Brandkindin podcast on nyt täällä!

Listen to the podcast here, on Acast, Spotify or Apple podcasts. Please note that the podcast is in Finnish.

Highlights from the episode

Eva Martin is known not only as a marketing professional but also as an early adaptor of various marketing technologies. Brandkind is a long-term partner of Metsä Fibre, and marketing technologies play a major role in the cooperation.

How easy has it been to give an outside actor the reins?

As a company and as a team, we need to think about where to direct our resources, so I think it’s natural that you outsource certain parts to some external actors. Metsä Fbre’s marketing team is small and efficient, but of course it is important to have a partner network, especially in larger projects. In this way, we can easily add resources as needed, instead of having to recruit. Brandkind plays an essential role for us as in this regard.

What has been the most revolutionary change in marketing platforms during your career?

In my opinion, automated marketing platforms are the ones that create the most value. Especially platforms linked with CRM that serve sales needs. In general, I think that the most important role of marketing is to work strongly side by side with sales.

A CRM tool and the related seamlessly functioning marketing automation tool bring the most benefits to small businesses, for example. If you have a tight budget and few resources, the more you can automate, the better. On the B2B side, automation should be prioritized even more strongly.

Why can it be challenging to adopt new concepts and methods in B2B marketing?

On the business side, we move a little too much in our comfort zone, do what we used to do and don’t question if something could really be done differently. Also, not all teams necessarily have the competence to implement new tools.

Brandkind is able to help and act as an outsourced partner as part of the marketing team, and bring new competencies that may not exist internally.

What makes a good marketing campaign?

The most important things are a systematic approach, having certain goals and a good plan. And, of course, receiving creative ideas from external agencies. Brandkind’s role is to present us with crazy ideas, which we tweak a bit when considering what is right for our customers.

A good example that our customers are also excited about is our sawn timber online store with a character produced by Brandkind called Timber Fox. Now we are getting off to a good start, and I would never have thought that we would have a fox rolling around with sawn timber customers.

Are there still areas of marketing and communications where new platforms are likely to emerge?

As long as technology and data develop, there will be new digital platforms. It’s important to keep up with this as a company. Also, it is important for us at Metsä Fibre to be a frontrunner of our industry, and that means introducing digital solutions and communicating them to our customers. Being a frontrunner is not just about products or production. If a brand defines that it wants to be a thought leader or pioneer in one area, then it must be manifested elsewhere as well.