Last October, Beata Magdziarz returned to Havas Media Group Poland as its newest Chief Digital Officer with a focus on expanding the network’s presence in the market. A Havas veteran, Beata brings years of experience and a determined attitude to this new role – and Dare! spoke to her to find out more about her career path, goals, and insights about the market.
Can you talk a bit about your career trajectory and how you ended up working in digital marketing and communication?
My journey in marketing began when I first joined the Red Bull field marketing team. It was not digital, but gave me wings of creativity – and helped me develop skills that have been extremely helpful in digital. My first steps in digital marketing involved working on a campaign management team, where I was responsible for planning digital activity in different countries for various brands. I worked for many eCommerce companies and non-profit foundations, as well as brands from the financial, telecommunication, educational, and FMCG industries. It was incredibly interesting and I wanted more – to see a bigger picture of digital marketing. I took further steps and joined a media house, then Havas Media Group! There, I had the opportunity to experience a plethora of digital marketing strategies within so many diverse agencies, and the work gave me a broader look at digital marketing. Havas Media has a great atmosphere – it is full of talent, real team building, and interesting digital projects.
Digital marketing has been an incredibly insightful journey. Working within a media house has given me a wider view of the various areas of digital; however, what has been the most rewarding and fascinating is the diversity of the brands I’ve gotten to work on!
Hungry for knowledge and expertise, I decided to delve deeper into a different side of the business: on the brand side! In my previous job at T-Mobile, I was responsible for building e-Commerce and digital media strategies across online channels. This work was very valuable for me in terms of getting to know the organisation, co-creating processes, and architecting visible change through digital transformation. I built a great team of experts and became acquainted with many aspects of e-Commerce in terms of technology, suppliers, and more.
During this time I decided to launch a non-profit foundation – Her Digital Bar – which is a community of women from the digital industry that helps young talent along the digital career path. This is a completely new idea aimed at promoting and spreading knowledge in digital marketing, supporting women and young talent through education and assistance in professional development, as well as in finding a job and personal development. As part of the foundation, we organise free webinars and workshops in digital marketing and conduct mentoring for people who want to work within the digital industry.
All of these elements have greatly helped me develop – not only professionally, but in how I serve others. This educational model has given me great satisfaction and also has helped me hone my creative skills. Last year, I had the opportunity to join the “Effie Awards” and “Innovation” as a jury member, which also really inspired me.
In October, I decided to rejoin Havas Media Group. As the Chief Digital Officer (CDO) and a board member, I am responsible for the strategy and development of competencies, offers, and digital products. I am also responsible for managing and coordinating all digital processes within the Havas Media Group agencies, so I work with all digital channels and build their synergy and educate and inspire my team to do their best.
This journey has helped me understand all sides of the business and build a full portfolio of expertise. I am ecstatic and enthused to run the digital world in the best way possible!
“Most of all, I see Havas Media as having great potential in the market, and thus a fantastic partner. I believe that together we will build brands and implement innovative projects.”
What helped you make the decision to join Havas again?
Havas Media Group is a great place for professional development, as it is strong within the market. I have experience in digital transformation management and I perceive a huge potential for digital growth in HMG.
I believe it is a perfect time for a network-wide holistic approach and consistent plan to take digital growth to a higher level. Fostering digital growth, based on the process of incorporating the latest digital trends across all areas of business, processes, culture, customer experiences, and higher cost-effectiveness, gives me the capability and energy to create.
What are you most excited about within this new role?
Building processes and competencies in a new place is already a huge developmental opportunity. But most of all, I see Havas Media as having great potential in the market, and thus a fantastic partner. I believe that together we will build brands and implement innovative projects. In addition, being top management in our organisation’s board is a new challenge for me, which brings a lot of opportunity for growth and knowledge in this segment.
What do you think the future of digital marketing is?
This year is a time of significant change for digital marketing and an increase in demand in this area. Online communication is gaining momentum, which means a return to advertising budgets at the pre-pandemic level, and, in some sectors, even significant increases due to ongoing digital transformation.
Integrated actions between platforms, the evolving concept of the Metaverse, the growing importance of NFTs, and the approach to data management are becoming more and more important. When planning advertising strategies, it helps to look for new ways to optimise media and expand into places where there are no standard advertising spaces, like streaming platforms. The ever-increasing role of social media is obvious, and I expect a further increase in the importance of influencers as well.
In the coming years, flexibility between the media and marketing professionals will be key. Agile identification of advertising opportunities and smooth navigation between different types of media will be critical to brand marketing strategies, as is the growing importance of social and environmental values.
Data management, automation, and data strategy are must-have areas and brands need them. Today’s brands focus heavily on delivering a satisfying customer experience, businesses need to deliver the most relevant and latest products and services. Big data strategy can optimise data-processing costs, make data warehouses flexible enough to integrate several types of data, and improve data management and analytics. Doing this can reduce costs and increase revenues, and more importantly, optimise efficiency and facilitate contact with the consumer. Thanks to the growing importance of the big data area, advertising agencies and media houses can provide several services related to this area and increase their offerings to brands.
As a result, a communication strategy tailored to the recipient will also be of key importance. A media strategy diversified by age group is more important than ever before. An increased consumption of social media by younger generations and their propensity to buy products through these platforms, as well as the entry into the world of online shopping for the 60+ age group offers completely different marketing opportunities.
“Agility, educational enthusiasm, understanding of digital media tools, and marketing and communication skills are the tools that give people a ticket to the world of digital marketing.”
What advice would you give people looking to enter the industry?
Digital marketing is an area that offers many professional opportunities and great versatility, and is also growing and expanding. There are more and more graduates of internet marketing or e-commerce on the market and the key here is the appropriate orientation and mentoring of candidates in the labor market to use their potential appropriately. Comprehension of the field is extremely important, but personal attributes such as a willingness to develop and expand knowledge of the dynamic digital world are also important. Agility, educational enthusiasm, understanding of digital media tools, and marketing and communication skills are the tools that give people a ticket to the world of digital marketing. These traits allow you to efficiently adapt existing processes in organisations, find new solutions, and build the pillars of a digital marketing strategy. On the other hand, versatility is important to cultivate as it helps you adapt to different verticals – like social media support or running a campaign in Google Ads.
