We chat to Sharon Head, Vice President at e-Dialog for leading brands including Boots and Expedia about her career in direct marketing, her love of clothes and life away from the Big Apple…

You joined e-Dialog in London in May 2007, what were you up to before then?
Well I was working in the US and spent 12 years in direct marketing in retail, specifically for apparel retailers, which was lots of fun. I’d been in New York when I met my husband who’s a Brit. We got married and a few months later we decided to move to England to be closer to friends and family on this side of the pond. We decided to firstly take a sabbatical and go travelling for 4-months. So we had an amazing time in South East Asia, Australia and China before arriving here.

How does London compare to New York?
I think London is actually a lot cooler, it’s an edgier and younger city in many ways. London is really different so I’m enjoying being in the capital a lot!

So tell me a bit more about your work in the US…
Well I’ve worked with big brands Ann Taylor and The Children’s Place and started my career with The Franklin Mint, a very traditional catalogue and direct marketing driven company. One of the first things I did with them in 1999 was develop their first ever e-mail marketing campaign, which I literally had to create myself from scratch!

That must have been an experience?
Ha ha, it was! I was using SQL and doing HTML coding, really starting from the ground up. It was huge fun innovating with what was then a new medium. But after four years I was looking for more of a challenge and I considered going back to school to do an MBA. I put a CV together for that and then thought hey, lets send this out and see what comes back. As a result Ann Taylor came calling as they needed a team to develop their first ever website, so I was hired to help launch AnnTaylor.com.

So why the focus on apparel, are you a shopaholic?
Definitely, but the thing I loved about Ann Taylor and The Children’s Place and with apparel in particular, is that you can identify and connect with the customers behind the numbers. For example with The Children’s Place, what’s really lovely is that you were speaking to moms and dads, understanding the things that make their lives as parents easier and then building that into our marketing.

So that need for insight must have carried over into your work for your clients at e-Dialog?
Absolutely, with some of the brands that we work with like Boots I have really been able to use my experience to identify with what they are trying to achieve.

So how has the transition from client to agency side been?
Good question! Switching to the agency side has been great and what I’ve really like about it is the variety of work and the brands I get to work with. Agency life is always really dynamic and intellectually challenging and you get to apply your past experience across a broad range of situations. You really become a problem solver and people turn to you for your expertise and really want to listen. The value you can add to clients businesses is huge.

So you’ve been at e-Dialog for just over a year, have there been many changes?
Yes, we’ve grown hugely almost doubling from 40 to nearly 80 people. We’ve also moved into amazing office space just off Oxford St. They’re bright and colorful and open plan and everyone gets to chat and have lunch together. I think it really reflects the culture of the company. When candidates and clients come and see the environment we work in, I think it really showcases what e-Dialog is all about and what makes us special – our people.

If you could change one thing about the e-mail marketing industry what would it be?
I think the general perception that e-mail marketing sits off to the side or is stand-alone from other marketing activity. I encourage clients to view e-mail in the same way as other forms of direct marketing and as part of an integrated customer marketing strategy. I also encourage clients to apply the same discipline they would with offline marketing – that is to apply testing and analytics rigour and use data in the best way possible. Just because e-mail seems instantaneous doesn’t mean it should be treated with less respect than other marketing channels or that communications to your customers should be any less relevant. It’s just as important as any interaction with a customer in a store or catalogue you send to their home.

So which brands do you most admire from a marketing perspective?
Well apart from e-Dialog’s clients, I really admire Apple of course, great branding, the iPod, the iphone, need I say no more. Plus, they are pretty good when it comes to using e-mail with really relevant content and clever channel integration. Also I love my American imports. I am sooo happy to see Whole Foods and Banana Republic in London. Both great US brands who I think for know their customers and try to apply that to their marketing

Thanks for your time!

The teams were lined up with the classic grudge match- Team Dobbo (Mufti) vs. Team Doddsy (Yellow).

First blood after kickoff came surprisingly quickly, given the tiny pitch, however some felt this could be attributed to the sheer numbers of players on the pitch. However, despite this impediment both keepers fended off ruthless attacks from all angles until with a ruthlessly driven strike Bryan Dobson (Database programmer leader thingy) set the scoreline in motion.

Once restarted, the goals followed quickly, with James Nguyen (Dev) following Dobson’s halfway strike with one of his own and new signing Bob “goal hanging” Kamal (PM) sliding a cheeky one past Jack Craig (Designer) however, 3 behind Team Doddsy were undeterred. Ben “Schemells” Scammels  quickly got his side on the scoreboard and Kuljit Singh (Dev) swiftly following with team captain Dodds also making his mark to level the scores.

The game proceeded with both teams matching each-other goal for goal- Hargrove netting himself two in his debut performance, Marcus Gearey (BSA) and Adam Careswell (BSA) also putting one of their many shots away. For Team Doddsy, Singh converted twice, Gary Kemp (Designer) managed to get one and Ali Saeed (Dev) giving a stalwart display of two personally created goals.

Man of the Match:

Roc Hargrove

Honourable mentions:

Rupert Houlton (Dev)- Clean sheet while in goal

Dishonourable mentions:

Bryan Dobson- feigning an injured toe before leaping like a salmon to score (Counted).

Ali Saeed (6’6)- Performing a hideous foul on James Nguyen (4’2) and then using the break in play to boot the ball into the unguarded goal (still counted!).

Animesh Raval- LATE

Scorers:

Team Dobbo                                                                                      Team Doddsy

James Nguyen- 1                                                                             Ali Saeed- 2

Bob Kamal- 2                                                                                      Kuljit Singh- 2

Adam Careswell- 1                                                                          Gary Kemp- 1

Roc Hargrove- 2                                                                                David Dodds- 2

Marcus Gearey- 1                                                                            Ben Schemells- 2

Bryan Dobson- 5

Final score: Team Dobbo wins 12-9 (aggregated from rather creative scorekeeping throughout).

Winning Captains Comments: “We may have ground their pathetic team into the dust, but I have to say the only true winner here is Email Marketing”- Bryan Dobson

Friday August 1st was the day of the annual Summer Party with an amazing day of Gladiator’s themed challenges and games. e-Dialogers set off to the sports ground, some already in team costume (the black “Rhino-Ninjas”, Pink “Panthers” and White “Lightnings” taking the charge in the fancy dress) and prepared themselves with a hearty BBQ in the sunshine, but it was quickly time for business as the games began.

A series of giant inflatables set the stage for the gladiatorial battles which saw the team in the lead change many times. The Yellow “Cobras” owned the giant suspended swing-ball sending their opponents flying, the Green “Hunters” mastered the giant gloved boxing match and the White “Lightnings” stole points in the dance routine warm-ups with some not so subtle flirting with the referee by their team captain!

Going into the final eliminator, things couldn’t have been tighter with all teams being only a few points apart, but there had to be winners and there had to be losers! The Blue “Flames” took away the wooden spoons, Green “Hunters” and Yellow “Cobras” joint 4th, White “Lightnings” scored just outside the prizes in 3rd but flirted themselves into the referees “Team Spirit Award” to take the bubbly, Pink “Panthers” took the silver medals, while the ever menacing and over-excitable Black “Rhino-Ninjas” took the gold trophies and were crowned the true “e-Dialogers Ready!”.

In the evening we all headed back into town for an evening of drinks, food and de-briefing of the day, heroic performances celebrated, catastrophic mishaps mocked went on late into the evening. Some nursed sore bumps from the day’s games; many nursed sore heads from the night’s drink. Check out the photo’s from the day over on our Flickr feed!

Just look out for those smug little Ninjas!

Last month e-Dialog combined it’s love of football with it’s love of raising money for charity by organising a Euro 2008 sweepstake.  All in all £77 was quickly raised for the Community Development and Relief Agency (CODRA) in Tanzania. We were really pleased to receive a letter (see below) this week from the organisation’s Chairman telling us more about how exactly the money will be used.

Dear All,

RE: Donation to CODRA, Tanzania

We have been informed by Tim Underwood of your company’s support for our projects in Busega area, Magu District, Mwanza Region, Tanzania and I am writing to say ‘asante sana’ (thank you)!

The recent donation will be put to good use buying some extra equipment, including baby weighing scales, for the CODRA mobile clinic. This ambulance was donated to us by Hampshire Paramedics in UK and visits rural areas reaching people with no access to local hospitals and clinics. It is attached to Mkula Hospital and also provides emergency transport to Buganda Hospital 2 hours away.

CODRA works in all aspects of community development including health, education, water, income generation and civil society. Over 70% of people in Busega live on US$1 per day, so you can see that our needs are endless and that we are really grateful to people like you for any support you can give.

Busega lies just south of the Serengeti, and borders Lake Victoria. Perhaps you should organize a staff visit and taste some traditional Sukuma hospitality of roast goat, ugali and tilapia! We would be very honoured to have you. Karibuni sana!

Yours faithfully
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT & RELIEF AGENCY (CODRA)

Raphael Chegeni

Hon. Dr Raphael Chegeni
MP, EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN

e-Dialog included 4 new recruits to their line up with Chris Mack (Engineering), Bill Aldridge (BSA), Rameen Ahmed (Team Mercury) and Gary (Pixel Pusher) joining the team!

With an experienced back two of Scammels (Creative) and Stephen (Team BA) protecting Bill Aldridge in goal e-Dialog looked to build on their first impressive win! Early on e-Dialog pressured Walker Cripps into making mistakes and after a poor clearance James Richardson (HR) headed down for the soon to be departed Mark Carroll (Team splitter) to volley home from 20 yards off the post!

With Sian Libby Mills (Team Mercury) giving orders from the touch line it appeared e-Dialog were in control.

After good work from Mark Carroll, e-Dialog attacked and Dobson (Data team Infinity) crossed early for the preying Dodds (Project Manager) to back heel past the statuesque keeper!

Slack defending allowed Walker Cripps back into the match. After a speculative long range shot squirmed through the keepers hands, and a close range finish from their experienced forwards it seemed the opposition had made their way back into the game! As they tried to assert themselves on the game e-dialog scored 2 goals on the break, with Chris Mack clearing a corner to Doddsy who played a defence splitting one-two with Mark Carroll, and then beat the keeper!

Soon after Doddsy turned provider, a swift cross field ball released Dobson who finished past the keeper with one touch. However as e-Dialog tired, Walker Cripps came back into the game with space opening up in midfield. Their pressure paid off and they scored two goals in quick succession despite the efforts of the hard working Rameen, James and Bill

Edialog were lucky to finish the match with 7 players with persistent diving from Stephen, and Chris Mack lucky to escape a red card after bringing down the Walker Cripps striker who was clear through on goal.

As the game came to a close e-Dialog had chances to snatch victory, with the usually prolific Dodds missing a one on one, and Dobson should have done better after being released by Gary! Walker Cripps nearly claimed an undeserved win but were denied by the cat like reflexes of Scammels and Stephen!

In the post match press conference both managers praised the edialog team. “we worked very hard, and as a team against some excellent individuals. We won’t play many teams better than this, and we were unlucky not too win”. Walker Cripps manager added “the work rate and commitment of the opposition meant we struggled to get time on the ball and were suffocated!

Dodds 2
Dobson 1
Carroll 1

Captains Man of the Match – Mark Carroll