My Best Marketing Tips #25: Lenovo / Quinn O’Brien / Vice President, Global Marketing
In his 25-year career in marketing, Quinn O’Brien has done it all: working in marketing agencies, setting up his own, and finally leading the global marketing arm of Lenovo. His career reflects his constant search for the “wow” factor in his work.
Quinn always advises new marketers to search for that unique something in every type of work they do. He also thinks that students leaving university need to first ensure that they find a good first manager who will help them acclimate to the working world.
What would be your best marketing tip?
If the thing you’re doing isn’t going to make someone say “wow,” then it’s not worth doing. (David Roman, CMO, Lenovo)
How have you put this marketing tip to good use?
When I worked with David, he taught me all about “wow” marketing and how it can apply to any type of work. So much of what we do isn’t that – so you need to make sure you get in touch with your gut and ask yourself if you work has the “wow” factor. I ask myself this all the time, even if it’s just a presentation, or something internal. Don’t fall prey to just churning work out – always stay true to your gut.
What marketing tips does the industry need most right now?
I’m interested in the changing role of agencies and in how marketing agencies today need to address the fact that clients are becoming more self-reliant, bringing more work in-house. It used to be the case that an agency would just sell you what they were good at, whether it was the perfect fit for your brand or not.
Now, consultative selling is key. Agency leads need to be about so much more than marketing. They need to sit down with businesses, understand their challenges, their plans, what success looks like for them. It’s those agencies that will make clients say “wow” – feeling understood and receiving a tailor-made service.
What is the marketing tip you give most often?
For those students just leaving university, I always say: “Worry a lot less about what company you work for, what your title and salary is, and worry a lot more about who you work for.”
I mean the actual first boss you’ll have, who will teach you the ropes and will be there for you as you navigate this transition from school to the working world. I feel that that’s really important at that stage in people’s careers.
Listen to Tim talk about career screw-ups, his learnings from growing chicks, and more on his view of the client-agency relationship, on the latest episode of our Shiny New Object podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/03SUtq4qPFOhz0MYTAdOTX
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