2023 Honorees

Ella West

Digital and CRM Manager at Nestlé

“There will be times where you have setbacks, so being resilient and remaining positive is super important!”

Marketer2023

Tell us about your company and role.

I’m the Digital and CRM Manager at Nestlé.

Formerly, I was the the CRM Manager at Misfits Health, which is a vegan, high protein snacking brand. I looked after customer retention and loyalty within our databases with the goal of driving profitable growth. I’ve worked in CRM for four years now, starting my career at Sweaty Betty where I progressed from Email Marketing Assistant to Manager during my time there.

How would you describe yourself?

I’m a smiley, positive, and driven individual. I live in London and absolutely adore it here, there is always something going on which is ideal for someone who cannot sit still like me!

My current and previous job reflect my passion for all things health, wellness, and fitness. I love trying out new fitness classes, from spin to boxing to barre. And talking of bars, I truly believe in balance, so on the weekends you can find me drinking far too many espresso martinis and probably devouring pasta or pizza, or both.

What qualities do you think an effective marketer needs to have?

I would definitely say resilience is one of the most important qualities. There will be times where you have multiple setbacks, negative feedback and a heavy workload to manage, so being resilient and remaining positive even on the bad days is super important! In CRM in particular, you have to be able to cope well under pressure, it’s a very reactive role/channel which is open to criticism and lots of last-minute changes, therefore it’s important to have good organization skills, but also the confidence to push back.

What has been your biggest professional success so far?

Joining Misfits as their first CRM hire and doubling the revenue share that email/SMS took by implementing segmentation, automated flows and launching a loyalty program using Yotpo. It was really rewarding to see the huge impact that CRM has on a smaller business, and it gave me confidence in my own skillset and expertise which I struggled to realize when working within a big CRM team in a large business.

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What causes are you most passionate about?

I’m very passionate about equality in all forms — a lot more needs to be done to tackle racial and gender inequality in society. I also really care about the environment and sustainability. As cliche as this phrase is, there is no planet B, and the onus needs to be put on big companies to do their bit.

What do you think is the biggest challenge facing eCommerce brands?

Here in the UK, I would say the current economic climate and cost of living crisis is heavily contributing as consumers have a lot less disposable income to spend. As well as this, the ever-increasing cost of paid media, which is making it a lot harder for businesses to acquire new customers and drive traffic to site. However, this really shows just how important it is to focus on retaining these expensive new customers by utilizing CRM and loyalty tactics.

What's your favorite loyalty program or subscription offering from an eCommerce brand?

Because I love to travel, Booking.com’s Loyalty program is one of my favorites. They offer free room upgrades, free breakfasts and good discounts. Outside of the loyalty program, I really love how they have free cancellations and don’t take payment until the date of the stay. It shows they really understand their customer and the reluctance to commit to a hotel booking, especially in a post-covid era!

What do you geek out over?

Books! I studied English Literature at University, and I love reading on the tube on the way to work each morning. I also love taking photos on my film camera, there’s something really special about going to get the film developed and seeing how the photos turned out.