Managing, mentoring and coaching marketing teams
Marketing and brand training for Liquid Telecom in Nairobi, Kenya.
Whilst working at Gateway Communications, Vodacom, PCCW Global and now Liquid Telecom Group, I have become adept and capable at managing, mentoring and coaching marketing teams across multiple geographies and of varying skill levels.
One of my main roles has been to bring marketing teams together and share team knowledge and best practice. I run a Group Marketing Board where we all meet every six months to set and review standards. We also meet through video conferencing, which alongside regular calls have developed marketing 'centres of excellence' across multiple locations (not just in the head office), with marketing experts who will support the group with their own specialist knowledge.
By using the centre to provide guidance (brand, commercial KPI metrics, sponsorship, CSR, PR, product, social and digital) the whole team feels empowered to make decisions locally and to be responsible and accountable for their own actions. Once group marketing principles are consensually agreed, they should be there to liberate decision making and free up to local teams to better adapt and nuance materials for their own specific requirements.
Each team must be able to articulate their own unique value and which tasks require group help to complete and which they should deliver independently. Tensions between group and local opcos (whether designed or not) are always managed quietly and confidently.