Q&A with our Strategy Lead, Rose

“Nothing stops a business faster than people who believe that the way you worked yesterday is the best way to work tomorrow.”

Wise words spoken by the late Jon C Madonna, and the mantra Rose Lincoln (probably) lives by. She's just been promoted to Strategy Lead, a well-deserved recognition of her knack for shaping our solutions and processes.

Rose thrives on change, always seeking fresh ways to innovate and enhance. She's a driving force behind our agency, effortlessly cutting through problems and making things happen. With over 9 years on the tools in customer experience, marketing, digital transformation, and more, she's a true shapeshifting expert.

We caught up with Rose to chat about her new role. Dive in below to hear her thoughts. 🧠

#1. Firstly, huge congrats! What does this new role look like for you?

Thank you! The role looks exciting, and allows me to delve deeper into our clients businesses, their challenges and customers. It allows me to provide strategic insight across all of our partnerships ensuring that our solutions are both practical and meaningful.

#2. What effect do you see this new Strategy Lead role having on the agency and our clients?

I like to explain my role as figuring out the ‘what’ and the ' why’. So it’s about providing insight, and guidance to uncover outcomes to existing problems, or identifying new ones. The focus is simple for the role, and for the direction of the company - We want to help ambitious companies uncover how their digital experience can become their competitive advantage.

#3. How has 2023 been shaping up for you so far?

Pretty good, I got married earlier this year, which really started the year on a high. We married between the two storms, on a beauts blue sky day. We had a 48 hour window before the second one rolled round, surely that's a good omen, right?

I also spent some time in Bali enjoying the sun, and salt water. I’m making it sound like I haven’t really worked this year but I swear I have! And we’ve accomplished so much at Flight.

#4. OK so obviously a biiig year for you then. What are some of your biggest learnings from the past six months that you'll be taking into the new role?

A. Adapt to change 🔮
In the fast-paced digital landscape, strategy has to stay agile. Be ready and expect to adjust strategies in response to changing market dynamics or unforeseen challenges.

B. Be curious 💭
I often get my hands on the tools, read a lot, and work closely with our team and clients so that I can understand different perspectives. These perspectives are always the best form of insight.

C. Make to know 🏁
We don’t know what we don’t know. To innovate you actually just need to start.

#5. What’s your favourite 'type' of strategy?

I believe that a successful strategy can come in all shapes and sizes.  It simply needs to address a genuine issue, offer solutions, and bring benefits to people. I’m proud when our team and clients start discussing the exciting possibilities that our strategy has ignited. You know it’s done its job when this happens.

#6. What about your ideal client brief - what does that look like?

For me, a really good brief is one that is centred around the customer and is single-minded. At the end of the day your brand and business is about who your service/product is designed for. Ask yourself - what keeps our customers up at night?

When we put ourselves in the shoes of our customers we can understand their desired outcomes, unmet needs, and deliver value. The brief writes itself from there.

#7. What can we find you doing outside of work hours?

I have a 2-year-old dog called Zephyr so every morning I get up for the gym and then walk her before work. It keeps me off my phone first thing and allows me to plan my day ahead. I do my best thinking when I’m walking her at the dog park.

I also have a love for flowers and my garden. I'm Rose and I love flowers (ironic I know), you’ll find me out there rain or shine looking after them.

#8. Plans for the NZ summer?

I’ll be down at the family bach in Mt Maunganui, with a book, a surfboard and sunshine. It’s going to be a good and sun-filled summer! 🌻

#9. What are some key challenges (and opportunities) you see marketings needing to tackle next year? Any predictions on what's in store?

We’re always going to be playing in the attention economy. At that is becoming more expensive and saturated. Brands must continue to make their messaging contextually relevant, and offer value, so knowing the power of your technology, data and content is so important.

In New Zealand, our privacy policies have been quite permissive, but times are changing, and so are people's feelings about sharing their data. It's a shift that's prompting brands to rethink their approach and make the most of their first-party data. To truly connect with people, they'll need to explore ways of using technology and creating experiences that empower individuals.

All too often, the digital products and services we encounter disrupt our lives and demand a great deal from us. Our focus should be on finding innovative ways for people to feel that their data exchange is transparent, delightful, and consistently valuable.

People often try to think about how their product or service is a competitive advantage, but have you ever considered that your digital experience could be yours?

#10. Finally, what's your best advice for up-and-comers in the marketing game? Anything you wish you'd been told when you were starting out?

Surround yourself with good people that care about delivering good work, you’ll learn a lot from them.

Listen, ask questions and be curious. When I first started out I was often worried that I would ask a question that everyone knew the answer to but over time I quickly found out that the other people in the room were thinking the same thing. Asking questions encourages conversations and challenges perspectives which brings new ways of thinking. Be brave.

Learn and then practice. I’ve spent hours reading, Googling, asking to then go and apply what I’ve learned to a specific client or project. Seeing it in practice helps to identify how it works for you and for that situation.

~

Thanks Rose! 💙