By David de Smit.
If you pass by our offices over lunch time, you’ll probably hear some debate about cheese. The merits of Edam vs Brie. There will be discussions about who’s grandmother makes the best chili. The reason for this isn’t that I hire a lot of employees who are really into their food (although they are). The reason is that our team is made up of 12 different nationalities, who all bring their different experiences, preferences, and perspectives to the table. Literally and figuratively.
Diversity of ideas has long been lauded as a commercial advantage. I see this principle at work when we’re workshopping campaign ideas for a client, designing a logo, or crafting a blog post. Whether the ideas stem from someone originally from Italy, The Netherlands, France, Mexico, or South Africa, these citizens of the world with their international outlooks and regional knowledge mean that we can offer our global clients a mix of ideas they can’t find easily elsewhere. It’s about more than commercial wins though – in an increasingly fragmented world, it’s important to remember the other strengths that lie with a heterogeneous workforce.
Here are five core attributes which make these sort of employees strong marketers
1. Cultural awareness
Global citizens tend to have wider perspectives, as they’ve seen beyond their own four walls. This translates to a more empathetic team, made up of marketers who can place themselves in the target market’s shoes and design messaging that appeals exactly to them. It also makes for stronger collaboration skills within the team, instead of people working in silos. Most of all, it means that employees are sensitive to other cultures and their perspectives, a vital skill in our increasingly globalised world. I’ve seen this concept at work in the projects we run on the island of Curaçao – we may be Netherlands-based but as I’ve spent a significant amount of time on the island immersing myself in the culture, it’s given me a valuable perspective that translates into the work I do for clients there.
2. Flexibility
The world moves fast, so you need employees who are quick on their feet and good at problem solving. People that have lived in different countries are naturally adaptable because of lived experience, plus they typically embrace change and seek out ways to innovate. When it comes to marketing (and life), those are the kind of people you want around you.
3. Curiosity
Good marketers are naturally curious people. They ask the right questions, and they know how to listen. Global citizens by their nature are curious – they wouldn’t have gone exploring if they weren’t. This is particularly applicable in a B2B context when you need to grasp the details of complex industries and service offerings. From pharmaceutical laboratories to air traffic control, curious people want to gain a rich understanding of new contexts, and often this fresh perspective from an external party is exactly what a client needs.
4. Critical thinkers
Critical thinking seems to be becoming a rare skill. Whether this is due to challenges young people faced over the Covid-19 pandemic, the distractions of social media, or the proliferation of AI tools to help us do our jobs, the ability to face a problem, assess it, and propose viable and effective solutions, is a skill that’s getting harder to find. Regardless of their age or career stage, global citizens have generally had to face challenges and deal with them, as they’ve moved to live in diverse places, having to adapt to new norms and lifestyles.
5. Natural communicators
We speak eight different languages in our office, from French to German, Papiamento to Afrikaans. Plus English of course, the global language of doing business. While there are many AI tools companies are using to translate messaging these days, you still need a human to pick up on meaning and nuance. A love of language also translates to a love of communication, and natural communicators are who you want on your team when you’re working in the creative industry.
‘Global citizens’ is not a narrow definition of where a person has travelled to, worked and lived, but rather a mindset or way of existing (I employ many Dutch ‘citizens of the world’ too). We now live in a global village, where cultural diversity is not a box ticking exercise but a valuable part of providing creative and effective services to international clients. As the phenomenal athletes at the recent Olympics showed us: diversity is our strength, in all facets of life.
