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MASTERS OF MARKETING 2019
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INTRODUCTION Digital marketing is a vital component for any organisation looking to target and engage customers successfully in a global marketplace. When businesses communicate with their core audience on different platforms using various digital and technological tools, it can have a significant impact on a company’s revenues. Digital marketing strategies can be cost-effective ways to understand and connect with customers better, improve metrics and boost conversion rates effectively. It also offers the potential to be as creative as possible when interacting with customers and sharing brand values. The role of a digital marketeer requires wearing several hats such as viewing scenarios from customers’ perspective, taking quick decisions, implementing innovative strategies, adapting to ever evolving landscape and most of all, being able to show the results for marketing spends. They have to manage expectations of all stakeholders and always be prepared to solve challenges. Although it is a critical role at every organisation, the amount of efforts that go behind a digital marketing strategy is often overlooked, especially as it is difficult to measure the success. CXO Insight Middle East profiles 25 leading digital marketing managers who are the faces of the companies they represent and diligently work beyond their call of duty to ensure customers have seamless experiences across platforms. Read on to know what makes this high-calibre set of executives stand out from the ordinary.
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CONTENTS 06
Abrar Khan GBM
14
Mallika Sharma Exclusive Networks ME
23
Sandra Skairjeh Micro Focus
07
Akshat Gaur Redington Gulf
15
Manal Abi Rafeh Fortinet
24
Sandrine Prat R&M
08
Ankush Mehra Zebra Technologies Europe Limited
16
Nagham Halabi Veeam Software
25
Sangeeta Priyadarshini Zoho Corporation
09
Avinash Kagava Zoho Corporation
17
Natasha Kasliwal Nutanix
26
Santosh Pania Aruba, A HPE Company
10
Diana El Kara Sage ME
18
Neethu Antony Paul Epicor
27
Shafiya Samreen Raqmiyat
11
Hassan Hamadani Pure Storage
19
Nicole Glanzer NetApp
28
Sonali Basu Roy Bulwark Technologies
12
Lena Halbourian Citrix
20
Nikita Kandath CommScope
29
Thoraya El Ghawi VMware
13
Lucian Lupascu Bitdefender
21
Radwa Hassan Hitachi
30
Yasmin Khaliq Equinix
22
Samantha Carter Infor
A special supplement by
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ABRAR KHAN
The biggest challenge for a digital marketeer: Digital marketeers are at the intersection of the brand and the customer. In order to succeed in the role, we must be entrepreneurial across the board—not only in strategic thinking but in developing a unique skillset.
Digital and Portfolio Marketing Manager, GBM A MOTIVATING QUOTE YOU LIVE BY:
Attributes that make you a digital marketeer: Digital marketeers have the most entrepreneurial jobs in marketing. Passion and the ability to sell an idea are crucial. What makes a great digital marketeer though is the ability to act and think independently, balance strategy, creativity and analytical thinking. A digital marketing strategy for a company in 2020 must include: an emphasis on testing and constant learning will continue to be crucial in the coming year. Innovation is important because the digital landscape is always changing. Can you elaborate on the importance of customer engagement in the digital era? With the instant and vast visibility of digital platforms, how you engage with a customer can make or break a brand. Keeping the customer engaged with relevant and timely content is the key to any successful brand. Two biggest digital trends impacting the marketing landscape are: increased use of AI and how consumers are adapting to voice commands.
“ Great things
never came from comfort zones.”
You find inspiration from: meeting new people, going for a swim at the beach or walking around town, it’s always a breath of fresh air How will marketing evolve in the next two years? AI and 5G are going to be the two biggest disruptors in the technological landscape. The widespread adoption of 5G will bring about a number of changes in consumer behaviour and the need for instant responses and hyper personalisation is going to put a lot of pressure on marketeers. However, this is also going to be a good thing, because the digital avenues of communicating with customers are going to increase exponentially.
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Attributes that make you a digital marketeer: Personally, I’ve adopted a digital-first approach to marketing. I look at social media as a primary source for content publishing and consumption rather than an afterthought. It is imperative that you are where most of your customers are – online. I love learning new tools to help optimise my campaigns, give more visibility into what is and what isn’t working. I love reading blogs on marketing and technology, and love experimenting with different kinds of digital campaigns. A digital marketing strategy for a company in 2020 must include: Content creation. I believe the digital marketing strategy of a company should be extremely well linked to their content strategy. You can go a certain distance without creating good quality content and with the right marketing tools but if you can align high quality content with a robust digital strategy then there is no ceiling as to what can be achieved.
AKSHAT GAUR Marketing Manager, Middle East and Africa, Redington Gulf
Can you elaborate on the importance of customer engagement in the digital era? We live in the era of bloggers and influencers, and what does that tell us? People listen to people, not companies. Engaging with your customers (current and potential) is no longer a luxury, it’s a necessity. We have CEOs tweeting and replying to comments on social platforms, and professionals sharing their experience of using certain products on social media, all emphasising the point that the definition of a customer in a traditional sense has changed and you have to engage with your audience on multiple levels to continue to remain in the conversation. Out of sight, out of mind, they say.
A MOTIVATING QUOTE YOU LIVE BY:
“ The determination
to win is the better part of winning.”
DAISAKU IKEDA
Two biggest digital trends impacting the marketing landscape are: Data-driven targeted advertising and Influencer Marketing The biggest challenge for a digital marketeer is: Generating leads which convert You find inspiration from: Travel, books and good meaningful conversations How will marketing evolve in the next two years? Very difficult to predict, however, I feel that the data that companies derive from usage of apps, gated content, permissions on devices, has taken the extent to which companies know their customers to another level. This has helped them create better customer experiences. Marketing will have a key role to play in increasing the company’s understanding of its customers and helping them create such experiences.
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ANKUSH MEHRA Marketing Manager, Middle East & Africa, Zebra Technologies Europe Limited
Attributes that make you a digital marketeer: Skills such as creativity, eagerness to learn, analytical ability and being a team player are all key for digital marketeers. The industry needs to frequently adapt to new strategies and best practices. Marketeers need to always be on their toes and informed about the latest happenings around the world. A digital marketing strategy for a company in 2020 must include: Some key components include marketing automation, E-mail marketing, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), Search Engine Marketing (SEM), which includes pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, social media and mobile marketing, including SMS, content marketing, web analytics, growth hacking and chat bots. Can you elaborate on the importance of customer engagement in the digital era? Using a customer journey map to analyse user behaviour helps an organisation understand how their customers travel through the entire sales process and how they feel during their time there. With constant changes in technology and the new ways in which people buy products or services online, it’s essential to plan and anticipate how a customer will act every step of the way.
A MOTIVATING QUOTE YOU LIVE BY:
“ If you can dream about it, you can do it.”
Two biggest digital trends impacting the marketing landscape are: Marketing automation and Artificial Intelligence in Marketing (BOTS) The biggest challenge for a digital marketeer is: overwhelming Data. Inbound marketing provides you with an extraordinary amount of data. From determining your buyer persona to choosing the most effective method of tracking your ROI, the amount of information that you need to understand and process is seemingly endless. But when done right, it’s possible to track all of this new information. You find inspiration from: Richard Branson. I’m not sure how someone runs 400 plus companies and how he seems to be having the time of his life heading them. He’s been called the definition of success. It’s not because of his net worth, but because of his happy-as-a-kid attitude. I’m not inspired by Branson’s billions – I’m inspired by his joy.
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AVINASH KAGAVA Evangelist, Site24x7, Zoho Corp.
Attributes that make you a digital marketeer: Having the ability of storytelling, and analysing and discerning novelty factors in B2B technology marketing A digital marketing strategy for a company in 2020 must include: Digital experience management. As businesses operate and compete in an experience economy, any digital and non-digital experience should resonate the same organisational values – ideally a feel good and a pleasant engagement. As both digital and non-digital experiences tend to get translated into a digital expression such as social posts. Understanding and managing digital experiences are pivotal to both marketing and growth of an organisation. Can you elaborate on the importance of customer engagement in the digital era? As every element of business is being digitised, businesses will be defined and valued by the contextualised omni-channel experience they provide to their customers. This makes every business touch point a customer engagement avenue.
A MOTIVATING QUOTE YOU LIVE BY:
“ Stay humble,
hustle smart.�
Two biggest digital trends impacting the marketing landscape are: Data analytics and optimisation to bring in accountability and efficiency, and gamification to make customer engagement fun. The biggest challenge for a digital marketeer is: Drawing attention in a fast-moving and a crowded market. You find inspiration from: Interviews and resources on business strategy like The David Rubenstein show, World Economic Forum, Studio1.0 and so on. How will marketing evolve in the next two years? Marketing will be increasingly skewed towards metrics leading to an era of personalised product and services that includes content and experience.
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DIANA EL KARA Marketing Manager, Partners, Alliances and Accountants, Sage ME
Attributes that make you a digital marketeer: Strategic and analytical thinking, adaptability, passion to grow businesses and dedication A digital marketing strategy for a company in 2020 must include: clear goals and metrics, adequate value proposition, focus on customer experience, target audience (buyer persona) data-based tools to measure meaningful results, learn from the past and optimise performance. Can you elaborate on the importance of customer engagement in the digital era? Today, it is proven that highly engaged customers buy and spend much more frequently. Customers’ journey is what dictates today’s marketing strategies. Digitally conscious customers expect relevant content in relation to what they’re doing to be available anytime, anywhere. Two biggest digital trends impacting the marketing landscape are: increased use of Artificial Intelligence, chatbots and personalisation
The biggest challenge for a digital marketeer: is proving business impact and ROI, and the ability to consistently and promptly meet customers’ demands and keep them engaged.
A MOTIVATING QUOTE YOU LIVE BY:
“ If you can dream it, you can do it.”
WALT DISNEY
You find inspiration from: spending quality time with my kids and reading. How will marketing evolve in the next two years? Data will keep emerging as the most valuable asset; Augmented Reality will keep amplifying. Marketeers will be able to run real-time dialogues and connect with their customers who always have an expectation of immediacy.
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Attributes that make you a digital marketeer: I am committed to always learning and honing new skill sets. I also love taking on new challenges and I am not afraid to take risks and experiment. And finally, I am results-oriented, which is vital when it comes to digital marketing. A digital marketing strategy for a company in 2020 must include: a 360-degree approach. This must have a healthy mix of social media, account-based marketing (ABM), email campaigns, search engine optimization (SEO), content marketing and blogging, influencer marketing and targeted online advertising. Can you elaborate on the importance of customer engagement in the digital era? As a vendor, the key to cutting through the noise and being “seen” is offering targeted content that conveys a different message to each customer, depending on their preferences and then continuing to engage with them throughout the buying journey on digital platforms.
HASSAN HAMADANI Senior Marketing Manager, EMEA Emerging, Pure Storage
Two biggest digital trends impacting the marketing landscape are: wider application of AI and algorithms to improve customer segmentation as well as the shift from a broad-brush approach to a more customer-centric accountbased marketing (ABM).
The biggest challenges for a digital marketeer are: securing budgets for digital spend and being able to convince internal stakeholders, specifically sales, of the value of digital marketing. Curating quality and insightful content that speaks to your target audience and can cut through the ‘noise’ is easier said than done.
A MOTIVATING QUOTE YOU LIVE BY:
“ We make our own luck.”
You find inspiration from: People who are truly passionate about what they do and are go-getters — those who are willing to make sacrifices to achieve their goals How will marketing evolve in the next two years? I think we will see an uptick in the application of AI and algorithms for more targeted marketing, specifically via mobile applications. In parallel with this, I expect to see a lot more use of blogs and tailored communication between stakeholders and influencers.
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LENA HALB OURIAN Senior Regional Head of Field Marketing MEA, Citrix
Attributes that make you a digital marketeer: I am proactive and possess the ability to self-start. I find it motivating to find answers and solve challenges. As a marketeer, it is important to be flexible and adapt to evolving trends. I am also a great communicator with strong leadership and analytical thinking skills. A digital marketing strategy for a company in 2020 must include: increased use of social networks, understanding new customers’ buying patterns, personalisation and AI solutions. Can you elaborate on the importance of customer engagement in the digital era? By ensuring positive customer experiences, companies can be sure to retain customers, enjoy more sales and increased loyalty. Organisations are emphasising on digital customer experience to achieve business objectives effectively. A business can significantly cut down on costs and deliver seamless customer experiences by providing digital customer services. Two biggest digital trends impacting the marketing landscape are: use of private messaging and transparency
A MOTIVATING QUOTE YOU LIVE BY:
“ You never know
what someone is going through, be kind always!”
by establishing the company’s core values – being able to take constructive criticism and respond immediately to customers’ concerns. Many companies will start shifting their focus on how to better utilise private messaging apps and instead of using emails, companies are adopting the use of private apps as well as private messaging groups. The challenges for a digital marketeer is: creating a digital marketing strategy and proving business impact and ROI. You find inspiration from: My family, my friends, the people I meet and the different cultures I come across during my travels. I also get inspired by people who have been through a lot but still get up, dress up and show up, no matter what!
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Attributes that make you a digital marketeer: A digital marketer has to be analytical, pattern aware and always curious. Digital marketeers are, at their heart, puzzle solvers who are never satisfied with just the ‘easy solution’. There is always a desire to dig deeper, do better and strive to reach new achievements. A digital marketing strategy for a company in 2020 must include: a customer-centric approach to content, problem-solving and analytics. Digital marketeers have to get out of isolated and data-focused areas and connect with sales, field and customer teams to really understand customer needs and then create a fantastic strategy to help them achieve their goals. Can you elaborate on the importance of customer engagement in the digital era? If a customer has even one negative experience with a brand on a digital platform then that company will have an extraordinarily difficult time gaining them back. Considering that negative news is shared more frequently than positive news and spreads faster and wider, there is a lot to think about when managing ‘how’ and ‘why’ a digital strategy must engage with customers. Two biggest digital trends impacting the marketing landscape are: AI and Machine Learning
LUCIAN LUPASCU Field & Channel Marketing Lead, Bitdefender
The biggest challenge for a digital marketer is: to balance customer demands with the requirements of the company. Often, companies have a
tunnel vision when they think they know what the customer is looking for. Digital marketeers have to take advantage of being able to use statistics, data and analytics to support the message that customers are looking for specific needs in very specific ways. You find inspiration from: Blogs, pop culture, science fiction, colleagues, social media and other companies How will marketing evolve in the next two years? There will be more alignment with sales and products and more reliance on automation. I believe there will be a step back from just producing information to being deliberate with information, supporting data and methods of sharing that data.
A MOTIVATING QUOTE YOU LIVE BY:
“ Take a risk and
keep testing, because what works today won’t work tomorrow, but what worked yesterday may work again.”
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MALLIKA SHARMA Head of Marketing, Exclusive Networks ME
Attributes that make you a digital marketeer: Over the years, I have developed several qualities and skills that have helped me excel in my role as a marketeer. My ability to think unconventionally and adapt to evolving trends is a key attribute. I have strong leadership capabilities and a keen desire to enable people and businesses to grow to the next level. I am self-driven and enjoy finding solutions to challenges. I am as creative as possible when devising effective marketing strategies. A digital marketing strategy for a company in 2020 must include: When an organization is developing its digital marketing strategy for 2020, it must be sure to include these key pillars - Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Pay-Per-Click advertising (PPC), updated website with latest marketing resources, content marketing, social media and email marketing. I believe the emphasis must be on human interactions and differentiating from the noise. Can you elaborate on the importance of customer engagement in the digital era? Tailored and positive communications are critical to help customers have a seamless experience with the brand. They are extremely digital savvy today and organisations must ensure that there are continuous interactions throughout a customer’s journey with them. That being said, nothing beats face-to-face interactions when possible.
A MOTIVATING QUOTE YOU LIVE BY:
“ Don’t let small
minds convince you that your dreams are too big.”
Two biggest digital trends impacting the marketing landscape are: The increasing application of AI and the growth of personalised marketing strategies. The biggest challenge for a digital marketeer is: Showing measurable ROI and working with limited budgets. However, these challenges are also avenues for opportunities. You find inspiration from: self-driven professionals How will marketing evolve in the next two years? We will see the power of data and analytics even more pronounced in marketing strategies over the next couple of years. Data-driven content creation will evolve further. Advanced technologies such as AI, VR, chatbots, etc. will also take the center stage in marketing strategies.
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MANAL ABI RAFEH Senior Field Marketing Manager, MEA, Fortinet
Attributes that make you a digital marketeer: creativity, flexibility, problem-solving ability and competitive nature A digital marketing strategy for a company in 2020 must include: Increased use of Artificial Intelligence Can you elaborate on the importance of customer engagement in the digital era? If a company offers engaging customer experience, it will result in happier patrons, increased sales and reinforced loyalty. Zeroing in on digital customer experiences enables a company to meet its business ambitions. An organisation can enhance customer experiences and shrink costs by providing digital customer services. Two biggest digital trends impacting the marketing landscape are: Marketing Automation and Artificial Intelligence. The biggest challenge for a digital marketeer is: reinventing through digital transformation as a new peak of technology development comes our way, and our lives are gradually transformed because of it.
A MOTIVATING QUOTE YOU LIVE BY:
“ Make your life
a masterpiece, imagine no limitations on what you can be, have or do.�
You find inspiration from: my family, which is the beginning of life and a source of never-ending love. How will marketing evolve in the next two years? While data science, machine learning and AI will continue to come to the forefront of marketing, we will increasingly see organisations collaborating to share data that can help machines and AI systems to learn, analyse and act on insights.
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NAGHAM HALABI Field Marketing Manager, Veeam Software
Attributes that make you a digital marketeer: A constant hunger to learn, problem solving attitude, creativity and collaborative nature A digital marketing strategy for a company in 2020 must include: Great content since ‘Content is King’. Besides being informative, content should be entertaining in order to engage the audience. Video content is critical. If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is worth at least a million. It is important to also use tools that allow you to send personalized emails. Marketeers should also consider using AI, which will become even more popular in the years to come. Can you elaborate on the importance of customer engagement in the digital era? Frequent and high-quality interactions between a company and its customers through digital marketing campaigns can build loyalty and shape the way customers perceive the brand. Customer trust is a critical competitive advantage in the digital world and having a trusted digital platform can be very rewarding. Two biggest digital trends impacting the marketing landscape are: Artificial Intelligence and the use of Marketing Technology (Martech).
The biggest challenge for a digital marketeer is: improving the impact of marketing programmes. There is so much ‘white noise’ in social media today that customers are distracted and overwhelmed which means that it’s that much harder to get their attention.
A MOTIVATING QUOTE YOU LIVE BY:
“ Marketing is really just about sharing your passion.”
MICHAEL HYATT
You find inspiration from: The company I work for. Veeam is at the cutting edge of technology innovation and this inspires me to be constantly creative and innovative in my marketing strategies How will marketing evolve in the next two years? The speed at which technology is advancing and changing has made crafting a compelling, sales-driving digital marketing strategy more challenging, creating the need for business owners and marketers to constantly adapt and evolve. Artificial intelligence, influencer marketing and SEO will dominate the online marketing space. Customers expect a fully personalized experience online and their expectations will change faster than marketers can keep up with.
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Attributes that make you a digital marketeer: In today’s ever-changing digital age, flexibility and adaptability is key.
NATASHA KASLIWAL Marketing Manager, METI Nutanix
A MOTIVATING QUOTE YOU LIVE BY:
A digital marketing strategy for a company in 2020 must include: SEO optimization, increase downloadable content, video creation on our existing and future products and customers’ stories, more targeted EDM and constant social engagement as well as funnel marketing
“ Either you run
Can you elaborate on the importance of customer engagement in the digital era? In today’s digitally aware world, customer engagement is the key to success. A basic strategy through one particular channel is no longer enough. A client has to be connected across multiple channels today, whether it’s an online campaign or even an offline activity; pre and post digital engagement is must to ensure a 360 connection with customers. With the help of latest AI solutions available now, one can keep constant touch with their customers right from the time they start researching until the end of the buying cycle.
The biggest challenge for a digital marketeer is: to be always updated with the growing trends. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is not affecting our region yet, but many companies are taking initiative to comply and get ready as it will be enforced sooner or later.
Two biggest digital trends impacting the marketing landscape are: Omnichannel strategy – setting up various marketing touchpoints, which reinforce each other to ease customers through their buying journey, and Artificial Intelligence in marketing automation through machine learning.
the day, or the day runs you.”
You find inspiration from: my sevenand-half-month-old daughter, who inspires me every day to adapt to change and be a better person. How will marketing evolve in the next two years? In the next two years, most of the emphasis will be on AI and machine learning; as until now data was not utilised to its efficiency.
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Attributes that make you a digital marketeer: I am a strategic thinker who loves working with people, processes and technologies and evaluating impact of the latest trends in these. I am an eternal student who is obsessed with learning about the latest market trends, technologies and how people engage with them. I enjoy experimenting with and adapting to new ideas and critically analyse its outcomes; moreover I welcome opportunities to collaborate with people and leverage off and learn from their experiences. A digital marketing strategy for a company in 2020 must include: addressing the customers’ buying journey using an omnichannel approach: as marketeers, it is important to be able to identify what stage a customer is at, and successfully curating the content they receive based on this stage creating a personalised experience on the different touchpoints they engage with us on. Can you elaborate on the importance of customer engagement in the digital era? Engaged customers drive revenue, this is a renowned fact and no matter how big or small a business is -your customers are the most important factor for you. Engagements with customers can help foster trust, customer loyalty, boost retention rate, and win a great brand ambassador. Two biggest digital trends impacting the marketing landscape are: AI Marketing and chatbots
A MOTIVATING QUOTE YOU LIVE BY:
“ My mission in
life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.” MAYA ANGELOU
The biggest challenge for a digital marketeer is: Personalisation remains key to the marketing success of many organisations. Getting ‘personalisation’ embedded into the marketing operation model is crucial and getting it right is critical for every marketeer. You find inspiration from: Daily life – my interactions with people, nature, work, children, books and prayer. How will marketing evolve in the next two years? I believe Internet of Things (IoT) will continue to transform the marketing landscape and enable more of data driven marketing. There will be a greater focus on personalisation, optimisation of MarTech stacks and technology usage such AI and Chatbots in order to optimise campaigns and generate better ROI on marketing spend. Data will remain the most valuable asset and content will always be king.
NEETHU ANTONY PAUL Senior Manager, International Campaigns, EMEA & APAC, Epicor
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NICOLE GLANZER Marketing Manager Middle East, NetApp
Attributes that make you a digital marketeer: Always being on top of digital trends, curiosity for innovation and openness to change. A digital marketing strategy for a company in 2020 must include: Every strategy needs to include and leverage the full customer journey. On top of this, digital touchpoints should be tailored to individual needs. Can you elaborate on the importance of customer engagement in the digital era? I believe customer engagement is key. We need to listen to the customer even more and interact accordingly. In addition, we should aim for a continuous and personalised dialogue instead of overwhelming customers with generic messages. Two biggest digital trends impacting the marketing landscape are: Intelligent personalisation and advanced analytics, both of which are linked to Artificial Intelligence and automation. The biggest challenge for a digital marketeer is: Keeping up with the fast evolution of customer behaviour. For marketeers, it opens up new possibilities on the one hand, but also brings challenges on the other.
A MOTIVATING QUOTE YOU LIVE BY:
“ You can solve big problems with a small smile.”
You find inspiration from: Music How will marketing evolve in the next two years? Customers’ decision making will continue to evolve and so marketeers must delve deeper into buying behaviours for impactful marketing. It will be about learning and responding to current individual needs of customers. There is no doubt that digital marketing will be at the forefront, and well-thought out campaigns will provide customers with the right information at the very moment they need it – anytime, anywhere. Interests and requirements are changing quickly, and marketeers will need to adapt quickly and steadily rethink strategies. Let’s embrace the digital evolution.
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NIKITA KANDATH Regional Marketing Manager MEA, CommScope Attributes that make you a digital marketeer: Being a self-starter and an innovator, I love to think out-of-the-box and try out new things; having effective communication skills; the ability to balance strategy with my creative interests and analytical skills and finally, the desire to learn more and keep up with the changing trends. A digital marketing strategy for a company in 2020 must include: the right content based on your customer needs that supports your business goals and objectives. More personalisation must be incorporated to better connect with your audiences. Implementing the right analytical and automation tools to measure your ROI and better utilise your investments is another critical factor. Can you elaborate on the importance of customer engagement in the digital era? It is very important to listen to your customer requirements based on their changing digital habits. The only way to grab your customer’s attention is to create multiple digital touchpoints to constantly interact with them to identify their needs and then tailor making your solutions to match that need. Therefore, a great customer experience will produce more customers, more sales, and more loyalty. Biggest digital trends impacting the marketing landscape are: Artificial Intelligence, Virtual/Augmented Reality and programmatic advertising.
The biggest challenge for a digital marketeer is: keeping up with the fast-changing trends and the upsurge in technology platforms supporting marketing and breaking into a cluttered market. The key is to create better customer experiences.
A MOTIVATING QUOTE YOU LIVE BY:
“ Be the change you want to see in the world.� MAHATMA GANDHI
You find inspiration from: My family, my cohorts in the industry, trying out new things and taking up challenges, exploring new trends by listening to podcasts and industry videos and reading How will marketing evolve in the next two years? I believe AI will control marketing as high-tech capabilities become more and more mainstream. Advertising will be 100 percent personalised by 2020 as most of the branded content will come from consumers. Technology will become a part of the core fabric of marketing itself.
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Attributes that make you a digital marketeer: Eager to learn and explore all the different modern marketing techniques and use technology to better market my company’s offerings to our customers. Having a growth mindset that keeps me always on a learning journey. I don’t shy away from learning from others or sharing my best practices with peers in the industry. A digital marketing strategy for a company in 2020 must include: more experiential marketing and employer branding. Marketeers need to start exploring their network of Internal Influencers and give their brand a human touch through creating content that has a personal human element. Can you elaborate on the importance of customer engagement in the digital era? Customer engagement/experience is now the heart of any business like never before, because it is tested and measured in real time every second. How your customers engage with your brand, content and offerings sets you apart from your competitors in the market. Two biggest digital trends impacting the marketing landscape are: AI and Influencer Marketing
RADWA HASSAN Regional Marketing Director, Emerging EMEA Markets, Hitachi
The biggest challenge for a digital marketeer is: keeping the focus on what matters and using the right channels to create real value and solid outcomes.
You find inspiration from: observation and reading. I observe good and bad practices to fine tune mine, that I can be inspired by a three-year-old child. Books, text and audio, are also other key sources of inspiration.
A MOTIVATING QUOTE YOU LIVE BY:
“ Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” PETER DRUCKER
Maintaining a healthy and winning culture is as important, if not more than, building the right strategy. How will marketing evolve in the next two years? AI is going to continue evolving and will be featured in almost all the software programs or apps. Hyper Targeting Marketing will increase, as people will become more and more selective to the advertisements they view and click on. Consumers behaviour on social media will be considered more seriously in marketing strategies. Gen-Zers are expected to constitute about 40 percent of all consumers by 2020. That in itself will require a different marketing approach with more focus on video marketing and working with credible and transparent influencers.
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SAMANTHA CARTER Head of Marketing, Middle East & Africa, Infor
Attributes that make you a digital marketeer: Any successful marketeer in 2019 needs to think digital, understand their audience and optimise campaigns to achieve relevant results. I am also agile and adaptable to market evolutions and trends, always keeping the customer at the centre. A digital marketing strategy for a company in 2020 must include: engaging content, that is both, factual and educational, and positions organisations as thoughtleaders. It must also have strong SEO / SEM programmes that are continuously monitored and optimised. Can you elaborate on the importance of customer engagement in the digital era? By the time your buyer has engaged with you, they will have already done research online via google, social media, blogs and Linkedin and so on. So, it is important that you engage your audience with content that addresses their persona and profile. We also need to recognise the different stages of a buyer’s journey and nurture them with content that is relevant. Two biggest digital trends impacting the marketing landscape are: Personalised marketing and long-form content are becoming more popular. Readers are happy to consume larger documents that they perceive to be better researched and more analytical. From a marketeer’s point
of view, it improves SEO efforts as longer content is more google friendly The biggest challenge for a digital marketeer is: GDPR has made it harder to connect directly with the audience via email marketing. Marketeers have to be more creative to connect and influence via social channels, paid and organic search and so on. You find inspiration from: My children as they make you learn new facts every day and keep you motivated to succeed. How will marketing evolve in the next two years? Machine learning and Artificial Intelligence will enable B2B marketers to use customer data to build an ever more complete picture of the individual who they’re trying to target.
A MOTIVATING QUOTE YOU LIVE BY:
“ Your top of the funnel
content must be intellectually divorced from your product but emotionally wed to it.”
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Attributes that make you a digital marketeer: I believe that understanding digital marketing trends over time, the inclusion of technical advancements, and the changing behaviour of one’s target audience is the first step in progressing forward as a digital marketeer. It is important to understand that no digital marketing strategy is successful as a standalone activity. I encourage my marketing team to always look at an ‘integrated marketing strategy’ – basically complimenting all traditional go-to-market activities with a digital and Social Media Marketing approach. A digital marketing strategy for a company in 2020 must include: clear understanding of your company’s goals and objectives for your digital marketing campaign. Also, the content strategy must be defined to deliver value to your target audience to ensure engagement. Can you elaborate on the importance of customer engagement in the digital era? Today’s customer is online when researching products or vendors. He wants relevant information in a click, and he will give his attention for only a few seconds, if that. The onus on today’s marketeer is to provide the consumer with this immediate gratification - the right message, at the right time and in the right place. This isn’t an easy feat but if done successfully, it will guarantee a loyal and returning customer.
A MOTIVATING QUOTE YOU LIVE BY:
“ Always aim for the moon, if you miss it – you might just hit a star.”
Two biggest digital trends impacting the marketing landscape are: Web Search and Influencer Marketing The biggest challenge for a digital marketeer is: There isn’t a lack of options when it comes to digital marketing, however this poses a challenge in picking the right go-tomarket choice with limited digital funds on hand. You find inspiration from: I enjoy reading and watching the biographies of people who have and continue to change the world. Their stories of trials and tribulations against all odds motivate me to push for a goal no matter how steep the incline. How will marketing evolve in the next two years? Digital and Social Media marketing will continue to get more evolved and capture mindshare. Big data analytics will have a huge part to play in this evolution and I believe that strategies like Remarketing and Marketing Automation will lead the way in marketing.
SANDRA SKAIRJEH Head of Marketing, Emerging Markets, Micro Focus
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SANDRINE PRAT Head of Marketing & Communications, R&M Middle East, Turkey & Africa Attributes that make you a digital marketeer: Flexibility, creativity and adaptability, and proactivity. I ensure R&M maintains high exposure across digital channels by posting relevant content such as videos, articles, top news and product brochures daily. I also utilise monthly internal and external newsletters to keep customers and employees constantly updated and engaged with the brand. A digital marketing strategy for a company in 2020 must include: I believe to succeed; the strategy should aim to tell your brand’s story and grab attention while inspiring your target audience. For this, it is essential to ensure your website and social media channels are mobile friendly. Newsletters and digital advertisements will remain relevant to keeping the momentum with customers. In addition, I believe video will play an increasingly important role in supplementing the information made available in flyers and catalogues. Can you elaborate on the importance of customer engagement in the digital era? Even in the digital era, personalisation of customer engagements is critical to building customer loyalty. Digital channels also deliver insight into the complete customer lifecycle, starting from their first visit to your website through to conversion into a long-term customer.
A MOTIVATING QUOTE YOU LIVE BY:
“ Train insane or
remain the same.�
Two biggest digital trends impacting the marketing landscape are: Artificial Intelligence along with influencer and micro influencer marketing The biggest challenge for a digital marketeer is: To always stay creative with the content marketing strategy and regularly and measurably increase traffic to your digital domains. I also see measuring performance and ROI as challenges that marketeers face. But by embracing the right tools, I believe digital marketing can be clearly corelated to sales. You find inspiration from: Engaged, powerful and knowledgeable women who spend their time aiding the poor and doing their part for the betterment of humanity and the planet. How will marketing evolve in the next two years? I believe Artificial Intelligence is the trend that will have the biggest impact on marketing and the marketer.
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Attributes that make you a digital marketeer: A digital marketeer should be extremely proactive as well as strategic in the dynamic digital space. I always follow the three ‘I’ rule in digital marketing – Identify new opportunities, Implement and test them and finally Iterate to yield best results. A digital marketing strategy for a company in 2020 must include: Companies should adopt solid ‘content marketing strategy’ going forward. Most brands are already winning at the content game and as digital marketers we should be able to strategically devise a plan for content to be distributed among various digital channels, each catering to the audience consuming the content. Can you elaborate on the importance of customer engagement in the digital era? Marketing professionals should create more emphasis on customer engagement retention and customer life cycle management. Marketeers should have a plan to engage the customers along different touch points, including social media, keep them updated, engaged and most of all, fascinated. As the age-old saying goes, customer is still the king. When you offer customers with genuine information through thought leadership and proper content strategy, your brand will be seen as more reliable and trustworthy. Two biggest digital trends impacting the marketing landscape are: Omni Channel Marketing and Account Based Marketing.
The biggest challenge for a digital marketer is: to find voice among the clutter. The market is cluttered with too much information available online to a point where it gets repetitive. Digital marketers should find a way to stand out.
A MOTIVATING QUOTE YOU LIVE BY:
“ There is no end to learning.”
You find inspiration from: Recently I’ve been inspired and intrigued by Dave Gerhardt of Drift. I think he’s one of the best marketers of our time. However, I’ve always drawn inspiration from my managers and mentors all through my career. How will marketing evolve in the next two years? Marketing in the next two years will get more conversational. Conversational bots and interactive content will ramp up customer experience and in fact, it would make marketing much more user driven. Influencer marketing will also be on the rise. Another trend that has gained momentum is the rise of in-house brand influencers.
SANGEETA PRIYADARSHINI Marketing Analyst, Zoho Corporation
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SANTOSH PANIA Channel Marketing Manager, Aruba, A HPE Company
Attributes that make you a digital marketeer: I believe my ability to learn and unlearn has helped me grow in my career. Also, having an analytical mindset, thanks to my mathematics background, has further contributed to my successes as a digital marketeer. A digital marketing strategy for a company in 2020 must include: the integration of machine learning and Artificial Intelligence components to provide automation and intelligence on key aspects of marketing. Can you elaborate on the importance of customer engagement in the digital era? Earlier, the business objective was to ‘find’ customers, but now customers usually ‘find’ and select buyers. This shift from ‘finding customers’ to ‘be found by customers’ has been because of the advent of digital media. Your digital footprint enables the customer to find you based on what he is looking for, hence the importance of branding as well as positioning Customer engagement IS marketing and because of digital medium/ social media, it has become easier to
reach but also too competitive to get desired attention from the customer. Engagement starts with when the customer finds you or engages with any messaging you might have communicated, be it through social media, advert, post or any piece of content. As soon as you are able to personalise the messaging and be authentic, it will bring in positive outcome. Conversation includes listening to the audience and is not about just posting your content. Personalisation and authenticity is key in the digital world.
A MOTIVATING QUOTE YOU LIVE BY:
“ Don’t react, ACT” Two biggest digital trends impacting the marketing landscape are: Voice searches and Video Content The biggest challenge for a digital marketeer is: to manage the many tools available to work and combine data from different sources to one place You find inspiration from: Books, friends and the Internet How will marketing evolve in the next two years? Social media will no longer be a free tool to reach out to audience. Influencers will be celebrities who will play a dominant role in marketing as movie/ sports/entertainment stars do right now.
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SHAFIYA SAMREEN Senior Marketing and Communications Executive, Raqmiyat
Attributes that make you a digital marketeer: The ability to self-start, a hunger to learn, vision, aggressiveness, adaptability, passion, persistence and a general enthusiasm towards digital marketing. A digital marketing strategy for a company in 2020 must include: Storytelling. Storytelling is the only way that we can make technology to sound more human. This is a medium where businesses can set context to the technology world, understand technology and adapt. Can you elaborate on the importance of customer engagement in the digital era? In this digitally connected world, customers are constantly engaging with brands through multiple channels; but none of us are wholly digital. Creating a balance between both human and digital interaction is incredibly important. Speedy responses, balance of human and digital elements and personalisation play a major role in customer engagement. Two biggest digital trends impacting the marketing landscape are: AI marketing, machine learning and marketing automation are changing the marketing landscape.
The biggest challenge for a digital marketeer is: If you take any digital marketing activity, “Content is the King and Distribution is the Queen”. Developing creative content and distributing it properly using the right channels and to the right audience and achieving the desired results is a daily challenge for a digital marketeer. You find inspiration from: From the critical feedback which I have and still receive from my peers, day in and day out, and the demands of the ever-changing landscape of the market, which always pushes me to give the best.
A MOTIVATING QUOTE YOU LIVE BY:
“ If you are not
willing to risk the unusual, you will have to settle for the ordinary.” JIM ROHN
How will marketing evolve in the next two years? Technology will continue to shape the future of marketing. It’s going to be completely ‘digital and data-driven’. The sheer volume of content and data will be overwhelming and it would be ‘connected’ and the vast data will be the most valuable asset marketeers own. There will be an unprecedented increase in AI adoption, to customise content for more meaningful interactions.
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Attributes that make you a digital marketeer: While there are many attributes, the one thing that most satisfies me is the ability to successfully devise marketing strategies having measurable mix of direct, Indirect and Digital channels creating positive impact to the Business objectives. A digital marketing strategy for a company in 2020 must include: Build organisation customer personas, identify the goals and the digital marketing tools required, evaluate existing digital channels and assets, plan, evaluate and own third-party media campaigns. Can you elaborate on the importance of customer engagement in the digital era: Digital marketing has been driving immense customer engagement and interest. Customer engagement is the holy grail of marketing; creating an emotional attachment to a brand can create loyalty, which means long-term, less price sensitive and therefore more profitable customers. Two biggest digital trends impacting the marketing landscape are: Marketing automation and Artificial Intelligence The biggest challenge for a digital marketeer is: A good challenge which I constantly try to overcome in all my marketing initiatives is to develop accurate metrics to measure the outcome of the marketing activities in relation to the direct sales or revenue generated from such Marcom activities. The outcome of a successful marketing campaign may not be immediate and may take a while to derive the actual ROI
A MOTIVATING QUOTE YOU LIVE BY:
“ One should be
visionary and creative with a constant thirst for knowledge to adapt to the rapidly transforming, highly demanding and ever challenging IT industry.�
from the activity. Also limited budgets, timeframes and marketing perception in the industry add to the list of challenges. You find inspiration from: I have been fortunate to have worked with some dynamic leaders, who have provided at various junctions of my career required guidance and support contributing to my success. How will marketing evolve in the next two years: Digital Marketing will remain as the most powerful way of marketing in the future. But the dynamics of digital marketing is changing every day. Hence, being competent digital marketeers, we have to be agile, alert, smart and adapt to latest changes in the highly demanding and challenging IT industry.
SONALI BASU ROY Marketing Manager, Bulwark Technologies
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Attributes that make you a digital marketeer: As a marketing leader for VMware, I ensure that not only is the VMware brand covered through the usual online vehicles such as SEO, organic search, social media, gated content and so on; but I also go a step further and work with our top customers to capture their views of our company and brand. I also ensure that a high level of creativity is poured into our digital marketing initiatives to best explain VMware’s products and technologies. A digital marketing strategy for a company in 2020 must include: omnichannel marketing plan. Also, any digital marketing strategy needs to be measurable and prequalification of a digital campaign will have to include KPIs that address the primary objective. Can you elaborate on the importance of customer engagement in the digital era? It’s fair to say that customers are bombarded everyday with tons of information and data, many of it being advertisement and in order to stand out, we have to first understand our customers and customise the information to fit their requirements. Two biggest digital trends impacting the marketing landscape are: Personalisation and Artificial Intelligence The biggest challenge for a digital marketeer is: engagement and not just followership.
A MOTIVATING QUOTE YOU LIVE BY:
“ Good, Better, Best. Never let it rest. Until your good is better and your better is best.” ST. JEROME
You find inspiration from: Life and what it has to offer with all its ups and downs, coming to office every single morning and engaging with my team, being a wife and mom to a great husband and two amazing kids. But most importantly making a difference in this world through my work and also as a contributor to society. How will marketing evolve in the next two years? I see AI play a much bigger role in terms of pushing the right content to our audiences and will scale up in advertising with buying and placement of advertisements using targeted algorithms. I also see video marketing grow tremendously in the next couple of years. I foresee in the next couple of years that individuals will be uploading many more videos to endorse a brand, so the happier our customers are, the happier we are as marketeers.
THORAYA EL GHAWI Head of Marketing, Middle East, Turkey and North Africa, VMware
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YASMIN KHALIQ Marketing Director, Equinix MENA & Turkey
Attributes that make you a digital marketeer:Some of the main attributes are to be good at digital marketing and be a flexible person with the ability to think and act strategically to add value. As B2B marketeers, we must always have the spirit and mind of putting the customer at the centre of everything we do. A digital marketing strategy for a company in 2020 must include: As with any B2B Brand digital marketing strategy and execution, this encompasses using paid and earned digital channels to drive traffic to owned media to generate awareness and demand. Two biggest digital trends impacting the marketing landscape are: dialing up the ‘downstream tactics’, which are of the things we call ‘Marketing’ including “the search, content, and loyalty that are working to generate or maintain awareness or repeat purchase”. Also, organisations must use digital marketing to have ‘upstream tactics for creating markets’ and being innovative to look for unmet demand and new customers.
You find inspiration from: the everyday folks I see as I live and drive around Dubai or any other city, I visit across Equinix 53 markets.
A MOTIVATING QUOTE YOU LIVE BY:
“ Do a few things
and do them really right with your eye on staying ahead of the curve by being creative and forward thinking.”
How will marketing evolve in the next two years? If you google what is the future of marketing, you most definitely will find that ‘agile marketing’ comes up a lot. This is not just a buzz, it’s real – having an agile marketing mindset and approach examines how marketeers can add business value and operate beyond a support function. Marketing will be prioritised and an optimised pursuit for business using machine learning and AI tools, among others.
A tribute to the visionaries and pioneers of IT in the Middle East
25.02.2020 CONRAD DUBAI For nomination related enquiries
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