asked him:

4. What do you think have been the biggest changes to B2B marketing in the past 3 years?

There has been an evolution in digital marketing and business intelligence services from that digital marketing data. Most CIOs no longer see "digital marketing" as a separate operation within the marketing team, it's now an integral part and channel for pushing messaging. The use of marketing analytics tools also help identify in real time the ROI on campaigns. An upcoming challenge is the growing trend of AdBlocking which continues to challenge how digital marketing techniques will evolve over time.

5. What do you think will be the biggest change in the way you approach your campaigns in the next 3 years?

Self enablement for the end customer. We continue to notice the speed at which decisions are made continues to get shorter and shorter in our industry. Our goal is to drive our value through thought leadership, and have our website be a way of disseminating that thought leadership into a focused solution that the customer can quickly and easily identify, evaluate and procure. Part of self enablement could also extend into areas of live chat (seen now on some websites), but could extend to the application of digital intelligence and automation, with further integration into intelligent assistants (e.g. Siri/Cortana/Alexis, etc). Imagine, "Alexis, can you tell me what the current trends in DevOps are for mobile application development."

6. What are your 3 biggest marketing challenges?

The first one is staying fresh and innovative. It is important to be on top of the research and new trends in the industry. There is a large volume of data that we consume as an organisation to stay on top of industry trends.

The second one is finding new and meaningful ways to engage with clients and customers.

The third one is to stand out from the crowd. Why are we different to our competitors, and the rest of the buzz around major topics.

7. Describe the future of the trade media - will it thrive or do you think there are problems ahead?

To simplify society, there are two different generations in play at the moment, one is more comfortable with printed news and the other, is happy to get content through digital sources with succinct delivery.

The challenge with a periodically trade media, for instance, is that there is a lag between news occurring and it being published… This leads to a staleness in the news, which becomes old news (as it has been covered in others channels) once it reaches the reader. So, the challenge is to find a way to add value to printed news. The information needs to be solution-based, unique and perhaps driving thought leadership.

8. What do you think is the most effective and least effective marketing activity you, or your company, undertakes (in terms of ROI)?

The most effective marketing activity is problem-solving based webinars.

The least effective marketing activity is trade show (except for a few countries). It is difficult to get people there, as they have no time to come.

9. What is the most over-hyped marketing tactic?

Traditional paid advertising. When it comes to generating leads and filling the ales funnel, traditional outbound marketing tactics -- where marketers push their message out far and wide in the hopes that it'll resonate, it  isn't as effective as it used to be.

10. What was the best campaign you've run?

Problem-solving based webinars. This resulted in a 20 time increase in the number of people participating and follow on engaging with us.

11. What is the worst campaign you've run/tell us about a time when a campaign went wrong?

We found that 'widget' or 'feature' based webinars provided no context to our customers and prospects. They were poorly attended and very often attendees misunderstood what the goal of the technology that was to be presented was supposed to be.

12. If there is one thing you could change about the electronics press, what would it be?

To go to the next level, more value needs to be added to the content. The electronics press should create communities to encourage idea and thought exchange. An interesting trend we have noticed is that PodCasts are growing in popularity.

13. If there was one thing you could change about how agencies work with you, what would it be?

I have a good relationship with Napier. When I first asked Dave to create content for us, which can be challenging as we are an engineering company, he was patient and provided guidance. This resulted in an evolution for us. So, there is nothing that I don’t like. Agencies need to continue to add value, to challenge us in the way we approach marketing. I am very happy with Napier.

The only thing they could do in the future would be to act more enterprising. They could take control of broader industry challenges and problems and harmonise all of the key players in addressing the challenge, just like a project manager would.

14. Can you explain how you define and measure success for your campaigns?

We define success through people’s attendance and engagement with our content. Ultimately we can trace revenue back to campaigns we do, so from a business perspective this is the ultimate ROI. We use tools like Act-On and Sales Force to measure these KPIs.

15. How important will social media be for your campaigns in the next 3-5 years?

It's hard to tell. Social media in the traditional sense is over saturated in content. However data contained in Social Media could enable better content delivery to be targeted at individuals. Trends change so quickly, 3-5 years is a very long time away. Decision Engines are growing in popularity and generation one technology in this area is showing promise. Social Media may help drive better decision engines for content delivery to the end prospect/user.

16. If there was one wish you could make to improve your company's marketing activities, what would it be?

To continue to be strategic by finding new ways and methods to improve strategic thinking within our customers and prospects.

17. If you could get more budget, what activity would you spend it on?

I would spend it on intelligent social media. We would use it to understand what a person needs and find ways to engage with them.

Have you read our first marketing expert interview with David Wright from Microchip? Click here to read the full interview. 

by Hannah Wehrly