Here is a transcript generated by otter.ai of The Content Mix podcast interview with Jasmine Anderson, global content marketing manager at Dometic:

Carlota Pico 0:13
Hi, everyone, I’m Carlota Pico from The Content Mix, and I’m excited to be here today with Jasmine Anderson, who is global content marketing manager at Dometic, and has over 12 years of experience in marketing and communications. Welcome, Jasmine, and thank you so much for joining us today on The Content Mix.

Jasmine Anderson 0:32
Thank you so much for having me. I’m so excited to be here.

Carlota Pico 0:35
I’m excited as well. I can’t wait to learn more about what Dometic does, and your role within it. Okay, so to get this interview started off, tell me a little bit about your background. I heard that you’re Australian?

Jasmine Anderson 0:45
Yes. So you might not be able to hear from my accent. I try to bring out my Australian-ism as much as I can. But after nine years in Sweden, I have a pretty neutral accent. So yeah, I’ve been living in Stockholm for the last nine years and working in marketing here at Dometic.

Carlota Pico 1:06
Okay, so does that mean that you started off your marketing career in Australia and then moved over to Sweden?

Jasmine Anderson 1:11
Yeah, I started actually when I was 20 working with marketing pretty much like back when it was like websites and no social media and progressed on to that, working with music and working with like storytelling with marketing. And then I moved to Sweden in 2011, not with a really a marketing role, more of personal reasons and then found my way back into marketing in Stockholm about six years ago, going from freelance to working in a gaming company and now at Dometic.

Carlota Pico 1:50
Okay, how exciting. I’ll ask you more about the Dometic soon but I want to focus still on your transition from Australia to Sweden. What major professional life lessons have you learned during your experience abroad?

Jasmine Anderson 2:04
Yeah, so I mean, moving to a different country where English isn’t the spoken language was absolutely a bit of a shock at first, but I learned to let my differences be really my strengths and how to leverage them. So as a native English speaker abroad, I really tried to focus on what I could bring to a Swedish company and bring a unique perspective or views of the world something that I could really like bring that was different to allow me to kind of get my foot in the door. And now I really learnt from all this time in Sweden and also working in Europe, how to see the world through like European eyes, but also Western eyes at the same time, and like combine them together for like a global perspective that can work on multiple levels. That’s probably the biggest thing I’ve learned how to do from my time here so far. Working with content that can really speak to all those markets.

Carlota Pico 3:05
How interesting. So I’m sure that comes really in handy for your current role. You’re a Content Marketing Manager at Dometic, global content marketing manager at Dometic. So could you tell me a little bit about Dometic? What does it do? What products does it offer?

Jasmine Anderson 3:21
Yeah, so I’m going to try and explain to you what Dometic does. Dometic is the global market leader in branded solutions for mobile living. And the best way I can describe mobile living to you is that we help millions of people around the world to travel further, stay away longer and make the most of the outdoors. And that’s by making products that offer a reliable way to satisfy your essential needs while away from home like cooking, keeping food fresh, staying cool, or warm in any climate, or even having like mobile power to charge your laptops and stay connected to the world when you’re off the grid. So if you’ve ever stepped inside an RV or a camper van, boat or truck, you’ve most likely come in contact with or used a Dometic product.

Carlota Pico 4:07
Okay, very cool. And what do you do within Dometic? So your global content marketing manager, but could you break that down for us?

Jasmine Anderson 4:15
Sure. I am responsible for overseeing Dometic’s complete content marketing strategy and social media strategy both on the organic and paid side of social media and I also oversee the Dometic’s influencer marketing program globally, for the brand and for the group. So I have a really broad role that allows me to work across multiple different channels and with different kinds of content. And with all the different regions and countries in the world that we serve right now.

Carlota Pico 4:49
Okay, I’m smelling a challenge or perhaps an opportunity as a result of COVID-19 because you’re providing different parts for people that are on the go or moving and because of COVID-19 nobody can really move anywhere. So I don’t know if that has been an opportunity or a challenge, but I would love to learn more about how COVID-19 has affected your marketing strategy and the manner in which you communicate with your audience.

Jasmine Anderson 5:18
Absolutely. Everyone right now is really hopping on the staycation trend because no one can fly and travel. So that means that people are looking to go have a vacation with a tent, a boat, RV, and obviously like our products are perfect for that. So we’ve really like doubled down right now in our marketing efforts around the staycation concept, and also online. So that we can really like meet the audience and meet new target audiences that might not know about what Dometic can offer them for their new kinds of vacation in the digital space. So we’re running right now an omni channel marketing campaign for staycation in over 12 countries in Europe. And that’s going really, really well right now.

Carlota Pico 6:10
Okay, sounds super exciting. I’ll definitely zoom into that later on into our interview, but I still want to focus on COVID-19. So what did marketing look like before COVID-19 at Dometic? And what does it look like now in terms of, what do you think the future and the present I guess, of marketing looks like?

Jasmine Anderson 6:31
Yeah, that’s a good question. What it looked like before is that obviously, we had much more face to face contact with our customers and consumers. And there was trade shows, events, and a lot of retail stores were open where people could interact with our products, but not right now. Everyone is really not able to do that. So digital is king. So we’re like really focusing more and more on digital content to support our business goals. I really feel like the digital online experience, how that is evolving will evolve even more faster, even more rapidly now, so no one really wants to be like sold to anymore in a sales way. So content marketing, I feel with that less person to person interaction will become such a big part of the customer journey and have to do so much more heavy lifting than it already does, to kind of move people through that sales channel, and sales funnel into becoming a customer. So I really feel that we really have to, there’s more demand than ever for digital. And maybe we won’t really go back to the ways that we did traditional marketing before or they won’t become as important as they were perceived in the past.

Carlota Pico 7:50
Okay, so you think that in terms of things that have changed forever is really our new focus? I guess our growing focus on digital marketing and digital marketing channels?

Jasmine Anderson 8:02
Yeah, and I think the pandemic is forced a lot of people to shop online. So once people maybe can go back to shopping that didn’t always shop before online, they now have like broken that barrier. And I don’t think that they’re going to go back to just shopping in store like they were before. So I see like AR and VR becoming like the norm for brands, both big and small. And I think that will go beyond what was cool and trendy and a fad and become more like digital showrooms and experiences. So I think for marketers, if you’re not already looking in that space, I think you should be because that’s what we will have to do to keep the customers engaged in the digital space when we can’t meet them in person.

Carlota Pico 8:50
Yeah, very interesting. What about storytelling? How has COVID-19 impacted your storytelling or your communication, the way that you communicate with your audience? Have you had to try to relate to them on a one to one level more so than on an overarching level in order to create, like trust and in order to resonate with them better, especially during these troubling times?

Jasmine Anderson 9:15
Yeah, I think it’s, for us what we offer our customers has always been an opportunity to get outside to find freedom to explore the world and we’re bringing that a little bit closer to home. So we’re always kind of speaking the same message, but we’re adapting it to more a wider target audience and giving them more possibilities to learn about our products on more of a generalized level. Not everyone is a product expert. And we want to just introduce these themes and concepts in a smart way. So we’re using social media, more massive campaigns in the digital space and a lot of video content to really connect with existing audiences and new audiences in a meaningful way. And also using ambassadors and our influencers to really create social proof and relatability of our products in a way that perhaps we can’t do ourselves as a big brand and a big company.

Carlota Pico 10:15
So how do you know what content to create for your audience? And what distribution channels to use? Like, how do you know what they’re going to resonate with, especially during COVID times? Because I mean, during COVID times, there’s just so many emotions that are bubbling inside one individual. So to be able to break it down by personas is just a challenge in itself.

Jasmine Anderson 10:34
Yeah, I think that’s when my customer journey mapping and a bit of the marketing 101 tactics comes into play really well. This is what I do, because I think I want to be able to answer the questions that customers have with thoughtful and meaningful content so we can move them through that customer journey in a good way. So for me, it’s about mapping out all the target audiences, identifying all the sub personas in that target audiences and like really going through strategically from inspiration to awareness to that end state of conversion and mapping out what are the actions? What are the motivations? What questions could a potential customer have? What problems and pain points and things that could stop them from moving forward with the purchase? And what can we do with our products and our content to really get them over the line to make them feel comfortable and feel confident in our brand? And that’s that to me that kind of like grid it out system really helps me to know – this is the content we need to create here. these are the questions we need to answer and this is where we need to have it in the journey. And since I’m working across so many different target audiences with Dometic because we make products for boats and boat owners a very different to RV owners and then the campers are different as well. It’s really important that you know, wearing different hats that I look to the resources that are available such as like Google Trends, I think another good one is answerthepublic. It’s a really good SEO tool for looking at what people are actually searching for and asking about right now. So you can stay relevant to actually what are the questions and the content tweaks we need to make to be relatable to that audience at this time, especially in COVID, when people have probably many different questions about you know, what is a staycation for example? If you’ve never ever, for example, thought about going camping, there’s so many things you need to research before you can start – what products do we need to have? What is the best tent for small family and we want to be able to be assured that our content is addressing those questions so we can build that trust and authority with potential customers and target audiences.

Carlota Pico 12:57
Okay, so then what about distribution channels? How do you actually get that information to your target audience?

Jasmine Anderson 13:03
Now we use a combination of different channels. I mean, predominantly, we used social media, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, also a bit of LinkedIn but that’s more of a business to business channel for us, and also YouTube. And our main focus is using awareness tactics, combination of paid and organic and with influencers as well to drive traffic back to our a main web property which is Dometic dot com, where we always present our campaigns with a specific campaign landing page with a lot of editorial information suited to the target audience. So then they can move through the journey. Yeah, it’s also the personas, every single persona has a different way of absorbing information. We try to target them with with the right targeting for example, like dynamic retargeting ensuring that we are, you know, touching the right audiences in their interests and finding new people on social media. So it’s a combination, but predominantly, I would say social is one of our biggest tools for distribution right now.

Carlota Pico 14:17
Okay, excellent. So I do want to talk about a comment that you said earlier on in the interview, you’re running right now 12 campaigns across different EMEA markets. So what are a few best practices for running effective, multi language, large scale content projects?

Jasmine Anderson 14:38
Wow, it’s a lot of coordination and a lot of, I mean, first obvious is planning, a clear process, having everyone buy in and know what is expected of them and guidelines. But my most important best practices and learnings is like context and character count. And when I say character count, I mean with translations, what you can say in English, for example, in 100 characters, you need to be aware that you won’t be able to say that in Finnish, for example, you might need 300 characters. So specifying character count to suit the content, for example, so you don’t have massive problems when you do the translation process and you make the project live online. And you realize you have way too many characters and all the pitches are covered in text or the video won’t work because you didn’t specify to the translator that you need to have like a limit, within reason, would be one of my first biggest learnings and lessons for myself, especially when you’re doing multiple projects in multiple languages. And then I guess its context. You have to arm your team in the regions and in the countries that you work in and are present with the right tools to help them, empower them to be able to do good translations that is contextually appropriate for that market. Europe is such a special, multicultural continent, we have so many different unique cultures that are right next to each other. And unlike Australia and the US, where it can be quite similar in many ways, especially because the language is the same, but there are also nuances within and between Australia and US and even the UK, you have to take into consideration with Europe, it’s a whole different thing. So you really need to trust the people on the other side to understand the context of the campaign, but also then trust them to know what’s best for their market. And to not, I guess, force or push them into a direct translation situation where you go so far from the original meaning of the campaign. So they’re my best practices.

Carlota Pico 16:57
Okay, so you’re giving your teams the creativity to localize the content according to cultural norms and to cultural nuances. But from a global point of view, you’re giving them the instructions of okay, this is a message that we want to transmit to our different audiences and then it’s up to you to actually adapt that message and localize it according to your cultural nuances.

Jasmine Anderson 17:22
Yeah, we provide them with all the assets for campaign being videos, images, concepts, product copy, product images, etc. And also like a rollout of how we would activate in the local markets with paid advertising, print ads, event and in store but ultimately, when it comes to the right image that would go with the campaign, I mean, for our products, they’re vehicle based and a vehicle – for example, an RV in the US looks very different from an RV in Germany and if you are a consumer or our target audience, you recognize that so we have to like allow them also to have the right images to match that target audience. And also then let them create. I mean take the concept within reason and adapt the wording and adapt maybe the headline into something that suits their market. Otherwise there’s no point really in them doing it. So we want to be able to give them the feeling and empower them to be able to make those choices, but also stay on brand at the same time. It’s a really hard line to walk for many companies, I think. And I think good processes, good tools and trust really allow you to do that successfully.

Carlota Pico 18:46
Okay, right. It reminds me a lot of like, the struggles that brands face when it comes to influencer marketing as well because many brands, some of them decide to give their influencers strict guidelines that they have to follow and other brands decided to give their influencers, much more liberty when it comes to their creative approach towards engaging with the audience. So this is similar at the same time, you have these global instructions, but you’re giving your teams on the ground, you’re empowering them with the opportunity to localize and adapt the content. Because at the end of the day, nobody knows that culture better than the teams on the ground, right?

Jasmine Anderson 19:30
Yeah, absolutely. So it’s the same with absolutely influencer marketing, you can actually give an influencer from my personal experience, the most strict guidelines or the clearest instructions. And still, they’re gonna know what is best for their audience. And I think you use the same .You have to trust them and trust that they know what works. And really yeah, take your hands off within reason and just try and guide them as best you can for what you’re looking for, but be happily surprised. I think in many ways when they do something that is really impactful and engaging that you couldn’t have thought of. So it’s a lot of trust.

Carlota Pico 20:10
Okay, we are getting towards the end of our interview in terms of this first section, but I want to ask about practical examples. So as someone who breathes and lives content marketing campaigns every day, which campaigns have you admired lately and why? And obviously, feel free to zoom into any of your own campaigns.

Jasmine Anderson 20:30
Okay, so I’m not going to talk about any of my own campaigns, but I recommend that if you are interested in what Dometic is doing to go to Dometic dot com, and some of the things that we’re doing and also on our socials, it’s @ Dometic, very easy to find. But one campaign from a purely content marketing perspective that I absolutely love is from Absolut Vodka, which is a Swedish company, and they created this really awesome content marketing video series called Absolut Drinks with Rico. And what they’ve done I think is fantastic because they’ve been able to create engaging platform appropriate content on YouTube that’s really relevant and establishes trust and authority with a younger legal drinking age, of course, target audience. I love how they’ve taken what is good about YouTube and what is engaging about YouTube and really applied it to what they can do with their brand and products. And I think that to me is really inspirational because for marketers, it’s really hard sometimes to be able to -there’s so many different distribution channels and there really is no one size fits all content. For example, you always adapting and changing to fit the audience, fit the platform, which is part of the job of course, but sometimes you know, you can get a little bit lost and what this series has done, I recommend you check it out for some inspiration, especially for drinks if you are a drinker or not, or just alcohol-free, but they’ve just made it really clever and well done. And I think it’s a really great way that we can do content marketing as brands to really show affinity with our target audiences rather than selling to them and build that relationship that will lead to brand preference and brand choice further on, which is the future I think of marketing.

Carlota Pico 22:28
Funny that you actually zoomed in to that example, I was on the record yesterday with the brand manager of Malibu, which is part of the Absolut group, and which again, is part of the Pernod Ricard global group. And then a few weeks ago, I was also on the record with global social media manager of Pernod Ricard and the Absolut company belongs to that. So I’ll have to definitely send those interviews your way. They were full of great tips.

Jasmine Anderson 22:52
I’d love to see that.

Carlota Pico 22:54
Okay, moving into the last section of today’s interview, it’s going to be a set of rapid fire questions. To get to this section started off Jasminw, I’d like to ask you about your source of inspiration. So an influencer professional role model, a book or publication that just really inspires you?

Jasmine Anderson 23:12
Yeah, I think I’ll try and answer this as quick as possible. All the tools and resources that I love and admire are usually free. So and also podcasts. I love to listen. So I love the Social Media Marketing Podcast. It’s pretty popular. There’s a website with fantastic articles and resources, but I feel like they’re always on top of the trends. They’re always speaking to experts. They’re always like exploring things in a really smart way for marketers, so we don’t have to do all the hard work sometimes to figure out what to do on this new platform or if it’s right for our business or brand. So that’s my first one. I also love the CMO podcast. It’s where they interview different CMOS from companies big and small. And it’s a really good way to look into I guess other organizations and take some inspiration from what they’re doing. And then last one is Later dot com. It’s an app actually for social media scheduling. And they just do fantastic resources when it comes to marketing, and what is happening with Tik Tok, Instagram, and like Pinterest. So if you’re interested in how to get your content out there more effectively, and to really like, you know – you create good stuff, right? And you really want people to see it. Well, you really need to get the distribution part down well, and they have some great resources for you there.

Carlota Pico 24:36
It’s called later dot com?

Jasmine Anderson 24:38
The app’s called Later. I love it. I think it’s not an expensive like tool to have. It’s like $15 a month. And as a social media scheduling app. I think that’s really, really reasonable to some of the other absence resources out there. Yeah, I would check it out.

Carlota Pico 24:57
Okay, so I guess that would answer my next question, which would be what’s your favorite app at the moment? And why later dot come?

Jasmine Anderson 25:04
I love later but I would say my favorite app right now is Tik Tok.

Carlota Pico 25:08
Oh.

Jasmine Anderson 25:09
Yeah. Is that a good oh or a bad oh?

Carlota Pico 25:15
For like entertainment reasons, a definitely a good oh, I think it’s so engaging and so much fun. For other reason it’s more like oh, what’s gonna happen with Tik Tok?

Jasmine Anderson 25:26
I think right now it’s my most favorite app because I think it’s becoming more and more relevant for brands to have a presence on tik tok. And, for me, I’m having a lot of fun hacking through and seeing what is working for brands similar to Dometic. And also other bigger brands like h&m, for example. How are they adapting their content for that platform? And is this where everyone is? Obviously, there’s a huge audience on tik tok, quite a young audience, but I think to understand and to be on top of those trends as a marketer, super important but also I find it very funny, Tik Tok, it’s a very entertaining app. But yeah, I want to keep digging to see what could be good for Dometic going forward and other brands in the Dometic group. So yeah, that’s my favorite app right now.

Carlota Pico 26:14
Okay, excellent. Jasmine. Well, thank you so much for joining us on The Content Mix. You provide a great insights and tips. And I was so happy that you joined us on the show.

Jasmine Anderson 26:24
Thank you so much for having me. And I really look forward to hearing from you soon. And yeah, take care.

Carlota Pico 26:32
Yeah. And to everybody listening in today, thank you for joining us on The Content Mix. For more perspectives on the content marketing industry in Europe, check out The Content Mix. We’ll be releasing interviews just like this one every week. So keep on tuning in. Thanks again. Have a fabulous day, and I’ll see you next time. Bye.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai