Stephanie Zemlak —Customer Experience Director, Beacon Communications
Stephanie talks to TheNextGag about living in Japan, the future of technology and the possibilities of the AI-powered Marcel internal communications tool.
Stephanie Zemlak is a Customer Experience Director at Beacon Communications in Japan.
Stephanie started her career working as a Project Administrator at Epsilon International before joining Tribal DDB. She then became Project Manager at Proximity BBDO in Paris. After that, she moved to Singapore where she was a Regional Account Director. Prior to her current position at Beacon Communications, she was with Arcade in Singapore.
THENEXTGAG: WHAT KIND OF RELATIONSHIP DO YOU HAVE WITH PUBLICIS GROUPE ? ARE YOU EXCITED ABOUT THE POSSIBILITIES OF MARCEL ?
STEPHANIE ZEMLAK: I’ve been working for Publicis owned agencies for the last few years, I’m currently with Beacon which is part of Publicis Japan.
I was honestly kind of dubious when I heard about Marcel. Giving up awards is quite a controversial decision. But I’ve recently seen the unveiling and am now coming round to the idea of it. My understanding is that it’s all about connection. Being able to connect with great work and those who created it. Access to interesting projects to collaborate on and connections in other agencies within the network. Ultimately, I think these connections could lead to interesting professional opportunities for me in the future.
TNG: HOW DID YOU END UP IN JAPAN ?
SZ: Actually, I wouldn’t be in Japan without that connection I just mentioned. I was working for Arcade, a creative hot shop in Singapore. They were acquired by Publicis which meant I was able to connect with people all over the Publicis Network. I heard about the opportunity in Japan that way and was super interested. It was time for a new challenge, I wanted to expand my horizons so I decided to go for it.
TNG: HOW ADVANCED DO YOU FIND THE JAPANESE MARKET ON THE DIGITAL SIDE ?
SZ: Japan is a paradox. It is extremely advanced in terms of technology, it’s super advanced as a service industry. But marketing from a consumer centric mindset is still a work in progress. I think this is mostly due to strict privacy laws which have been in place for a long time. A lot of insights around consumer driven thinking were not possible due to these restrictions. Digital now allows us access to a lot more data but Japan is just not used to mining this data. It’s challenging but there’s such a great opportunity to integrate these things together so it’s a really exciting time to be in Japan.
Japan is at the forefront.
TNG: WHAT IS THE NEXT BIG THING COMING FROM JAPAN AND TAKING THE WORLD BY STORM AFTER EMOJIS ?
SZ: I’d love to say what the next big thing in terms of technology or digital is going to be. There’s some fun things happening with robotics and AI but honestly, nobody really knows what will land here let alone take off elsewhere. What’s really interesting with Japan at the moment, is the challenge they are facing with the aging population. Society and the economy are going to have to adapt considerably. It will affect Japan’s cultural identity and its attitude towards internationalism. This will eventually become an issue in Europe as well so other markets are going to look to Japan for learnings. I don’t know what the solutions will be but Japan is at the forefront and we’ll no doubt see some interesting technologies or uses of technologies come from this.
TNG: WHAT ARE THE SPECIFICITIES OF THE JAPANESE AD MARKET ?
SZ: As I said before, it’s a bit of a paradox. We’re starting to see some more adventurous work which really makes use of the best technology that Japan has to offer and it’s only going to continue to develop. I hope I get the chance to be a part of creating some interesting work too!
TNG: HOW WOULD YOU EXPLAIN YOUR JOB TO A STRANGER ?
SZ: Have you seen Mad Men? It’s nothing like that…
Digital marketing requires an understanding of technology, data, and consumer behaviour and habits. My job is to combine these things and try to come up with interactive experiences that are so engaging that consumers would genuinely consider a brand or understand how a product might be useful to them.
TNG: HOW DID YOUR PAST EXPERIENCES PREPARED YOU TO BECOME A CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE DIRECTOR ?
SZ: I’m just a geek for digital marketing which is painful to say because I know how sad it sounds but it’s really true. I actually blame P&G for that. I worked on their global CRM program for a few years and it was a turning point in my career. I understood the opportunities of communicating with consumers about what they are interested in and linking that to products and solutions that we were offering. I found it so exciting and really developed a passion for this work.
The industry is so fast paced and always evolving, I always want to know what’s around the corner and how we can use it in new and unexpected ways. This curiosity, along with the opportunity to work with interesting brands and on exciting projects has allowed me to keep the passion (or at this point I should probably say obsession) alive.
You’ve got to be open to change and relearn what you thought you already knew.
TNG: WHAT SKILLS DOES ONE NEED TO CULTIVATE WHEN WORKING ABROAD ON REGIONAL OR REGIONAL ACCOUNTS ?
SZ: Open mindedness, willingness to adapt and learn. You’ve got to be open to change and relearn what you thought you already knew. Having said that, the internet lets us more easily recognize the similarities between countries and cultures so it’s definitely getting easier. I like to think my digital knowledge and experience is the most important and then I’ve picked up the relevant market knowledge through living in the country and immersing myself in the local culture.
TNG: WHAT MAKES A GREAT CLIENT ?
SZ: Those who are passionate, adventurous and collaborative. I appreciate when agencies are able to truly partner with clients to deliver great work together.
THENEXTGAG: ARE YOU BULLISH ON VOICE ? OR DO YOU THINK IT WILL BE JUST A FAD ?
SZ: I wouldn’t say bullish but it’s definitely not a fad. I was recently reading about H&M’s Voice Interactive Mirror, Siri Shortcuts for Custom Voice Commands and Mozilla’s Voice Controlled Web Browser. There’s loads happening so voice is definitely here to stay and will continue to evolve.
Stephanie Zemlak
Customer Experience Director
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