Name: Steve Willcocks.
Job title: Managing director
Company: Conduit Business Information
B2B Audience: Automotive, publishing, telecoms, IT, training and finance sectors, along with agency data planners and brokers.
Education: Pure and Applied Maths & Physics at Stratford College
First job in marketing: Account manager with D&B. The mid 80s was a very innovative time in the industry, working alongside the likes of Keith Jones, Steve Cook, Mike Housley and Rick Lloyd.
How you got to where you are now? Having worked for D&B, CACI and Generator DataMarketing in B2B and B2C roles, I decided to leave the industry to gain a wider set of experiences. Being client services director for Razorfish (UK), one of the most creative and forward thinking companies in the digital arena at the end of the 90s was my epiphany. I joined Conduit in January this year.
What’s different about B2B? There’s still a tremendous amount of untapped potential.
Best bit about your job? Coming into work with a head full of ideas and seeing my team translate them into something exciting.
Which B2B brand do you most admire? Apple. Their ability to create near fanatical allegiance within their target audience, both business and consumer, coupled with being able to re-invent themselves to give their customers what they want time and again is inspirational.
Whose job would you like most? Bob Kiley [London’s transport commissioner]. The London transport system lacks joined-up thinking and their customers are treated appallingly.
Best piece of marketing/business advice? Learn something new every day.
Your proudest achievement? Running a support crew for a Dubai motorcycle team in the 2001 Marlboro Desert Challenge. We didn’t lose a single rider!
Your lowest ebb? Downsizing and eventually closing Razorfish (UK).
To succeed, a B2B marketer must…Continue to innovate; change is inevitable, progress is not! Having worked in several hi-tech businesses, you get a sense of the extremely bright and talented individuals that the European education system is producing, and some of the things they are working on. Technology is really going to change the way that we engage and interact (whilst delivering truly captivating user experiences).
Our jobs would be easier if…We could attract the most innovative and talented people.
Favourite B2B ad campaign past/present? IBM’s ‘Solutions for a small planet’
Is B2B marketing getting sexier? I think it’s always been sexy, if you look beneath the surface of some B2B programmes and campaigns, there is a lot of creative innovation going on.
Briefly describe your work station: I’ve set up a ‘war room’ which comprises Conduit’s ‘innovations team’. Every surface is either covered with PowerPoint presentations or sticky backed flipcharts. With its floor to ceiling windows looking over the Thames, it’s a great place to get inspiration!
Most important trait in a B2B marketer? To see your customers through their eyes.
Most admired person in B2B marketing? Sergey Brin and Larry Page, cofounders of Google.
Traits most & least admired in yourself? I think my passion and enthusiasm offset my internal nagging voice that says I should be doing better.
The song that best sums up your career? Ain’t no stopping us now
biggest extravagance?
Most overused phrase…“Draw it on the whiteboard for me”. Ozwald Boateng suits.
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