Ricky Warren, Marketing Manager, Research Ltd, London
SIPA: What was your first job out of college and how did you get into this business?
RICKY: I began my career as a communications executive for a not-for-profit business called the Society of Chemical Industry. With an honours degree in biology with science communication, my foot in the door was my academic knowledge of the markets they worked in. Being a creative but also analytical person, I quickly discovered that marketing was my passion and that I wanted to pursue that as a career.
Has there been a defining moment in your career? Perhaps when you knew you were on the right road.
When I wrote my first marketing plan independently at Elsevier, I really felt that I had achieved an understanding of how to orchestrate a real strategy with real ROIs, that I would be responsible for.
In brief, describe your business/company?
Research Ltd is a specialist media publisher and events provider to the academic, industry and public sector research communities. We deliver independent coverage of research policy and funding opportunities across the globe whilst delivering timely events, mainly aimed at the senior players in this sector.
What are two or three important concepts or rules that have helped you to succeed in business?
1. Always dip your toe before dunking your head. it’s easy to go gung ho and want to give new projects everything you’ve got, but in marketing I find what works for one does not always work for another. It’s much better to test as you go along and then pile energy and resource behind what you know works through analysis and performance tracking.
2. Get your quality/quantity balance right. Being a perfectionist, I used to find myself agonising over the last touches to make things just so; the problem with that is after a while it can severely affect productivity. There is a balance where time you spend produces a sharply increasing standard of perfection, until you reach a point where you take far too long over the project for only a little improvement in perfection—learning the right balance is something that definitely I’ve found helps me do my job well.
What is the single-most successful thing that your company is doing now?
We are the leading provider of our products to our core markets, but our latest growth has been into hosting events over the past two years. We have an extremely talented events team that produces undoubtedly world class events, with speakers from Europe’s directorate general of research to Obama’s chief scientific advisor.
Do you see a trend or path that you have to lock onto as we look to 2012?
I see many trends and many fads—if we’re talking publishing I think we are undeniably seeing rapid growth in the mobile arena. People are always on the move now and having access to so much information and connectivity in the palm of your hand almost gets you drunk with power! It’s creating a community where people are beginning to reject paper forms and demand more on mobile devices. Tech companies are trying to control their access to that and how they consume that, whilst publishers are trying to keep up and monetise their content. I like to compare this to the “Red Queen Hypothesis” in science, which states, “In reference to an evolutionary system, continuing adaptation is needed in order for a species to maintain its relative fitness amongst the systems being co-evolved with”…
What are the key benefits of SIPA membership for you and your team?
We attend the annual SIPA conference in the U.K., and we also benefit from access to the network of publishing contacts that we meet. It is a great forum to meet others in a niche industry which faces many similar issues and thus creates a place where everyone has something in common to talk about.
Where did you grow up?
I was born and raised in the Big Smoke, or London as you guys over the pond will call it. And still here! Although I love to travel—it’s just about finding the time!
What college did you attend?
I went to Royal Holloway University of London.
What is your favorite hobby and how did it develop in your life?
My favourite hobby is going to the gym and boxing. It developed from a sense of wanting to commit to developing myself physically, in addition to my mental and spiritual development. I don’t like to neglect any part of myself and think it contributes to being a well-rounded person.
Is there a book you recently read or movie you saw that you would recommend?
Six Thinking Hats by Edward de Bono is a great book focused on developing your thinking processes. Each coloured hat is associated to a style of thinking, e.g. Red = emotional, Blue = blue sky, Black = what could go wrong? etc. It teaches you that when you think about things, you often neglect certain angles of thinking and thus never arrive at a balanced conclusion until you utilise all of the hats. There are even recommended combinations and orders of using the hats to solve particular problems or challenges.
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SAVE THE DATE!
You can meet Ricky and other UK publishers and marketers at
the SIPA UK Online Publishing and Marketing Summit,
Wednesday, January 25, 2012, in London
This one-day summit promises to give you a
week’s worth of information on topics such as
data and tracking, metrics, content and control,
and community and communications. Also look
for insightful case studies and in-depth research.
Remember, that’s Jan. 25, 2012!
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