Summit Europe 2017 Preview: Q&A With Julian Archer

The eighth annual SiriusDecisions Summit Europe, which will be held in London on October 4–5, will provide two days of data-driven best practices research; the latest updates on innovations across the b-to-b space; and an opportunity to network with an elite community of European sales, marketing and product leaders. In the first of three interviews I conducted with Summit Europe presenters, I sat down recently with Julian Archer to get a glimpse into how this event will help attendees operationalize their organization’s growth strategies in today’s diverse European b-to-b markets.

What is the biggest challenge facing marketing operations leaders in Europe today?

I think one challenge continues to be the alignment not only between corporate and regional, but also, importantly, with the local office. It’s trying to keep the balance between justification for investment, and trying to make an engagement at the country level a local experience.

From a marketing operations perspective, though, the number one challenge is going to remain compliance with GDPR [General Data Protection Regulation, which will come into force in May 2018]. On the demand creation side, it’s very much about understanding the implications of moving to permission-based engagement. On the marketing operations side, it’s a question of how to manage and oversee the intake of data from all sources of that data, whether they’re Web forms, events or salespeople entering individual contacts – the whole management of the intake of that data is really important. We also have to consider the storage of that data: where it’s stored and how it’s transferred between systems and geographies. For example, if I transfer data from the EU to North America, how do I make sure I’m covered by the privacy shield?

Then there’s the maintenance of that data. It’s always the marketing operations team that’s charged by the organization – by the CMO – to make sure the marketing data is compliant. A corporate team will ask, “Is our company data safe?” and “Are we open to the risk of hacking or data breaches?” – that’s one area where legal and IT take the lead. But from a marketing perspective, it’s too often forgotten that the marketing and the marketing operations team have to make sure that the marketing engine can still drive the business as it’s required to do.

Tell me a little about your Summit Europe session with Christine Polewarczyk, “Rationalising Localisation Investments for Global Markets.” What can attendees expect to take away from this presentation?

Many companies suffer from having an incomplete localization strategy or, if they have one, not being able to adapt content localization workstreams to suit the varying localization requirements across multiple markets. Organizations have to determine their localization prioritization for the markets they want to go into. An organization may be in x number of markets, and it’s often hard for managers to objectively decide which require localization investment. We have a tool and a process for articulating what the prioritization of those markets should be.

This provides an input to our wider four-quadrant localization model that requires marketers to rank, on the X-axis, the level of marketing differentiation from the domestic market needed to be successful in a market, and on the Y-axis, the depth or level of localization required. We introduced the SiriusDecisions Localization Prioritization Tool last year, so this year we’re going to go deeper into that tool to show the implications for process, division of responsibilities and localization workflow management on content localization for each quadrant outlined in the model.

What one thing would you recommend Summit Europe attendees do in London in their free time?

Everyone should visit the Globe Theatre to see one of Shakespeare’s plays. Shakespeare was so important to the English language, and to the function of marketing in particular. He was the original marketer! He invented the concept of being “marketable.” He invented “advertising.” He actually invented those words. He’s the guy who was always on message and could say the right thing succinctly, and he’s just across the river.

Quick facts:
Event: SiriusDecisions Summit Europe 2017
Date: October 4–5, 2017
Location: Hilton London Metropole in London, England