“We’re delighted to have Mariza join us in the role of Senior Manager – Marketing Services and are very excited about the wealth of skills and experience Mariza brings to our team and to our customers.”

Richard Brown – Head of Marketing Services

We catch up with Mariza to find out more about her role, her background and the role she plays in helping organisations create connected experiences and get closer to their customers.

Tell us a bit about your role and what it entails

As Senior Manager – Marketing Services, my role is to help drive opportunities in Wellington and share my experience of consulting across web, commerce and marketing technology.

I’m focused on growing the team and the marketing services capabilities here in Wellington, and engaging with our customers to grow communications capabilities in their business.

Tell us a bit about your background, your mission in life, what gets you out of bed in the morning…

 Coffee gets me out of bed in the morning!

I grew up in South Africa, and I spent most of my working career in Cape Town, which was quite exciting – I’ve worked across a number of international projects and brands at digital marketing consultancies. I moved to Wellington about five years ago, so I’ve been here a little while now. I enjoy nature and beaches, and Cape Town is a windy city as well, so Wellington seemed like a good fit! I’ve enjoyed it here – it was an easy move and decision.

In New Zealand I’ve mainly been working with public sector organisations and local Kiwi brands. My career overall has been quite varied. I’ve worked across many different types of technology that are used by organisations and businesses to be successful, from point of sale, which is more on the retail and e-commerce end, to ERP systems, which is more around enabling business functions.

This is to say that I didn’t start in digital marketing per se – I evolved from other digital technologies. I enjoy the fact that marketing and communications includes so many different elements, but at the end of the day you’re trying to achieve one main thing, which is to connect a business with customers. It’s also a very consultative type of job, which I enjoy. I like problem solving, and I like helping people move forward and solve challenges that they may be facing, big or small.

Besides coffee, what gets me up in the morning is a passion for data and technology, and how it enables businesses to achieve what they need to do. Technology is a fast paced environment where it’s constantly changing and I’m constantly learning, I really enjoy that.

What brought you to Davanti, and what are you most looking forward to in your new role?

I was keen to join a great organisation that embraces human-centered design principles and practices, and helps customers to achieve unique and impactful customer experiences. I was also looking to progress in my career, establish a team and make an impact of my own – Davanti was a good fit.

For the last five years, I’ve been working across digital experience platforms, so I’ve become quite focused on human-centred design and helping deliver those great experiences across any touchpoint. You can have the technology, but if you don’t have the message and the creative, and if you don’t understand your customer, then you won’t be able to connect.

I’m looking to make an impact in Wellington, specifically in the public sector, but also more broadly for any organisation that’s looking to realise the value of data-driven communications and marketing capabilities. In terms of technology, I’m focused on Marketing Cloud and customer data solutions.

How do you help customers achieve connected experiences, and how does this improve their lives or achieve business outcomes?

Technology is just an enabler for achieving an experience. A big part of that is knowing your customer, and keeping the information and data about them within the bounds of consent and propriety.

My focus area is Salesforce, Marketing Cloud and customer data platforms. With that comes everything around planning, including looking at customer needs and pain points. We then utilise human-centered design principles and work with Davanti’s Design and Experience team to really use those technology sets to deliver moments that matter to customers.

In your conversations with customers right now, what’s the one thing they’re thinking about and focusing on this year when it comes to transforming their customer experience?

There’s a couple of things that are front of mind for organisations at the moment. A big one is obviously the Covid pandemic, which has influenced many aspects of life – one being that people are not necessarily in the office, they’re at home and working from various locations.

This has put a lot more emphasis on having the ability to complete transactions online, and having a more mature communications capability so businesses can talk to customers whether they’re on social media, email or have another preference. Being able to have conversations and capabilities in a digital space is a big driver for digital transformation initiatives right now.

Thinking of my own experience, I’ve been impressed with the Ministry of Health and how they’re communicating with customers in multiple ways. For instance, they’re using social media advertising, news channels and more to share information about getting vaccinated. I think they have executed it incredibly well, considering they probably didn’t have a lot of time to execute.

The second thing that I would say is quite front of mind for organisations is the need to focus on first-party data. There are a number of different changes in the digital landscape around browsers, cookies and more, which means organisations have to take a lot more ownership of customer data themselves, as opposed to relying on third-party tools. This is driving more urgency for organisations to address the way they handle data.

When you’re not busy helping our clients get closer to their customers, how do you spend your time?

 I do a lot of DIY projects. I enjoy getting away from digital and getting hands on – whether that’s hammering things into walls or plastering or something else. I like to try new things. I also like to go to the beach or go on hikes, and reconnect with nature. These are the sorts of things that keep me energised.

Sources of inspiration?

The ocean and the beach really bring me back into a state of calm. I also enjoy collaboration a lot, and working with other people. I’m not an extrovert necessarily, but I find collaborative engagements really inspiring.

Favourite quote or mantra?

“I think you should take your job seriously, but not yourself – that is the best combination.” – Judi Dench.

This reminds me that you have to have fun with whatever you do. What we’re doing is important work but we can still have fun in how we do it.

Mariza Löb is Senior Manager – Marketing Services.