Jose Gorbea joined HP in 2017 and is head of HP Graphics Brands & Agencies Innovation. Here he answers Press Gazette’s questions about the future of marketing as part of a series presented in association with our marketing solutions division – Lead Monitor.
What has been your proudest achievement in your current role?
The creation of a ‘first-of-its-kind’ consumer-centric personalisation framework which enables my team to drive better marketing and sustainable innovation ideas for brands all over the world around digitally printed packaging. We call this framework the HP Personalization Pinwheel and it is the result of more than eight months of research via social media listening to 45 million+ conversations on the topic of personalisation. This has positioned HP Graphic Arts as a subject matter expert on this trend.
What media channels do you see as most important and best value for marketing spend and activity?
After three years at HP Graphic Arts leading innovation for brands, I can say that the most effective channels when used correctly is the combination of video (TV and/or online) with social media and digitally printed packaging. However it is not only the channels on their own, it is how you use them to create engaging, interactive content.
To be more specific, it involves connecting social media content (normally generated by consumers) immediately to the stories a brand can tell via its packaging, which is what I call co-creation as it drives authenticity, gives people a sense of belonging and that a brand is hearing them out, and it really helps boost your brand engagement metrics.
[To find out more about the future of marketing, download the Lead Monitor white paper: B2B marketing after a pandemic: 8 key lessons for senior marketers]How important to your brand is the news media (both B2B and B2C)?
It is necessary in both, however, in the case of B2B, it is much more important to network and build relationships in order to create trust, which you can’t create through news. News is there to create interest and spark a connection and afterwards is much more important to rely on email, phone calls and our perennial ally in 2020: Zoom.
What for you is the key to a successful marketing campaign – what actually makes a ‘good lead’?
When people have a sense of urgency to acquire the product or service being advertised, it means you have effectively created a story that they identify with and it all starts with a sound insight which allows your team to put themselves in the consumers’ shoes. Without a good insight, you just can’t connect with people to inspire action. Everything else after finding a good insight comes as a consequence and is relatively easy to develop. Imagine when the Snickers marketing team found the insight ‘You’re not you when you’re hungry’. How many campaigns and iterations behind this insight have we seen over the last ten years all over the globe? It all starts there…
How important is technology in modern marketing?
It is key to creating and enabling engagement. In our case, HP digital print is there to drive personalisation, immediate speed to market and sustainability innovation, however, the marketing basics never change. I like to say that digital marketing does not exist because what people (and businesses) need to realise is that to drive marketing in a digital world, ideas themselves should always strive to be as timeless as possible.
What are the biggest pain points in a marketing campaign?
There are three critical pain points that you always need to overcome:
1. Stakeholder buy-in – most campaigns are held hostage to subjective opinions and once a senior stakeholder has a personal opinion that differs from where the campaign is headed, it can completely derail it. This is where true marketing leaders differentiate themselves versus others, in getting that buy-in upfront while being held accountable for the outcome.
2. Speed to market – time is always against you in marketing and this is where digitally printed packaging can become your strongest ally to cut printing times and allocate extra time in crafting the idea in the best possible way.
3. Cost – ROI is the only metric that matters these days. Marketers have become business managers instead of true brand builders so if your activities don’t pay the bills in the short term, it is very likely your idea will not make it to see the light of day.
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