Zara Cane is the Head of Marketing at Sony Pictures Entertainment Italia. The renowned marketer has had successful stints at Costa Coffee and Vodafone overseeing successful marketing campaigns. She tells Stellar Woman Magazine why you don’t need to spend one more month in a role you don’t enjoy doing.
You have had such a rich career path. First starting off in customer experience with Levi Strauss & co. What was your first work experience like? What did you learn from it?
I had a lot of experience in retail, working for years in customer facing jobs in stores and the service industry. This experience was vital to my first few roles at head office level in marketing – learning how operations actually work, to be customer focussed, and what store teams need to do to deliver a great campaign idea (with a huge queue mid-sales!). It was really critical to being able to do a good job. It’s the kind of experience and understanding of operations, that’s hard to get any other way than having lived it yourself first-hand.
You then moved to Costa coffee as a Strategic research and Insight executive then to International marketing manager, shortly thereafter to Digital Marketing Manager responsible for 33 international markets, then to senior marketing manager for global brand campaigns, a change to Vodafone, managing customer acquisition and now managing campaigns for Sony Pictures in Italy. How did you make this possible? It looks like you were jumping the career Ladder instead of climbing it.
I was lucky to be on a great graduate scheme at Costa coffee which was really focused on developing different skill sets and pushing growth – I had the chance to work in both Retail marketing and Insight early. Then the perfect role came up for me in Paris to launch the brand there which blended the insight and customer led experience with the campaign development skills I picked up in retail marketing. It was definitely a case of right place, right time and being supported by senior management to go for it! I had great mentors during my time there that taught me to think 5 years ahead in terms of what skills I might need in the future whenever considering a role move.
Was marketing always your childhood dream career?
Absolutely not! I wanted to be a lawyer growing up, and then later in school and at university, a clinical psychologist. I fell into marketing a little because I’ve always loved language, and it seemed like a great blend of the quite statistical research base of psychology and the creative elements of communication. I remember being very nervous at my first interview that I didn’t have a marketing degree – I then found that the team and the field come from all backgrounds. This usually adds to the team’s strength -having different skill sets mixed together. I also did a part time training with Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) in my first working years to pick up some of the more business-focussed terminology and training missing from my psychology degree.
What have you learnt the most on your way up the career path?
Always have an open mind and be willing to try something new (even if it didn’t work a few years ago!). Gut feeling is really important. The person you’re working for is more important than the role itself on paper – if you feel trusted and can learn, you’ll make it good either way.
What has been your biggest challenge going up the career path? How did you overcome that challenge?
Self-doubt, and fear of doing the wrong thing early on. You have to have a great relationship with your line manager and learn how to use feedback to help you while you’re starting. Be prepared to defend and back up your decisions with valid insight, and then be prepared to be wrong sometimes anyway!
Moving from a different job that doesn’t serve the same market might be seen as starting afresh or re-establishing yourself. How do you think about your career move and opportunities?
If something looks exciting and I’ll learn something and enjoy coming to work, I go for it! If it’s a good culture fit, you can learn most things along the way. If it’s not, it’ll be hell – in that case, adapt or move on!
Having led several global marketing campaigns. What makes a campaign successful?
Customer focus and simplicity. What’s the problem you’re solving, and how can you communicate that in the clearest and most engaging way?
Stellar Woman readers are from different parts of the globe. Share with us your global experience of women in these different markets. Is there a major difference between women at work in London, Paris and Milan?
There are definitely cultural differences between the three cities. In terms of hours, hierarchy at work and the livelihood of 5pm Friday after work drinks (those are definitely London centric!). The biggest difference though, in my experience, isn’t geographical location but company culture, which comes from the leadership – you can get a sense early on if the team feels like a good fit for your values and work style. If they aren’t, it can be very hard getting out of bed in the morning. In that case: move on! Two different companies in the same city can have a completely different value system, it’s just a case of finding what works for you.
What keeps you going when the going gets tough?
Coffee 🙂. Good team mates, realising that in the end it’s just coffee and cake, or a film, or campaign. We aren’t in the business of saving lives and the world will carry on turning if you don’t get that task done to perfection – the “Done is better than perfect” mentality from Lean In shouldn’t be under-rated in a crisis.
What’s your morning routine?
Coffee. 🙂
What is usually your fashion choice on that day you have a very important business meeting?
A flattering dress and nice shoes, and I’ll make an effort with hair and make-up. I do it for myself – I feel better and more confident that way and it shows.
How do you relax?
Read a book, watch a good film, go for a drink or dinner with friends. I love theatre and dancing, that is one part of life in London I do miss!
Please set one challenge for the Stellar Woman?
Don’t spend a month more than needed in a company or role that doesn’t make you happy or impacts your self-esteem – there are other roles and companies out there that will remind you that you like your job, go and find them! Don’t let a blot on your CV stop you from the next exciting job out there.