Q & A with Roisin Donnelly - January 2010
Roisin Donnelly, corporate marketing director, UK and Ireland, P&G and The Marketing Society’s new president tells us a secret about dancing and says she wants marketing leaders to make more risks in what they do.
What advice do you offer to marketers at the beginning of their career?
My advice is simple. Get close to your consumer, not just how they perceive your brand but you need a deep 360 degree immersion into their whole life, including their hopes and dreams. Also deeply understand what your consumer thinks of your competitors and how they perceive your retail trade partners. The better you understand your consumer, the more successful your brand will be.
What was the most valuable lesson you have learnt during your marketing career?
Invest in people and build a diverse organization. Diversity in gender, nationality and style drives innovation. Working in California on P&G’s North and Latin American fragrance business I saw at first hand the value of diversity. Since returning to the UK, I have focused on creating a diverse UK & Ireland Marketing team and we now have 17 nationalities and of course both genders and many styles. This really drives great creativity and successful business results as well as making a fun place to work.
What would you like to achieve during your time as president of The Marketing Society?
The Marketing Society is entering its 51st year and our challenge is to build bolder marketing leadership that clearly impacts the business results. I would love new people to join and the current members to fully participate in their society. Personally I am passionate about driving brilliant and innovative digital marketing and am setting up a President’s Circle of top marketers to drive digital thinking and expertise together. We share common challenges and one key issue is measurement. We will be working closely with the big digital owners like Microsoft. Sustainability will also be a big priority for The Marketing Society and we have an initiative led by Jo Kenrick to drive the sustainability agenda, which I will sponsor.
What role do you believe The Marketing Society should play in UK business?
The Marketing Society needs to make sure Marketing has a strong voice in the UK Boardroom and is driving profitable business growth. The Marketing Society’s 2010 programme will be helping marketers change to face the challenges of the future. Our four key focus areas are: digital, customer champions, growth drivers and the green agenda. The Marketing Society is here to help and support all our members to become even better in their roles.
We are a very special organization with 50 years of great marketing leadership behind us. If we learn from each other we can all do even better in our own roles.
What does the future hold for marketers, how do you see the role of a marketing director in 50 years time?
50 years is a long way away and I do not have a crystal ball.
But I do know the consumer needs to be at heart of all our marketing in the future. As our consumer changes we need to change. The consumer is demanding personalized two-way communication. In the future our marketing communications will reach the right consumer in the right media at the right time. I believe all our TV ads will be targeted to the right consumers. We will serve Pampers ads only to parents and I hope they can be targeted to the age and gender of the baby and potentially even personalized by name to the individual baby. The role of the Marketing Director will continue to be to drive profitable growth. The brand will be a stronger asset than ever as many companies will have virtual assets rather than real estate and capital assets. Think Twitter - a brand with few employees and few assets but a great global brand equity.
How do marketers need to change to face the challenges of the future?
We need to be more innovative in our marketing and our products. Our consumers are more demanding and want great performance and great value. Time is one of their most precious commodities and we need to make our products perform better to save time and make life a little bit better. We also need to look at creating new marketing models which are relevant to our consumers and reach them where and when they are most receptive.
What is the most significant consumer trend for today’s marketer?
It’s obvious but e-retailing is a big trend and will touch most of us. We need to change how we communicate in this medium.
The consumer is spending a lot more time online and we need to reach them there. But in UK we also have very strong TV, magazine and newspaper brands that will continue to play an important role in our consumers lives.
How can we create a generation of bolder marketing leaders?
We need to invest more time and energy in training. Formal courses and informal networking can really inspire and drive expertise to new levels. P&G invests a lot in training and the Marketing Society provides great formal and speaker events.
I learn a lot from listening to speakers or reading case studies from other industries. We also need to get our marketing leaders to take more risks in what they do, but always putting the consumer at the heart of everything they do.
Who would you invite to your dream dinner party?
A cast of historic writers and innovators would make for a great dinner party, Great British writers- George Elliot, Thomas Hardy, Jane Austen, DH Lawrence. And Great Global innovators – Leonardo Da Vinci, Gallileo, Einstein, Mozart.
Tell us a secret?
I love dancing and just don’t dance enough. I was in a Cuban club last week in Miami dancing till it closed.
What keeps you awake at night?
Nothing- I am so busy during the day with my job, my three daughters and my passions I sleep soundly. One tip I got from Stephen Covey is to make sure every day has mental, physical, spiritual and social activity and you will stay in balance. I do go to the gym or exercise about five times a week often with my daughters and that helps sleep.
What book is on your bedside table?
I read my 3 daughters a bedtime story and it is currently The Elephant’s Tale by Lauren St John and I have Ultimate Killer Sudoku and The Believers by Zoe Heller