Marianne
Mewett didn’t apply for the role of Marketing Manager when she joined QVM. She
was to be our digital marketing person, a new specialist role that was clearly
necessary for QVM to compete in a rapidly evolving retail world.
Digital
Marketing involves the management of search engines, websites, social media,
email, and mobile apps. Marianne had developed expertise in that area and was
keen to develop her role within a major retail player like QVM.
Of course,
by the time she joined us, things had changed. Mark Scott our incumbent
Marketing Director, had moved on and Marianne was offered the role of Marketing
Manager with a much wider brief than she originally envisaged.
Her
expertise in web design was put to great use as the completely updated QVM
website was launched late last year and customers and traders were able to enjoy a fresh,
and responsive website that at last met industry standards.
Marianne
showed another very desirable quality and that was here ability to relate to
traders and their needs. She listened to what traders were telling her about
their core customers, and the Melbourne events that attracted them. She identified that the drop off in market
visitation by regional and interstate customers over recent years was a major
problem and she identified the key areas that traders could work on to address
modern customer engagement. Her workshop on social media engagement back in
mid-December was a standout.
Sadly, this
wider exposure to marketing activities was not what Marianne came here for. She
is intent on gaining expertise in digital marketing, and who can blame her. Digital
marketing is a rapidly evolving function and those on the ground floor of
developments right now are likely to determine the future for retail marketing
across the globe. Someone has enticed her away with a pure digital marketing
role and we wish her every success, but her departure is clearly our loss.