Michele Oliver: leader of year?

What advice would you offer other marketers looking to embrace diversity and inclusion in their communications?

As one of the UK’s biggest advertisers, it’s our responsibility to use the extensive power and reach of our brands to do good. We are at the start of our journey. Be clear on setting diverse briefs for creative agencies, and encourage them to challenge their own and their clients’ thinking. By making diversity a natural part of our ad creation process, be it through the storylines, agencies, casting, we have been able to unlock creativity. Be brave and bold, you will develop a creative that cuts through. 

 

We were apprehensive; scared of getting it wrong or causing offence, so working closely with an expert partner is crucial. For MALTESERS® we partnered with the UK disability charity, Scope, who ensured that we struck the right tone in representing disability. 

 

How has the success of the Maltesers’ brand changed the way you think about marketing your brands?

Our ‘Look on the Light Side’ adverts were just the first step of our journey in championing greater inclusivity. Great brand marketing has always been about establishing a deep connection with a wide variety of consumers – by representing different backgrounds and viewpoints – and understanding the role your brand can play, in a small way, to make life a little easier, a little more pleasurable or a little more fun. Ultimately, sameness is boring – diversity gives more depth of creativity, so why wouldn’t we look at including disabled, LGBTI, and BAME people in our adverts?

 

What does bold marketing leadership look like?

Future focused: It is important to be future focused and drive an organisation’s agenda to changes and challenges ahead. Relentless Consumer Champion: You have to have the courage of your convictions, understand your consumer and stand up for what you are passionate about. A bold Marketing leader makes sure that the consumer is at the heart of every business decision. Let Go: A real Marketing leader hires the best talent and then gets out of their way. Let go and your team will achieve greater things than you could ever dream of – mine certainly have. 

 

What’s the bravest thing you’ve ever done at work?

Making the decision to step out of my longed for UK Marketing Director role to work three days a week after the birth of my son, into an unknown Global Innovation & Sustainability role; which was totally out of my comfort zone. I was worried that I was making the wrong career choice and that I’d never find a job I loved as much again. I was so wrong. I spent the next six years working globally across innovation, strategy, sustainability and brands. I was then promoted to a Vice President whilst on three days a week. Through hard work, a great partner and the support of great mentors at Mars I still manage to enjoy both a successful career and a family. I still work flexibly and do the school run every Monday and Friday, and at the same time have a brilliant job! The bravest thing to do is to know what you really want, ask for it and make it happen.

 

What’s the hardest part of your job?

Having to give tough feedback on creative work. I have learnt to be clear, precise and honest – and whilst it is sometimes a painful process, it is ultimately better in the long run. My partner writes poetry and music, and I understand how precious a thing creativity is and how vulnerable the creator is. I like to reference that a creative idea in advertising is like putting a fragile piece of yourself on a table in a big cold room, with onlookers staring at and judging you. Collaboration is key to the creative process and constructive feedback is essential.

 

What advice would you give others earlier in their career looking to become successful marketing leaders?

Be yourself, know what you are good at, be proud of it and get even better at it. No-one was ever successful or happy by focusing on their weaknesses. Life is hard enough without trying to be something you are not. Be demanding, ask for what you need to make an idea work – who knows you might just get to where you want an idea to be. Finally, and probably the most important piece of advice is to be kind – kindness is a massively underrated quality of leadership.

 

What’s the biggest challenge facing you in the year ahead?

It is a tough year for advertising. Budgets are tight and the media world is fragmenting at an accelerated page. To be fit for the future, we need to make every penny work harder than last year in a media world that is more complex – and that’s tough. To face into these challenges you need great talent, deep and strong media and creative agency relationships and brands that stand out from the crowd. 

 

Looking to the future, what will the marketing department look like in five years’ time?

We will have a much more diverse talent pool, which represents the society we communicate with and sell to – across age, race, gender, socio-economic background and beyond. Being more inclusive as an employer can help organisations make better decisions, with diverse groups often enjoying greater success. We will invest more in media and content expertise in the future to maximise the impact we can have through exciting new channels and using new technology; which continues to revolutionise how we better connect with our consumers. However, building distinctive brands and understanding our consumers deeper will always be at the heart of any great Marketing department.

 

Marketing Leader of Year 2017: voting now closed
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