eBay Advertising’s Alessandra Di Lorenzo discusses the need to merge science and creativity in today’s marketing landscape
A decade ago, there were no smartphones on sale and untargeted, broad-brush campaigns were at the heart of advertising. The way consumers shop has changed drastically since then and we as marketers have had to evolve accordingly.
Today, mobile platforms and technology-driven insight allow retailers to learn from observed, rather than inferred, behaviour. As a result, they have the potential to reach audiences with tailored and contextualised messages.
The potential of this changing landscape is huge, but marketing departments will only be able to capitalise on it if they have the right skill sets in their teams.
The ideal team
At eBay Advertising we look for a blend of creative and analytically minded professionals from a range of backgrounds. Numeracy is vital in today’s advertising industry and we frequently look for maths graduates and finance specialists who will be able to interpret the complex data integral to campaigns.
That isn’t to say that a flair for numbers is all that matters; advertising will always need creative minds to develop engaging campaigns. For me, the perfect team is really about marrying “the scientists” and “the artists.”
Diversity breeds prosperity
At eBay Advertising we benefit from the diverse backgrounds of our team members. Their different professional heritages help us to push new boundaries when it comes to delivering great campaigns for clients and engaging consumers more effectively.
We are now a majority programmatically traded business, and strong analytical skills are crucial to a vibrant programmatic offering. As it’s a relatively new discipline there isn’t a large pool of “programmatic experts,” but this hasn’t held us back.
We have hired professionals from related disciplines that possess the right analytical mind-set and are quick to learn. For example, our Head of Programmatic, Jean-Baptiste Goux, who has played a massive role in the success of our programmatic business, began his career in finance.
Redefining Creativity
Although technology plays an ever-increasing role in advertising, our industry relies on human creativity and innovation. We’re starting to see a new type of creativity emerge; one that uses analytical insights to create innovative campaigns that reach the right people at the right time.
As the industry continues to evolve, new talent requirements will emerge. If we were to fast-forward another ten years there would, undoubtedly, be additional skills that are important to the market. For us, it’s about identifying the right talent, at the right time, and connecting it with an opportunity to be an industry pioneer.
Delivering the best possible service to customers is our priority. Getting recruitment right is an invaluable part of that.