We would like to extend a congratulations to our MCMC 16 speaker, Veena Ramesh who was named a Brand Innovators 40 Under 40. Veena is the Digital Lead of Global Digital Strategy and Beauty at Johnson & Johnson.
Veena has a deep understanding of global consumer behavior as she has lived and worked across Asia, the Middle East and the US. Prior to moving into the global role – She increased the Digital IQ, set processes and implemented a hub and spoke model of managing Digital, across the six ASEAN countries, within J&J. Veena also co-created the Advanced Web Analytics program at NYU. Veena graduated from the National University of Singapore with a B.B.A (Finance) and NYU with a M.S. in Integrated Marketing.
Veena’s 4 Trends to Watch For:
1. Attracting Digital Talent – You cannot escape the topic of how to hire and retain digital talent in any forum. This will continue to be a hot topic. Companies should stop hiring based on the same yard stick that they use to hire a traditional marketer. You need to woo and have strategies to retain “t-shape” leaders with vertical digital depth but ability to navigate across the organization. You might need to search for this talent in unconventional ways.
2. Every marketer needs to be a Digital Marketer – Companies are now starting to put traditional marketers through Digital Bootcamps- Rutgers and GA run some good corporate programs. But that is not enough. The only way to learn is by doing. Marketers need to get their training wheels off and be able to plan and execute campaigns that include digital.
3. Role of a Digital Agency – We are seeing an explosion of content providers and low cost production houses flood the market. In this landscape the digital agencies have to step up and play a more elevated role in stewardship of the brand, creating multi-dimensional ideas and providing measurable ROI.
4. Social at the Core organizations – You will attract digital talent only if your employees know how to navigate the social space. Do you have 30s-1min video that outlines the day in a life? Do all your employees engage in the campaigns that you launch? Every company needs to honestly ask themselves how they are perceived by potential candidates.
This article was originally posted on Brand Innovators 40 Under 40