Embracing AI (Artificial Intelligence)

One of the standout talks for me was Richard Potter’s exploration of digital experiences in the new era of AI with Microsoft. As an SEO Content Specialist, I use AI daily to brainstorm, create outlines, and find new ideas when facing writer’s block. But did you know Microsoft’s Generative AI technology goes even further? It can tackle everything from content generation to summarizing text and, believe it or not, even creating poetry. I mean, who would’ve thought AI could be this creative? 

Richard emphasized that AI is here to empower and enhance our marketing abilities. It’s like having a super-smart sidekick helping us test new concepts, experiment without limits, and scale our efforts like marketing pros. And no worries, our jobs are safe.

Mastering cross-channel marketing

Following a delightful lunch break and some networking, I discovered the power of Parkdean Resorts’ cross-channel strategy in an intimate breakout session. Parkdean Resorts’ presentation highlighted the importance of reaching customers across multiple platforms, especially since an impressive 6.92 billion people now have access to a smartphone. By studying their customers and engaging with them through various channels, their team increased their reach by 20% and achieved an 88% uplift in conversions. Talk about marketing magic.

One of the standout elements of their approach was the use of personalization, tailoring messages to individual customers based on their preferred channel. This strategy led to more relevant communication, which is the essence of marketing, right? They even utilized our newly-acquired company, Fresh Relevance, to enhance its personalization, showcasing the potential benefits for other businesses. Parkdean Resorts is a great example of what’s possible when we think outside the box and are open to new approaches to our digital marketing efforts.

Customer-centric personalization

During the next presentation, I was absolutely captivated by the creative ways that Travel Chapter utilized personalization to build genuine, lasting connections with its customers across its 50 brands.

Travel Chapter knows that its customers want unique experiences. By simplifying newsletter sign-ups, they’ve lowered barriers to customer engagement and fostered better connections. Additionally, by utilizing zero-party data, they’ve gone the extra mile to gain insight into customers’ traveling habits and preferences, enabling them to deliver even more customized content. 

Travel Chapter’s efforts are certainly paying off – with a 4% increase in click-through rates, it’s clear that customers are responding positively to their efforts. By keeping the customer at the center of everything they do, Travel Chapter is setting a new standard for personalized travel experiences.  

Keynote speaker: Tim Peake

As the Dotdigital Summit neared its conclusion, I was captivated by a truly special and unforgettable final talk delivered by astronaut and pilot, Tim Peake. He shared his amazing space adventures, and everyone was fascinated by his stories from outer space.

While Tim Peake’s presentation centered around his breathtaking space missions, he also emphasized the significance of maintaining a resilient mindset and unyielding determination when pursuing our aspirations. Drawing from his personal encounters as an astronaut who had to overcome immense challenges against all odds, he provided the audience with a fresh perspective on perseverance.

He also highlighted the value of teamwork, resourcefulness, and effective problem-solving as key components to achieving success in our respective fields. These inspiring insights resonated with everyone, sparking the drive to make even the wildest dreams a reality.

With Tim Peake’s uplifting message still echoing in our minds, attendees, including me, walked away from the Dotdigital Summit feeling invigorated and ready to chase our dreams, no matter how big they may be.

Summary of Dotdigital Summit 2023

In a nutshell, the Dotdigital Summit 2023 was the perfect fusion of visionary ideas, cutting-edge tools, and inspiring stories. The impacts of AI, cross-channel marketing strategies, customer-centric personalization, and the importance of mindset and perseverance were all on display, offering invaluable education and motivation for digital marketing enthusiasts.

It’s worth remembering that all these phenomenal insights, success stories, and examples of innovation are within your grasp – it’s up to you to take the lessons learned and apply them to your digital marketing journey. 

Do you feel like you’ve missed out on all the action? Don’t worry as you can always get virtual Dotdigital Summit tickets and have access to the same level of inspiration and insights at your fingertips. So mark your calendars for an opportunity to grow, learn, and aim higher in the ever-changing landscape of digital marketing. 

Women in tech and marketing

Only 28% of the tech industry workforce are women, and just like most industries, this drops further when you look at women in leadership positions. Only 26.5% of executive, senior-level and management positions in S&P 500 companies are held by women. Take Amazon as an example within the tech sector; its female workforce is 44.8% of the company, however this almost halves when you look at women in senior management which is just 23.1%.

The percentage of female graduates with core STEM degrees is steadily growing, but the percentage remains low at just 26%. If the current pace of change remains consistent, the economic gender gap will take almost 133 years to close, according to the Women in Tech network.

In the marketing industry, it’s a slightly different story. Women make up almost half of the workforce, at 48%. Sounds pretty equal right? Unfortunately just like the tech industry, when you look at the number of women in senior-level positions within marketing, this percentage drops to just 37%.

Ultimately, the bigger players in the tech industry, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Apple in particular, are consciously working to end the gender gap within tech. From offering egg freezing to extending maternity leave, tech companies are trying to address the gap with benefits policies that will appeal to women. It’s certainly a start.

International Women’s Day at Dotdigital

International Women’s Day is an opportunity to celebrate women, to advocate for women, and to raise awareness of the issues women face. At Dotdigital we are proud to have a number of causes we care about, and gender equality is certainly one of them. This week a committee from Dotvoice, our employee voice groups, have been running various events to celebrate the women who work for Dotdigital.

We’re also proud to announce our new corporate partnership with the UK charity The Girls’ Network. The Girls’ Network aims to inspire and empower girls from the least advantaged communities by connecting them to a mentor and a network of professional role models who are women. We know that women are incredibly underrepresented in the tech industry, so we’re excited to partner with such a fantastic charity to inspire the next generation of young women.

Standout brands embracing International Women’s Day

We talk about empathetic marketing a lot, it’s important for brands to have causes they care about so that their customers can feel connected on a deeper level. International Women’s Day is a great opportunity for brands to share their support for women and use their platform to empower and educate. Here are some of our favorite International Women’s Day campaigns from brands proudly walking the walk, as well as talking the talk.

fresh

Beauty brand fresh’s campaign celebrates and acknowledges the fabulous women who created the company. fresh also offered something of value to its female subscribers by offering free, professional headshots for women. This shows that the brand understands that the workplace is often tougher for women, and offering something to combat this, especially whilst not super relevant to the brand, is fantastic. It’s a great example of a brand sharing its story and values, and demonstrating those values in a way that serves its customers.

This Works

Skincare and wellness brand This Works sent out a campaign celebrating the women in the business, and kept its products front and center too. Highlighting women within your business is a great way to show your brand truly celebrates women every day, not just when it’s trending. Utilizing real people to highlight their favorite products adds depth to the product, which is something brands need to do to encourage sales in a crowded marketplace.

Splendid

Apparel brand Splendid have utilized email to launch a fantastic initiative. Encouraging subscribers to share their own successes, or those of friends makes for a really positive campaign. The brand states that women are less likely to speak about their achievements, and that needs to change. Picking out a particular issue women face is a nice take on International Women’s Day which can easily become an empty, generic message if you’re not careful. The brand encouraging women to celebrate themselves, and incentivizing it with a generous prize draw is a really nice show of brand values. It’s not a commercially led campaign, but you can guarantee anyone opening that email will, subconsciously or not, warm to the brand and likely opt for them more in the future.

Whistles

British fashion brand Whistles put its money where its mouth is with its International Women’s Day campaign. The brand let customers know that for every sale from its stores or online on March 8th, the brand will donate £1 to The Prince’s Trust’s #ChangeAGirlsLifeCampaign. This campaign is simple, it gets the message across and shows the brand cares. The brand is doing something to drive change where it’s needed, whilst also protecting that bottom line by encouraging sales at the same time.

Stance

Apparel brand Stance used their platform to highlight female voices in a male-dominated industry. The brand shared the stories of two female skateboarders, and two of its in-house designers. This is a great showing of advocating not just for Stance’s brand, but encouraging change in the wider industry too. We also like that there’s nothing but the message in this campaign, it’s not an option for every brand, but leaving out the sales tactics can really help amplify the integrity of your message when possible.

Conclusion

International Women’s Day is a chance to celebrate women, and a reminder that we should all be doing that every day. The marketing industry is powered by great female minds, so we’re looking forward to what this year’s campaigns have to offer. As for the tech industry, innovation is at it’s core, so let’s hope to see equality in a lot less than the predicted 133 years.

From pioneers in the field of computer science to CEOs of major technology companies, these leaders have and are making a huge impact on the world of technology. By inspiring the next generation of Black entrepreneurs and innovators, they are changing the face of the industry.

Black leaders in technology are underrepresented

Although the technology industry is booming, it’s no secret that it lacks diversity. Women and people of color are severely underrepresented in the field, and this is especially true for Black professionals.

According to a Tuesday analysis from The Kapor Center and the NAACP, the percentage of Black professionals in technical roles at major technology companies climbed barely 1% between 2014 and 2021. This alarming statistic demonstrates how underrepresented Black professionals are in the tech industry.

At the management level, the situation is even bleaker. A mere 4% of Black professionals hold management positions, and the road to the top remains challenging. Sadly, this means it can be hard to find successful Black role models that can encourage aspiring individuals to join the field. Unfortunately, this also means that Black voices and perspectives are not represented in the industry.

Despite being underrepresented, Black leaders have been at the forefront of some of the most significant technological advancements in human history. We believe it’s critical to acknowledge the untold stories of key Black leaders in technology.

Learning from the past

Let’s start with the past. Looking back at the history of Black pioneers can provide us with invaluable insights into the current state of the industry. Countless leaders have paved the way for those in the industry today, but three stand out: Granville Woods, Tom Burrell, and Katherine Johnson.

Granville Woods

Granville Woods was a pioneer who left his mark on history. While working as a mechanic, Woods became fascinated with railroad machinery and paid close attention to learning electrical engineering.

After settling in Cincinnati, Ohio, he established the Woods Electric Company, specializing in the production of electric vehicles. In 1887, Woods developed the synchronous multiplex railway telegraph, which allowed communication between moving trains and train depots. This was the most influential of his inventions.

One year later, he developed a system for overhead electric conductors that helped power locomotives. Then, in 1889, he filed his first patent for an improved steam boiler furnace. His inventions have had an impact on society as we know it today, leaving Woods to be remembered as “Black Edison.”

Tom Burrell

In 1961, Tom Burrell became the first Black professional to break into Chicago advertising. As a mailroom employee, he learned about the industry and found a job as a copywriter. Despite this achievement, there was still a long way to go in addressing the problems of representation in advertising.

Burrell highlighted that advertising was aimed at a mass market—meaning white people. He saw campaigns that often had racist undertones. When advertisers did try to reach a Black audience, they were ignorant of Black culture and history. Burrell had a mission to change this narrative.

In 1971, he opened his own agency, Burrell Communications Group. He coined the term “Black people are not dark-skinned white people” and pioneered what is now known as “targeted advertising.” Here, he produced groundbreaking campaigns that incorporated elements of Black culture and changed the way advertising was viewed in the US.

His commercials for companies like Coca-Cola and McDonald’s are among his most notable works. He was also one of the first Black men to appear on a Wheaties box, an iconic achievement at the time.

Katherine Johnson

As NASA’s first female mathematician, Katherine Johnson was instrumental in the early days of the United States space program. She calculated the trajectories of the Mercury and Apollo space capsules, as well as the 1969 moon landing.

Johnson’s work was critical to the success of the space program. Her story is an inspiring example of what can be accomplished with hard work and dedication.

In recent years, Johnson’s story has gained renewed attention, thanks in part to the 2016 film Hidden Figures. The film tells the story of Johnson and several other African-American women who worked behind the scenes at NASA during the Space Race.

As we celebrate Johnson’s accomplishments, we should also remember the important role that she and other women like her played in the development of technology. Johnson’s story is a reminder that women have always been at the forefront of innovation.

Learning from the present

In the present day, some new Black leaders are making their mark on the world. By learning about their stories, we can gain a better understanding of the challenges and triumphs facing Black professionals today. This can help us to appreciate the progress that has been made and to build on the momentum for change.

Strive Masiyiwa, Timnit Gebru, and Steven Bartlett are three notable individuals that immediately came to mind.

Strive Masiyiwa

Strive Masiyiwa is a technology entrepreneur who has made a vast impact in Africa. He is the founder and executive chairman of Econet Global, a leading international telecommunications group.

Econet is a pioneering force in the development of mobile networks and mobile money services in Africa. It’s also a major player in the provision of other innovative services such as EcoCash, a mobile money service that has transformed the lives of millions of people in Zimbabwe.

Masiyiwa’s work in technology has helped connect people all over the continent and has improved the quality of life for many. He’s an inspirational figure who is making a real difference in the world.

Timnit Gebru

Dr. Timnit Gebru is a technology leader who is making a huge impact in the field of artificial intelligence. After publishing studies on bias in search algorithms and criticizing the company’s bias and lack of diversity, Dr. Gebru was sacked by Google’s AI Ethics team. Subsequently, she went on to co-found the nonprofit group Black in AI. Black in AI is dedicated to increasing the participation of Black people in the field and more ethical and responsible AI technologies.

Dr. Gebru is a powerful voice in the fight for diversity and inclusion in technology. She’s a strong advocate for the need to have more Black people in leadership positions in the technology industry. Through her work, she’s helping to break down barriers and make the technology industry more accessible to everyone.

Steven Bartlett

Steven Bartlett is a globally recognized technology leader and the co-founder and CEO of Social Chain. This is a social-first marketing agency with millions of followers across its social platforms, specializing in social media, content marketing, and influencer marketing. Bartlett is also a published author, having released his first book, “Results: How to Achieve Your Goals and Fast-Track Your Success,” in August 2019.

In an article for Forbes, Bartlett detailed how social media allows companies to connect with potential customers, understand their needs, and create valuable content that resonates with them.

Bartlett’s own LinkedIn profile is a notable example of how social media can be used to build thought leadership and brand awareness. He regularly shares insightful articles and blog posts, which has helped him become one of the top voices in the marketing industry. Bartlett’s social media presence is a great inspiration for marketers who want to use social media to build their businesses.

A dynamic and driven entrepreneur, Bartlett is passionate about using technology and social media to create opportunities, empower young people, and level the playing field. Under his guidance, Social Chain has become one of the world’s most innovative and effective digital marketing companies, working with some of the biggest names in the industry, including Apple, Manchester United, YouTube, Nike, and Coca-Cola.

Summary

From visionaries like Granville Woods and Katherine Johnson to modern-day trailblazers like Strive Masiyiwa and Steven Bartlett, these inspiring individuals’ actions have served as both a catalyst and a blueprint for change in the technology industry.

This industry has a long way to go in terms of diversity, but supporting these notable leaders will help pave the way for a more inclusive future for everyone.

We’re excited to see what these talented Black leaders in technology accomplish in the years to come.

What is hack week?

Employees work in teams to work on innovative solutions for previously identified problems. These solutions could involve an emerging technology, a novel way to apply existing technology, or just simply making things better. It’s been exciting to see previous years’ hacks that have made their way into the Dotdigital product and the quality of the ideas this year were no exception.

Thirteen teams had three days to bring ideas to life and create a video showcasing what they had created. A panel of judges then identified winners in four categories, plus a fifth ‘bragging rights’ award for the best team name, voted on after the presentations.

This year, hack week was lead by Simon Letch, our Software Development Manager and the judges included a member of HR, a member of Customer Success, along with members of the Product and Technology team. The entries were strong, making the decisions very hard. Let’s get to the winners.

Most Innovative

The unacceptables – Next Generation Dotdigital took the award for most innovative. Their goal was to enable simple and consistent integration of our scripts in the latest and greatest of front end Javascript frameworks.

Most Wanted

The team Moebius theory and their project: RPP (Rapid program pollination) was given the Most Wanted Award! They worked on creating a feature for the program builder that adds an “execute immediately” option for programs which will execute enrollments based on the current enrollment rules.

Chief Product & Technology Officer Award (awarded by our very own Steve Shaw)

The Explosive Architects – C4 was the winner of our CPTO award! Using Structurizr, this team is championing creating living C4 models of our architecture and proposed goal state architecture to ensure any changes we plan are moving towards that goal state.

Best Hack

Team Plan for Success introduced Omnibox which is a calendar view of scheduled Email and SMS campaign activity.

Bonus Award: Best Team Name

And last, but not least, the Sheriffs of Noteingham took the bonus award and bragging rights for Best Team Name!

Join us and hack too

If experimenting with new technology and solving customer engagement problems in new and innovative ways seems like something you’d excel at, have a look at our open positions over at careers.dotdigital.com. We are always on the lookout for outstanding additions to our team!

Some may ask why this is of sadness, especially since the apparent support Belarus is giving Russia. The answer is plain and simple – people. When it comes to people, there was no support from our team members in Belarus for this war. Let me explain more…

For those who have never been, Minsk is a wonderful city – and I know this due to personal experience, because of the many visits myself and my team have made. Much of it was destroyed during World War 2, so most of it is relatively new, but there are still some pockets of buildings, architecture, and culture that survived.  

As you can imagine as an ex-Soviet state there are lots of Russian influences: the main boulevard running through Minsk is wide and straight with buildings on either side that are not allowed to go over a certain height. Interesting fact: that building height is exactly half the road width! There is an amazing red church, an octopus ‘spaceship looking’ library, a huge opera house, and, like many other countries in the region including Ukraine, it has an amazing set of universities, many of which create exceptionally skilled engineers.

I remember my first visit to Belarus shortly after starting at Dotdigital in 2014 when I made a point of having one-to-ones with all of the team members in a nearby cafe and realized quite quickly that their dedication and skills were a great asset to Dotdigital. The team was kind enough to show me around Minsk, and I learned a lot about their culture, values, and independent pride.    

With the Belarusian government elections in 2020, things started to change rapidly. The election was marred by claims of widespread electoral fraud. Numerous countries refused to accept the result of the election, as did the European Union which imposed sanctions on Belarusian officials deemed to be responsible for the fraud itself, as well as subsequent violence and repression of protests.

In 2021, the Belarusian military forcefully landed a flight that was transiting Belarus airspace in order to imprison a protestor. This soon meant that our teams could no longer visit our team members in Minsk by air (an EU-led no-fly zone across all of Belarus came into effect) nor could our colleagues come to visit our head office.

When COVID struck we all learned to work remotely better than ever before which enabled our operations to continue. However, with Russia’s attack on Ukraine at the start of 2022, some of which came from the Belarusian border, it became apparent that keeping our Belarus Engineering hub going longer term was becoming more difficult. Further sanctions by western governments meant that even paying our team was becoming more challenging.

We, therefore, took the decision early in 2022 to offer a relocation scheme for our team in Belarus to join our Engineering hub in Poland.   

I am very pleased to say that with the scheme we have successfully relocated 65% (11) of our Belarusian team to Poland, enabling them to continue working for Dotdigital. Thanks to the Polish Government through the Polish Business Harbour scheme we were able to get visas for our team and with the help of our superstar Polish team our Belarusian team members were welcomed with open arms.

As I mentioned at the start of this, it is a sad day for Dotdigital as 5 of our team are unable to make the relocation work. They will always be a big part of our Dotfamily; many had long tenure but made the choice which was right for them, to not relocate.

We want to thank all of the team who are continuing with us and all those who have dedicated much time to building our fantastic products, websites, and more.  I hope to be able to see Minsk again one day but more importantly, I hope to once again see peace in Ukraine.

Thanks to our people’s collective efforts, skills and vision, Dotdigital has grown to be a global company with an incredibly powerful platform serving customers worldwide from many international offices. So if you’re on a video call with Dotdigital, the backdrop could be London Bridge, Sydney Harbor, or New York City! I have been delighted to be part of this journey since 2013, and each year gets more rewarding and exciting.

This year we’ve hit the 400 employees milestone, which shows the scale of our growth. We’ve added 75 new people this year alone. Of course, in true Dotdigital style, we celebrated with an early finish across our offices and a party. We’re still looking for a pub table big enough. But we’re not stopping here. Like you, we have big plans.

What’s next for Dotdigital?

We thrive on innovation and our sustainable growth model means we’re still recruiting whilst the broader tech industry may be struggling.

Put simply, 400 people is great, but we’re ready to welcome even more great minds to the business. We have many open positions across different specialisms, seniority levels, and geographies.

• Join our APAC team as they continue to make waves. Roles are available in Singapore, Australia, and Japan.
• It’s the same in the Americas – we need more people to keep up with our growing customer list.
• And, of course, we are still the largest independent customer engagement platform in the EMEA, so we need talent in the UK, Poland, Netherlands and South Africa.

Check out our careers site for all live positions.

And if you’re thinking about joining Dotdigital, you can be sure of a warm welcome – still true to our humble beginnings. We have a culture where all employees in all regions and levels treat each other respectfully. We love developing and training our people, seeing them grow and have fabulous careers. And last but not least, we have a lot of fun whilst we work.

So if you or someone you know would like to be a part of our future, check out our careers page; we’d love to hear from you.