Working on the Brand Vs in the Brand

Having now been in digital marketing for over 10 years, I've been asked many questions from graduates and people wanting to kick off their career in the digital industry; none more pressing or prominent then "Where should I work, on the agency side or the client side?"

What do you want?

In order to find your answer, you really do need to outline your career objectives, not the type of objectives you might put in a resumé, but your 'real' career objectives:

• salary
• experience
• working for a desired brand
• making a difference
• shaping a brands online presence
• building a portfolio, etc.

Be under no illusions, if you want all of the above, you will have to build a solid foundation with one primary objective (albeit more of a 'must do'), work hard and work smart.

I've worked for both a digital agency for a few years, as well as within marketing teams on the client side, and I can positively tell you that you would be best served aiming to work for both, at some point.

Kate Perkins, Manager at Hays Sales & Marketing says "Most people want to work client side, especially if they've already had experience working for an agency. It's rare for candidates who work client side, to want to switch to an agency."

Claire van Tonder (@clairevantonder), National Practice Manager, Digital at Ampersand Executive says "Within the Digital sphere, the current candidate market is showing a propensity to shift their career decisions to client side opportunities due to several factors such as corporates being viewed as more stable working environments; greater succession planning and more defined career paths; higher salary bands and benefits; and better work / life balance when compared to agency offerings.  That said, agencies are still viewed as providing highly innovative, dynamic and technologically advanced environments when compared to many corporations who are still playing catch up with respect to their digital platforms and go to market propositions."

Which side is more valued?

This depends on who you ask, my thoughts are that agencies give more value to people who have worked on the client side and clients give more value to people who have worked on the agency side. The grass is always greener apparently.

Kate Perkins, Manager at Hays Sales & Marketing explained “If someone has agency experience as well as client side to me this is a massive value add as it enables them to have a full understanding of the whole process.”

Claire van Tonder (@clairevantonder), National Practice Manager, Digital at Ampersand Executive says "This often comes down to the individual hiring manager and their self-formed perceptions and views attained through their own chosen career path and experiences, coupled with the knowledge of what is required from their organisational viewpoint.  Agency experience is certainly highly valued as the environment is recognised as dynamic, forward thinking, progressive and ‘ahead’ with agency talent gaining exposure to a variety of industry sectors through diverse client portfolios. That said, clients can be apprehensive when it comes to agency candidates attempting to make the transition to client side due to past experiences where the transition and integration from a stakeholder management and platform perspective has provided its challenges.  Largely due to agency individuals being used to working in smaller (and sometimes more decision environments) where complex, cross-functional organisational influence isn’t as paramount to execute with speed to market.  This in turn can cause misalignment and reflect a lack of business understanding in terms of process and channel fulfilment.  Agency candidates however who have previously successfully made the transition into corporates are very much in demand."

What you should do?

I recommend and incidentally what I did, is to begin with an agency, despite that the salary may not be great (on account of you being fresh to the industry) you end up working across a variety of companies, exposing you to various:

• products & services
• brands
• clients
• projects
• tasks 
• industries

If you simply go with the flow, the learning curve is so steep, it's fantastic if you enjoy the line of work. A word of warning though, it can sometimes be overwhelming, so be prepared to give a little blood, sweat & tears.

The connections you make in an agency are priceless, remember not to burn any bridges, these relationships will ‘shape the way you move’ as they say. Agencies experience a high turnover in staff, generally because the hard workers will either get poached, staff realise that they can be of more value on the client side or the lack of money has finally taken its toll.

After agency work, you’ll get an idea as to what sort of industry you want to work within, either way, it'll be great if you can match up to a company that is either on the rise or one that will allow your work to have the most impact.

You’ve now worked for both an agency and the client, what now?

Fast forwarding 2 or 3 years down the track, where you now have a couple years in an agency role under your belt and some experience on the client side; you’re now able to do 1 of 2 things, depending on your (now slightly different) career objectives:

1. Create your own 'start-up' business with a like minded partner who shares your passion and enthusiasm
2. Accept a healthy pay check from an agency and/or a brand who wants you to manage their online brand & presence.

The best transferable skills are?

The 2 most valued skills wherever you chose to work is the ability to produce a clear and concise strategy and the ability to digest and interpret stats. So, be sure to get as much experience doing those as much as possible, even though they’re not the most exciting tasks, they really are the most transferable!

Lastly, travel. Travelling the globe (if you're able) gives you a great view of how the world, business and people work. Never underestimate the value of being amongst diversity, various cultures, brands and varied consumer behaviours across countries.

THE MORAL:
find the area in which you have the most passion, question whether you want to make it a science, WORK HARD and the rest will take care of itself.

p.s. taking risks (while you can) is encouraged.

Online vs An In-store Experience

Guest Blogger: White Vanilla Pearl 

As a marketing consultant and lifestyle blogger one of the things I enjoy, is thinking about consumer behaviour, upcoming young designers and their brand stories.  

It was no surprise, when I recently visited my hairdresser and the discussion quickly turned to business. "If you could get a haircut online, I'd be out of business." he said…how interesting. So, the conversation ended 40 minutes later, and my argument was that if you create a lasting customer experience, you won't lose any customers!

Online - the fad that won't go away

It's no secret that online shopping is trending, however shop front stores with a dynamic client experience will always have a place in retail. Every day I analyse, create and design brands for small businesses; what I have noticed in the past year is how consumers are attached to something more than just a cheap price tag and a seamless transaction.  Online has no doubt redefined our shopping experience; ABS Lifestyle (Social Trends Report) stated Australian online sales were estimated at $26.8 million in 2010 and is predicted to increase to $36.8 million in 2013.

What I find great about the online experience with popular shopping sites such as eBay, Shopbop, ASOS, Gilt and Net-a-Porter, is that late at night as I am eating my sweet treat, there's something about just how many pages I can look though on the blouse section of ASOS - 23 pages is my personal best. 

Finding that cheap purchase isn't only cool, however it makes for a great work day when a parcel arrives at my desk.  ASOS does have an engaging website with added blogs, heavily reduced items, fashion pages, video catwalks etc. which keeps the user engaged, which is great.  

Retail shop front - here to stay

It's such a great feeling when you discover a new store and the customer service is defined by the friendliness, the décor, which has a story and the just the feeling you get when they get it right, which engages you to make the purchase.  

There's no doubt, if you like shopping, you would definitely enjoy getting dressed up to go shopping and that's why shops such as Zimmerman, Fleur Wood, Alannah Hill, Sportsgirl, Provincial, Seed and Zara make the shopping experience truly a Saturday afternoon adventure! It's the type of place to take mum to choose a gift or share with friends because it is worth a visit. 

A lasting experience

The key thing to remember even when don't have a powerhouse brand is; connect with your customer by building a relationship, create as close to a unique experience as possible and of course, tell a story that suits the brand. 

Just because you're a bricks and mortar business, consider creating an interactive experience, one that fits in with your brand, things like: 

• visual décor
• add music to enhance the story 
• allow customers to touch, play and experience the brand. 
• a sweet treat to indulge in, and
• a beautiful scent to remember

Marketing doesn't have to be too expensive or time consuming, but the key is to have a consistent story that creates a unique customer experience.

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Guest Blogger: White Vanilla Pearl 

Twitter: @vanillapearl

Blog: http://whitevanillapearl.blogspot.com.au/ 

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Forward to a friEND

If you're in direct marketing or simply deal with a fair share of email marketing campaigns, you would have no doubt included a 'forward to a friend' option in your emails. You would have then certainly looked at the campaign statistics surrounding your 'forward to a friend' option and somehow convinced yourself that it is still worth keeping...yes?

I must say that sadly, up until only a few campaigns ago, I nostalgically cradled the idea that people would still want to click on 'forward to a friend' instead of simply using the forward option of their email client. I was also part of the minority who would occasionally click on this option out of mere pity for the campaign creators still using it and continue to annoyingly type out my name, full email address, my friend's name, their email address (often having to double check it). All this in the hope that when I included a 'forward to a friend' option, the same courtesy would be reciprocated and recipients would click on it. But no more!

That one friend
Who is that one friend? That one whom we must share this email with anyway? I have Twitter followers, a number of Linkedin connections, friends on Facebook, Pinterest, Tumblr and Google+, all of whom I want to share this content with and you're telling me to 'forward to a friend'? Really?

The evolution of sharing
The way we digest information has evolved significantly, hasn't the act of sharing emails evolved also? If what I've been emailed is a great read, then I won't hesitate in sharing it. I expect those who I'm connected with, to do the same giving me the opportunity to like, share, favourite, retweet, reblog and/or repin it.

Email marketing lives!
It's frustrating to read an article that claims email marketing is dead, and social media is now 'how we do things'. Social media is important in how we as marketers do things, but email is far from dead! Though SPAM is still prominent, and companies still send an email before thinking; we are getting better and becoming more conscious of user experience outside of our own website(s).

Products like Yammer (Microsoft) will certainly help alleviate the pressure of internal company servers; with that being said, server technology is getting smarter and cloudier... So yes, Yammer will reduce the CCing that goes on within a company. Facebook and Twitter et al will continue to reduce the emails between friends and colleagues. Emails though, will not yet conceit defeat nor will their importance be diluted, in fact an email will remain the gateway to accessing most social networks.

Have you ever tried joining a social network without a valid email address..? Exactly.

THE MORAL
REMOVE THE FORWARD TO A FRIEND OPTION AND REPLACE IT WITH SOCIAL MEDIA SHARING OPTIONS. IF THE EMAIL CONTENT IS A GOOD FIND AND WORTH SHARING, PEOPLE WILL NOT HESITATE TO DO SO. RESPECT EMAIL ADDRESSES. DON'T SPAM!