Recently appointed Regional Director for the Private Equity and Venture Capital sectors, meet Sophia Ahrel:
1. What do you do at The Marketing Centre?
I am a Global Marketing Strategist and part-time Marketing Director for high- growth, private equity backed tech businesses. I put structure in place to help scale high growth business rapidly and build a powerful story behind new and emerging brands. Making a difference is at the core of what I do – currently working with the Cambridge team at Abcodia and Albion Ventures launching a new ovarian cancer screen test Roca Test, for women in the UK and the USA.
2. How would you describe the typical challenges facing ambitious businesses?
Customers are the source of real growth. With pressure on resource and limited marketing expertise in a small company, it's all about combining current customer and market insights with years of practical experience. So by operating inside the businesses I embed the knowledge in the team, on how to create sustainable and profitable growth. As a part time Marketing Director, I’m a member of the management team and often on the company’s board. Unlike a consultant, its hands on, and marketing tech and collaboration tools in the Cloud makes it easy to engage with CEOs, even on days when I’m not in the office. Success is to replace ourselves with a full time Marketing Director.
3. How can a business measure the value created by a Marketing Director?
We use our own Marketing 360 Health Check – rapid diagnostics followed by half day marketing strategy workshop to set KPIs, help align marketing plans with financial and business objectives. We then develop the first 100 days action plan, which focuses on addressing immediate issues and building plans to achieve mid- to long term goals. We can always measure the work we do. That’s how we know we create value for our customers.
4. What is your marketing tech 'brand of the day'?
I have to go with Mixpanel, a smart data analytics platform for mobile and web analysing billions of actions every single month. Growth is about optimization: focus your efforts in the right place, and tools to measure brand engagement, funnel analysis, customer retention across all channels is essential, whether in your app on iOS, Android or web. Mixpanel monitor customer journeys behind brands like AirBnB and Yplan. Mixpanel raised $65M last year from Andreesen Horowitz.
5. What are you currently reading?
On my Kindle I have two books I currently dip in and out of. “The Drunkard’s walk” - How randomness rules our lives by Leonard Mlodinow, it reveals the psychological illusions that prevent us from understanding everything from winning the lottery and wine tasting to the success of sporting heroes and film stars. “What matters now” - How to win in a world of relentless change, ferocious competition and unstoppable innovation by Gary Hemel. Concise and to the point a book that inspires to rethink business, and companies and how to lead.
9. Who inspires you?
My role model in life is my god father and family friend Hans Golteus, a stoic visionary Swedish business master mind, who led some of the largest telecoms corporations and luxury leisure brands on the planet. He always lends an ear, gives advice insight and support to move me upwards and onwards in life and in my career.
I’m a business mentor for the Prince’s Trust, over the years I’ve worked with over 100 entrepreneurs to turn their ideas into real business, truly awe inspiring.
Sophia Ahrel, is the Regional Director for Private Equity and works with a team of Marketing Directors who offer due diligence, commercialisation and global growth strategy and execution.
