Podcast Interview: The year of online events

Tiffany Mayne recently joined Carlota Pico to chat about her role as head of marketing for the EMEA region at multinational events services company GB Intelligence Ltd. Tiffany talked about how she followed in her father’s footsteps to work in the marketing industry, touched on her previous roles in the automotive and sports sectors, and explained how her company—which brings people together—pivoted to meet audiences’ needs in the face of this year’s crisis.

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

Key takeaways

Being equipped with a variety of skills, qualities and experiences will set you on the path to success in the marketing industry. Becoming a “jack of all trades” helps you to understand the unique needs of different customers.

GB Intelligence Ltd. worked swiftly to create a digital side of their business that enabled them to host virtual events during the pandemic, including digital boardrooms and a week-long virtual function filled with keynote sessions, interactive discussions and panel debates.

One of the company’s top events is the CIO Event, which is described as “bringing together leaders of innovation and technology.” It’s held in various regions, each for a number of days, and includes keynote sessions with industry leaders, panel debates and one-to-one meetings that unite communities.

Brands are having to fight harder than ever to make their voices heard online. One way to make webinars and other online events stand out is by personalizing them, in order to give customers a special way to network with their peers.

Perhaps the biggest lesson that COVID-19 has taught us is the importance of adaptability. Marketers have had to change quickly, listen to customers and provide them with the digital solutions that they need in a very short amount of time.

The great thing about virtual events is the flexibility they allow. With a virtual event, you don’t have to leave the office. You can pop in and then return to work, and even attend another one later.

Rapid-fire recs

What’s an app or tool that you can’t work without?

Definitely Instagram. When we were stuck in lockdown, I could hop on the app and catch glimpses of the outside world—what we were missing out on and what we’d soon hopefully go back to. We still can’t do many things, but the app gives you that sense of escapism and helps to take your mind off things.

A valuable resource, event or group?

Obviously, I’m going to give a shoutout to GB Intelligence Ltd.—we’ve come a long way throughout COVID.

I highly recommend following The Drum. It empowers marketers by providing insights about digital creative advertising and other media-related things. Earlier this year they held a digital transformation festival, which provided a lot of content around what was happening and how marketers could adapt throughout it.

A recent marketing campaign that you admire?

One that really sticks out in my mind is the Budweiser ad that came out earlier this year. They did a great job of recycling an old ad and adapting it for the current situation. It reminded people of the original ad from over two decades ago, and worked really well for the present situation. It was brilliant.

Connect with Tiffany and Carlota on LinkedIn.

This post was edited by Mary Kresge, a freelance content creator based in Madrid.