Vicki Scheele leads the Commercial marketing function for EMEA North at Adobe. We caught up with Vicki to learn more about her typical working day, the impacts of coronavirus, prized work desk possessions, advice for young marketers and what she eats for lunch (in my opinion the most important questions of all).
We know you’re extremely busy and working on all different aspects in your business. Could you give us a top-level overview of your role?
Adobe is a big company and I work in the Digital Experience division marketing our solutions to other businesses. I look after Marketing for EMEA North and also all EMEA Campaigns and Content
How has your role been affected since the outbreak?
We’ve had to change some of our in-person marketing activities and go completely digital. We’re lucky in a way as we’re digital at heart and already have the technology we need to pivot our activities quickly. It would have been much harder without it!
Before the pandemic what did a typical working day look like?
Cycle to work, hot desking, meetings, chats with the team, Pret, conference calls, cycle home (dodging the rain).
What does a typical working day look like now?
Early morning exercise bike session, family breakfast, negotiate work vs childcare balance with husband, conference call, sort home-schooling for 7 year old (Maths and English have changed a LOT since I was that age!), conference call, get led round the kitchen endlessly by 1 year old, more conference calls, more emails!
Do you have a prized possession on your desk?
My laptop. Because it means I’ve managed to bagsie the home office.
What helps you unwind after a working day?
Wine and cycling. Which is most important depends on how the day has gone.
What do you love the most about your job?
Working with an amazing team of fantastic marketers. It’s what I moved to Marketo for and the team just gets better and better.
What's difficult about your job?
Prioritising and sometimes having to put the reins on good ideas. Ideas are often easy to come by but unless we take the time to execute things well we’re missing out on opportunities.
What have been the biggest changes and challenges at your business and day to day?
The biggest business challenge has been having to switch our marketing plans in just a few weeks. The whole team rose to the challenge and within a couple of weeks we were adapting plans as well as executing on completely new ideas to engage audiences in a wholly digital way.
My main day to day challenge has been the lack of quick chats with the team in the office and the sheer volume of conference calls. We all need to over communicate when we’re not together but it doesn’t leave a lot of time for doing stuff. Oh, and 2 small children in the house has also been quite a challenge day to day!
What is your best piece of advice for people struggling to work from home?
30 mins exercise has been my number 1 priority every day during lockdown. Without it I know I’d have gone stir-crazy and lost motivation.
What advice would you give to someone looking to start a career in marketing?
Find some good people to learn from, be open minded, try things and think about others outside of marketing to understand the impact you have.
Finally, the most important question. What do you eat for lunch?
I’ve resisted Pret on Deliveroo so far, but have discovered a fantastic bakery round the corner that does same day delivery of the most amazing loaves! So lots of sandwiches mostly.
Vicki is speaking at #MarTechFest Dial Up, you can catch her sessions here
