60 seconds with Senior Marketing Specialist Scott Hadden

60 Seconds with Senior Marketing Specialist Scott Hadden

We recently interviewed expert marketer Scott to find out a little about his background and his rise through the marketing ranks. Find out what Scott had to say below...

What attracted you to a career in Marketing?

I enjoyed the marketing modules in A-level Business Studies and decided to go for a Marketing Degree at University and have never looked back. At the time the creative element combined with business element led me down that route.

Who has been your biggest inspiration throughout your career?

I worked under one CEO, Andy Duxbury, for 9 ½ years and like me, he had a marketing background. We implemented many great marketing initiatives into the business and together helped cement marketing as a fundamental and strategically important function to the business.

If you could start all over again, what would you change?

I wouldn’t. I am sure my path could have been different but I am happy and grateful for what / where I am and excited by the challenges I am yet to face.

What do you enjoy the most?

I enjoy a lot of what I do, helping businesses to grow through marketing and being able to prove the ROI delivered to the business. However, I also love working with people and ‘marketing’ marketing and its benefits to them.

What is the biggest challenge you currently face?

People are always the biggest challenge and the most rewarding element. I am currently implementing a new strategy for my firm and such activities although massively rewarding are of course equally challenging.

What is your biggest achievement professionally?

Winning some national awards for a highly innovative Professional Services April Fools’ Day marketing campaign and being the lead case study of an international Professional Services Marketing Magazine are two things I am quite proud of. However, they are no more rewarding than surpassing the targets set by myself on marketing activities.

How have you ensured you keep developing and stay current with the ever-changing marketing landscape?

I am actively involved with the Chartered Institute of Marketing and sit on their North West board and in addition Chair the Professional Marketers Forum in the North West. As a proud Chartered Marketer learning and adapting is at the heart of what I do.

The marketing landscape has changed dramatically in the past five years. What have you seen from inside your industry?

Professional Services firms are getting savvier about marketing and how it can drive business growth. The rise of digital has seen a fundamental shift in the routes to market of many firms but has of course also helped to create other marketing opportunities in turn.

How is the economy affecting this?

All businesses have to watch what (and how) they spend their budgets and watch closely what return they get from it. This should drive up the quality of marketing professionals who increasingly have to prove significant ROI on their expenditure.

Where do you think the changes will happen in the next five years?

5 years is a very long time in marketing! The rise in the power of data and how marketers use it will certainly play a key role. There is a likelihood that market segments get narrower as clients become increasingly educated in their requirements with brands and products created to serve ever increasingly niche offerings. Certainly in law marketing will be an ever increasingly important differentiator.

Who are the most important people in the industry today?

Wow. Tough question. There are an awful lot of very talented people out there and every industry has its own shining lights I don’t think there is anyone I would single out as being “important” but certainly engaging with good people from across your marketplace is a must.

What skills or personal characteristics do you feel contribute most to a successful career in marketing?

The key to being a successful marketer is having a balanced approach to everything. You have to be creative, analytical, and persuasive in equal measures.

Where do you think the talent gaps are in the marketing community?

The marketing community is full of hugely talented people. Overall I don’t feel the gaps lie within the talent in the industry but in the ability for the industry to promote itself and ensure it is allowed to deliver the value add that I know it can.

What advice would you offer to a junior marketing professional?

Don’t be afraid to innovate.