Blending Creativity with Data: Sandra Yönter’s Approach to Modern Marketing

Sandra Yonter | VP Marketing and Managing Director France | Visable

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Sandra’s professional ethos involves selecting businesses where she can make a substantial impact and resonate with their mission and vision, leading to meaningful business outcomes and heightened engagement from internal contributors. We at EliteX, are proud to introduce Sandra Yonter as one of the Marketing Maverick: Inspiring Leaders to Watch, 2024.

Sandra’s academic credentials include a Master’s Degree in Marketing and Business Management from ISC Paris (1996), an Executive Program for Growing Companies from Stanford University Graduate School of Business (2018), and a Women’s Leadership Program from Yale School of Management (2021). She possesses significant experience in intercultural communication and management in rapidly evolving environments. Sandra attributes her success to her focus, drive, and perseverance, and she eagerly anticipates connecting with like-minded professionals. Throughout her career, she has initiated projects that have evolved into multi-million dollar/euro enterprises, creating opportunities for people to discover exceptional brands, products, and services across various regions. Presently, Sandra serves as the VP Marketing and Managing Director for Visable International. In this role, she has implemented an ambitious marketing strategy within a complex platform ecosystem, targeting dual-sided audiences. She identified the opportunity to create a flywheel effect around user journeys and channel usage. More recently, she has been transitioning the marketing approach towards a tech-driven direction.

“Balancing the demands of a career and personal life requires letting go of guilt and embracing your true capabilities.” – Sandra Yönter

Sandra’s career took a pivotal turn when she ventured into the digital arena, a move she describes as a coincidence. Fresh out of university and eager to pay off her student loans, she applied for numerous positions through temporary employment agencies. She secured a fixed-term contract at SESJM, a company that was soon acquired by Havas, and subsequently by Vivendi. Starting as a webmaster coding in HTML for publications’ websites, Sandra found the digital industry to be a significant career booster as many industries began embracing digital transformation. Sandra draws inspiration from various individuals around her. Her mother, of Polish descent and living with the challenges of poliomyelitis, profoundly influenced her outlook on life. Despite her disability, her mother worked tirelessly to earn her place in the French community, demonstrating immense strength and drive.

Additionally, Sandra has been shaped by charismatic managers and successful business leaders she encountered throughout her career. These individuals exhibited a blend of masculine traits (drive, power, courage) and feminine traits (inclusiveness, integrity, empathy), further influencing Sandra’s professional development from her time at Vivendi to her current role at Visable.

Sandra’s leadership style combines elements of Coaching (or Conscious) leadership and Affiliative (Visionary) leadership. She has a firm belief in the human potential for greatness and focuses on identifying, communicating, nurturing, and challenging her team members’ strengths. She encourages them to acquire new knowledge, address weaknesses, and seek growth, even when this is not straightforward or when team members are initially resistant to such challenges. At Visable, Sandra is grateful to work with colleagues who are open and courageous enough to embrace challenges, resulting in significant personal development within her team. She prioritizes availability for her team members, offering guidance, constructive feedback, and fostering strong relationships built on trust. This approach encourages open communication and psychological safety, allowing team members to share ideas, seek feedback, and work collaboratively towards ambitious goals. Sandra also emphasizes Visionary leadership, setting clear, understandable, and shared long-term goals. She spends time inspiring and guiding her team towards these goals, fostering a culture of innovation and change that embraces new ideas and approaches.

“Embrace risks and be ready to pivot; the world of marketing is constantly evolving and so should you.” – Sandra Yönter

Sandra Yönter takes pride in Visable’s participation in the @timeforclimateaction campaign, an annual event aimed at tackling climate change, in collaboration with 400 European companies. Sandra is not only proud of the company’s commitment to sustainability but also the creativity demonstrated during the campaign. Visable implemented numerous initiatives across various communication channels, targeting employees, the media, and SMEs. A notable example includes a survey conducted with the research institute “YouGov” to gauge the importance of sustainability for SMEs, showcasing Visable’s dedication to understanding and addressing the concerns of its target audience.

One of the biggest challenges Sandra faced in her marketing career was overcoming self-criticism and the guilt associated with balancing her roles as a mother and an employee. Throughout her career, she has been highly demanding of herself, striving to meet both personal and professional expectations. Despite societal progress towards inclusivity, women are often still perceived differently in the workplace, with expectations centered on nurturing and empathy, unlike men who are primarily judged on their successes. Sandra viewed this challenge as an opportunity to enhance her workplace communication, improve teamwork, and reduce societal pressures. She learned to accept herself and her capabilities, focusing on her strengths and resilience. Sandra identifies AI as the most significant trend in marketing today. AI assists marketers in increasing their awareness of market trends, analyzing large datasets for predictions and segmentation, and reducing production time for content, creatives, and reports. As AI-generated content becomes more prevalent, high-quality content will stand out, helping brands build trust with their audience and establish themselves as authorities in their fields.

Technology has dramatically transformed marketing strategies since Sandra started her career in 1996. Initially, companies relied on traditional marketing channels such as print ads, radio, TV ads, events, and outdoor advertising. Sandra was among the first to introduce online subscription forms and use email marketing as a digital strategy. Today, with the significant increase in online activity, brands leverage personalized and targeted messages through various channels, including social media, to engage with their audience more effectively.

At Visable, the success of marketing efforts is measured through a comprehensive reporting system of key performance indicators (KPIs). These KPIs are regularly shared with and reviewed by all management team members and marketing contributors, tracking essential demand and supply metrics. Each marketing channel is analyzed individually by channel leads using relevant KPIs, enabling the team to focus on the most effective initiatives and continuously optimize campaigns. Sandra advises those starting in marketing to embrace risks, stretch their contributions, and be comfortable with potential failure, as it is a crucial step toward gaining experience and achieving success. She also emphasizes the importance of being adaptable and ready to pivot. The marketing landscape is rapidly evolving, and new marketers should be prepared to navigate challenges, embrace change, and remain flexible in their career trajectories. Whether one starts with an interest in brand marketing or SEO, being open to exploring new areas like social media or becoming a generalist can lead to unforeseen opportunities and growth.

“Creativity in marketing must have a purpose and be supported by data-driven insights to truly make an impact.” – Sandra Yönter

Sandra Yönter believes that creativity is a means to an end rather than an end in itself. In her view, creativity is essential in marketing initiatives, campaigns, messaging, and theme selection, as it helps brands stand out from the competition and creates memorable experiences for users. However, creativity must have a purpose and be supported by knowledge. This involves understanding your goals (such as awareness versus sales), knowing your audience and their needs, addressing the problems they expect your brand to solve, and evaluating the performance of previous campaigns. This is where data-driven decision making comes into play, providing the necessary insights to guide and refine creative efforts.

Sandra highlights the importance of both technical and soft skills for personal growth in a marketing career.

Technical Skills:

1. Channel-Specific Techniques: Essential for entering and succeeding in the marketing field, these skills are learned through education and honed through practical application and experience.

Soft Skills:

1. Analytical Mindset: Crucial for monitoring, analyzing, and understanding the performance of marketing actions. This enables marketers to optimize strategies, make informed recommendations, and pivot when necessary, avoiding reliance on guesses.
   
2. Project Management: Important for coordinating multiple projects simultaneously, often involving various internal and external contributors. Effective project management skills are necessary for handling projects of different scales, sometimes internationally, and managing significant budgets.
   
3. Creativity: Key for developing compelling campaigns, crafting persuasive messaging, and presenting projects and outcomes effectively. Creativity drives innovation and helps in formulating unique approaches to reach and engage the target audience.
   
4. Communication: Essential for collaborating with colleagues, agencies, and freelancers, and for presenting projects to management. Strong communication skills help in securing internal recognition for the team’s efforts and gaining further budget support.

Sandra emphasizes that a blend of these skills is vital for thriving in the dynamic and ever-evolving field of marketing.