"The demands of the clientele are becoming more and more stringent".

m&k: Vanessa Gentile, Salesforce just published the "State of Marketing Report 2022" (werbewoche.ch reported). 6,000 marketing managers in 35 countries were surveyed. What are currently the biggest challenges facing these decision-makers?
The results show that the Swiss marketers surveyed perceive outdated tools and technologies as the biggest challenge. Customers are becoming increasingly demanding - they expect every interaction to be personally tailored to them and their needs. According to 88 percent of Swiss marketers, meeting these expectations is already more difficult than it was a year ago.

What are marketers focusing on to deal with these challenges?
On the one hand, experimenting with new marketing strategies and tactics to meet changing conditions. This is because there are currently also macroeconomic changes that marketers need to prepare for, such as the elimination of third-party cookies. On the other hand, marketers want to improve the use of tools and technologies. For example, by breaking down data silos. Today, companies should know their customers well in order to be able to make them individual offers, and for this they need a holistic view of their customers. Tools and technologies can help to gain a 360-degree view, which is also necessary to reconcile personalization, data protection and privacy.

What important "Key Trends" can still be read out of the report?
To effectively reach their target audience, marketers are investing in a combination of channels. In Switzerland, there was a shift last year towards events and sponsoring, TV and Internet television as well as website and app. However, email marketing remains the most popular channel. Another key trend is emerging in the way marketers are dealing with the demand for more data transparency. Although 67 percent of Swiss marketers still invest in third-party data, 57 percent say they have a fully defined strategy for switching third-party data. As mentioned at the outset, customers expect personalized interactions, for which up-to-the-minute data must be available. The report shows that 67 percent of Swiss marketers are already engaging their customers in real time through one or more marketing channels. Finally, the report found that 77 percent of marketers find collaboration more difficult than before the pandemic. As a result, more are investing in collaboration tools. On average, 3.75 collaboration tools are being used.

You yourself started a project for Salesforce in Switzerland a few years ago, which is now being extended to more and more country markets: "Bring Women Back To Work". Can you outline this project again in a few words for those who are not yet familiar with it?
It's no secret that women are underrepresented in the workplace at all levels, and women returning to work after a career break are often overlooked. Bring Women Back to Work supports women re-entering the workforce in the 12-month coaching and learning program at all levels. Their previous experience plays a secondary role, in keeping with our motto "Hire for attitude, train for skills." Working with partners, we also promote part-time positions, flexible working and equal pay to enable women to re-enter the workforce in a way that is compatible with their commitments outside the job.

Will Salesforce continue its efforts in the area of equality, talent development and "Tech Literacy" (for example via "Bring Women Back To Work") continue even in these difficult economic times?
In any case. Our five values "Trust", "Customer Success", "Innovation", "Equality" and "Sustainability" are deeply rooted in our corporate culture and are reflected in our daily actions. We firmly believe that the role that companies can play in society and the expectation of reconciling financial returns with social impact are greater than ever. We are stepping up our commitment to education and training in particular; BWBW has just been launched in Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland, for example - and further cohorts are planned for 2023 in Switzerland.