Interview with Gary Raucher - Top Marketing Communications professional from Philips
I started my career working as a management consultant within global consumer products companies, and then worked in brand management for an FMCG company. I joined Philips six years ago as part of a pilot Marketing Leadership Development program, where I rotated throughout the company working on strategic marketing projects. During this time, I had the opportunity to develop the companyň€™s first-ever brand positioning which has led to a number of brand activation and brand communications roles.2. Describe your role and responsibilities at Philips.
I currently serve as Vice President and Head of Integrated Marketing Communications for the Consumer Lifestyle Sector. In this capacity, I am accountable for both the effectiveness and efficiency of all Marcom materials globally.
3. What were your top priorities coming into this role?
The overarching objective was to dramatically improve the effectiveness of our campaigns. To this end, I defined three top priorities for my first year in the role:
First, I had to clarify roles and responsibilities in the creative development process. Rule number one of Marcom is that you cannot develop creative by committee, and yet we had sometimes more than twenty people commenting on creative ideas. By making clear who would be responsible for taking decisions, who would be consulted, and who would be informed, we have significantly increased speed and we have avoided the ň€śleast common denominatorň€ť syndrome that plagues so many organizations.
Second, I had to structurally reorganize the department to ensure integration across all touchpoints. While this may be a given in a lot of companies, I have had to fight hard to get traditional ATL, PR, Digital, and POS all working together.
Finally, I had to ensure there was true expertise within the team. Coming from fast-moving companies, I found it strange to have a staff Marcom function that was outside of the business. I knew that the only way it could work would be if the team had such specialized communications expertise that it could add additional value. This led to very painful, but necessary organizational changes.
4. What were your biggest challenges coming into this role and how did you overcome them?
The biggest challenge was changing the governance model with regard to creative decision making. In doing so, I had to find the right balance of building bottom-up buy-in from the organization, and securing a top-down mandate from our most senior leadership team. For both audiences, I needed to build a fact-based case for the change and demonstrate how the new governance would significantly contribute to the broader management agenda. Finally, my team has had to consistently deliver proof points of success ň€“ only then did we earn the trust needed to operate effectively.
5. Have you employed any innovative communications methods?
Integration is at the heart of everything we do, so it made sense to implement a completely integrated ň€śLoop Teamň€ť process. ATL, Digital, PR, POS, and Media agencies are all briefed at the same time, and are responsible for presenting integrated campaign ideas. The result of this approach has been truly integrated campaigns, and better work in non-traditional channels. One of the more recent success stories of this approach is our new Bodygroom Manalogues campaign, which can be viewed at www.philips.com/manalogues
6. Whatň€™s your guiding philosophy for marketing communications?
Creativity and effectiveness are not mutually exclusive.
7. Have you experienced a big change between work style in the US and Europe? How have you adapted yours?
I find that it is less about cultural differences and more about individual differences. Of course you can find back the stereotypes if you look hard enough for them, but every single person is unique. The key for me has always been situational leadership, so I find that I am continuously adapting my approach depending on the circumstance and the person with whom I am dealing.
8. What was your biggest challenge moving country?
Learning Dutch took a while, especially in a country where English is so widely spoken.
9. What skills should a successful marketing communications professional possess?
I always look for someone who has his/her head in the clouds and his/her feet on the ground. That is, someone who is a strong strategic and conceptual thinker but also recognizes that Marcom can only truly be great when it helps achieve a marketing objective. Therefore, that person will not only have a natural ability to judge creative, but also the management skills to always deliver on-brief, on-time, and within budget.
10. What makes someone in your team stand out?
The best player on the field is not necessarily the person with the ball, but the person who knows where the ball will be delivered next. The best people in my team, therefore, are always anticipating the next steps, and are able to proactively prepare for those situations. They also realize that they are part of team, and make an effort to positively influence the atmosphere of our department.
11. What advice would you give to people just starting in their marketing career?
Marketing is part art and part science, but other functional areas are likely more interested in the science. So to really have a positive impact on an organization, you have to always clearly link your marketing activities back to both marketing and business objectives. It may seem obvious, but too often it doesnň€™t happen. Also, I would remind people that every day is another opportunity to learn. Having a broad range of marketing experiences will give you the foundation to succeed in almost every business situation.
12. If you could have any superhero power, what would it be?
The ability to turn back time ň€“ so that after spending a long day at the office, I would still have the chance to spend the whole day with my children.
13. What is the best career advice that anyone ever gave you?
Never take a job to solve someone elseň€™s problem.
14. What is your favorite book?
"Tuesdays with Morrie" by Mitch Albom
15. If you werenň€™t in this job, what would you do?
My passion has always been understanding and influencing consumer behavior, so I would certainly be in another Marketing role and most likely another Marketing Communications role ň€“ either client or agency side.