He has been at Ricoh for twenty years and more than one in his current role. Which marketing icons in Ricoh’s history can you highlight?
The truth is that Ricoh has transformed a lot in recent years, and with this the internal marketing department, and the way in which we project ourselves as a brand. We are constantly evolving as a brand to adapt to what customers need, from the inside out. For example, in the past, when we were recognized only as printing manufacturers, the marketing we had was much more traditional, focused on promoting an already recognized brand; but at the moment that we became a “digital services” company, we have also had to transform our marketing, to promote a brand as recognized as the one we have, but also tell everyone that we do much more, and start exploring other media such as digital marketing. That led us to new ways to generate demand, to tell other stories, and to create a new value proposition for our current and future customers. The good news is that we are doing very well: we are increasingly recognized as a digital services company that accelerates the digital adoption of our clients through a solid value proposition, validated by our clients; but without a doubt our marketing had to adapt as drastically as we changed course in the company. And we are and will be a key piece in the construction of the message and proposal for our clients.
He works in a company linked to technology and innovation. How do ideas arise in the area of marketing to bring to each audience?
The truth is that innovation and customer-focused thinking are part of our corporate values and our DNA: each of our employees is always present in every decision we make. But it is true that we also work a lot in a culture that encourages innovation, that new ideas are accepted and, above all, adopted. We believe that when the culture is a culture of innovation from any level (down to top or vice versa), ideas never run out! We always have projects and new ideas that we want to implement. Particularly in the area of marketing, the inspiration for innovation comes from focusing on listening a lot to the customer, on understanding what they really need, and that, the truth is, is very changeable. This helps us to always live an environment of innovation in marketing: we innovate in the way we communicate with it, the message we say, the offer we have. Innovation is motivated by what the customer needs and wants, and less by what we believe they need. And when you have an active listening to your client, the ideas never run out.
Do they perform any action in the metaverse?
We have started to get closer. My first interaction was on my trip to Japan in November of last year, when I went to an innovation center in Tokyo that uses the metaverse to do virtual tours of this center. The client connects from anywhere to the metaverse room and you can have productive co-creation meetings as if you were there physically: it was amazing. Since that day, my head has been spinning about how we can further our brand in the metaverse. We are already making certain approaches: we have a business unit that is in charge of connecting people no matter where they are (everything related to video conferencing and communication services). We believe that here the metaverse concept begins to make sense: in fact, we already tested, in our last annual sales event in Mexico, having a “replica” room of the event in the metaverse. We replicated an auditorium and you could see the presentations live from the metaverse. The result was wonderful: being able to connect people who were not physically there opens up a world of possibilities.
What pillars can you highlight of the category in the Latin American market?
The Latin American market is my favorite par excellence. It challenges us daily to think differently, and that day-to-day uncertainty means that we never enter a comfort zone. Competitors, customers, the economy, everything is constantly changing. And this is great fun for all of us who work for the region. Ricoh, with a presence in more than 12 countries with direct operation, plus the network of distributors, we focus on having 100% coverage in this market. We support our clients to have an ecosystem of technological solutions that enhance it and take it to the next level within the region. We did this by adapting our offer to the Latin American market: by this I mean that the Latin American region has a value proposition and a strategy adapted to this market, obviously aligned with the corporation; but we take the time to adapt the structures and solutions that we offer to the current needs of our region: issues such as security, electronic document signing and remote support are issues that we see as very relevant in the region, and that is where we adapt our portfolio to its nuances.
What will you be working on for the remainder of the year?
This year we began planning for the next three years, and created a solid strategy. We are going to be the number one digital services company in Latin America in the defined markets and verticals. We are also working hard on digital marketing: to enhance the way we capture leads through digital media, we are introducing ChatGPT on our corporate website, to begin to have more business intelligence, not only to answer our customers’ questions, but also to understand their behaviors and always adapt to what they need. We are also promoting a new sales channel. The digital channel (purchase web portal, ecommerce) that will help us expand our offer now in digital media and reach even more companies, companies that have adopted “self-service” as a new way of purchasing (B2B). And we continue to work very hard on the positioning of the brand, on its recognition in the Latin American region, co-creating solutions with our clients, grounded in the needs of the business verticals, on which we focus. We will do this with the creation of valuable content for these verticals: one of the most important challenges we have is to create this relevant content for our clients, sharing all the knowledge we have of clients in the industries.
