Words of advice for aspiring global marketers from Emirates, Tata, Pfizer and more

What's the one unspoken question that marketers and their agency partners need to ask themselves?

Jori Bindels, vice president corporate communications, marketing and brand, Emirates

How are we doing? The client-agency relationship needs to be a partnership and no question should be off limit. Open and honest feedback around the relationship and topics such as remuneration are key.

Atul Agrawal, senior vice president corporate brand and marketing, Tata

Be relevant and be aspirational to the consumer and strive to be a part of the community – wherever you wish to go.

Julie Chan, global consumer engagement lead, Pfizer

Transparency. How transparent are both marketers and agencies? How much does each party share fairly in a partnership? The question is do we have a partnership or do we have a client-vendor relationship?

Lucinda Peniston-Baines, owner and managing partner, The Observatory

“Am I prepared to invest sufficient time and mutual financial risk and reward into this relationship to make it a true business partnership?” Whether the answer is “yes” or “no”, accept it and set your expectations of that relationship accordingly.

Jillian Gibbs, founder and global chief executive officer, APR

Do we really understand the consumer and his/her purchase motivators that should drive our marketing creative, content and media choices versus just following the marketing/advertising industry trends?

Richard Benyon, chief executive officer and co-founder, Decideware

“Is this honestly, actually, truly great work? And if not, why not?”

It’s the two-way conversation that should squarely be between marketers and agency partners working together to build brands.

What one piece of advice would you give to an aspiring regional and global marketer that would ease the transition from a single market role?

Jori Bindels, vice president corporate communications, marketing and brand, Emirates

Spend time with local teams, agency partners and customers. Never apply your own frame of reference and don’t believe that a one-size-fits-all global approach will do the trick.

Atul Agrawal, senior vice president corporate brand and marketing, Tata

Being caring coupled with empowering and getting the best out of the people.

Julie Chan, global consumer engagement lead, Pfizer

To treat each market like they were your favourite. To make sure individual markets know that HQ cares and supports their initiatives. This is ridiculously basic but respond to their emails in 24 hours.

Lucinda Peniston-Baines, owner and managing partner, The Observatory

Brush up your diplomatic and negotiation skills!

Jillian Gibbs, founder and global chief executive officer, APR

This may seem obvious but it is important to stress that when transitioning to a regional or global role one must balance the ability to manage up globally (strategically) and down locally (tactically) to effectively adapt global strategies for local markets.

Richard Benyon, chief executive officer and co-founder, Decideware

Look for opportunities to recognise and bring the best aspects of your new regional or global view into a wider program that can be deployed for the benefit of all.

The Drum has partnered with the WFA to find the next Global Marketer of the Year. For more information on the award and to submit a nomination before the 30 September deadline visit the WFA website here.