Martijn van Eerde is senior director of marketing for EMEA and APAC regions at Maui Jim, an optical brand with Hawaiian roots specializing in high quality eyewear and manifesting the “aloha spirit” in their marketing DNA.

How has a niche, independent brand managed to compete in a marketplace as crowded as fashion on a global scale and stand out from the competition? Martijn says it comes down to the quality of the product itself and being strategic.

“Instead of just doing pure visual advertising we rather look for platforms to tell our story,” he said.

Shaheen Samavati interviews Martjin in today’s podcast episode, where he also shares his experience living in Latin America, the US and Europe, and how that’s shaped his perspective on localization and the importance of storytelling in product marketing.

You can watch the full conversation in the video above or on YouTube, and listen to the podcast on Apple or Spotify.

Rapid-fire recs  

  • Favorite App
    • Microsoft Teams. “Productivity wise, Microsoft Teams. Not only is the app itself great, but also the ecosystem around teams has helped me specifically in this pandemic to keep productivity at a high level.”
    • Spotify. “It’s definitely the app I use most, whether it’s in the kitchen, the gym, the car, or during the old days on a plane or walking around the airport. I use it all the time.”
  • Marketing tool: Engadget. “Engadget is really in tune with product launches. I like to see how companies communicate, how they launch a product, how they highlight their USBs, or features and get a message across. Instead of listening to other marketing people, I observe other companies and marketers in a practical sense.”

“Encourage your team to stay up to date. In their job description or workload, give them time to spend on learning, exploring, finance training, indoor or external. Keep adapting because marketing is growing faster and faster.”

Connect with Martijn and Shaheen on LinkedIn.

This post was edited by Jessica Farmer.


For more insights into how to stand out from the competition:

9 influencer marketing strategies used by the pros

Grab attention with permission marketing – Ana-Maria Banta, senior marketing manager

Gain customers for life – Alwi Mohamed Suleiman, content marketing master

To see the full transcript, click on page number 2 below.