Rui Oliveira

1. Started as a Graphic Designer and very quickly entered the world of Marketing. What made you gain interest in this area? Tell us a little about your journey to this day.

Marketing came into my life during the gap year I had before I joined college through a course I took. Then I graduated in Advertising and Marketing was part of it.

When I finished the course I started in an agency as a creative. I soon realized that it was not in an agency that I felt fulfilled and I moved to the marketing departments of companies where I continued as a creative / graphic.

I always loved the graphic area, Photoshop, Illustrator, etc. that I learned as a self-taught until I decided to take a specialization course in Digital Graphic Production that opened the doors of JP Group.

I started as a designer assistant but fortunately I was able to deepen and apply my knowledge daily in strategy, management, communication, events organization, email marketing, PR, ecommerce and the first contacts with digital. The evolution led me to direct the company's marketing until 2016, the year in which our relationship ended.

My interest in Digital was by this time unavoidable and I realized that was where I wanted to continue. In addition to what I had already learned as a self-taught, I took a more formal training at Porto Business School, made several certifications (Google Ads, Analytics, Inbound) and decided to move forward with my consulting brand.

In between I was involved in 2 corporate projects as Marketing Manager.

Right now I am 100% focused on my consulting and continuing my mission to help companies have a marketing strategy, a better digital and offline presence and thereby achieve more and better results.

Going back to the corporate world is not out of the question if a project I believe in, challenging, and feels that I can truly add value comes up. The future will tell.

2. Created more than 3 years ago, your own consulting brand (Rui Oliveira - Marketing / Digital Marketing Consultant). Whare are the biggest challenges of being an independent consultant?

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The biggest challenge in my case is undoubtedly being completely out of my comfort zone. I had never imagined myself as an outside consultant!

Then you have to be the "do it all": Commercial, Marketing, Manager, Executor. You have to respond to emails, make budgets, send proposals, hold meetings either in person or via Skype, networking, etc. It requires a lot of organization, time management, focus and above all a lot of resilience.

I can't fail to mention the uncertainty because you no longer have that guaranteed income at the end of the month - this when, like me, you come from a corporate career - which can be very stressful.

It is very mentally and physically challenging as well.

A tip for those who want to start as an independent consultant: Don't get carried away by the cool photos working on a terrace that we see on social networks, the idea of ​​a lot of free time, a lot of income and guaranteed success - this is not a bed of roses. These things do exist, but before that happens we have to work 12/14/16 hours a day on weekends, there will be very good times but also terrible times when you just think about giving up.

3. Is Marketing the Same as Digital Marketing? What is your opinion on this topic?

For me there is only Marketing, then there are Digital and Traditional channels.

A marketing strategy should include channels that make sense for the business in question, whether digital or not.

Admittedly, it is very difficult to scale a business today without a consistent, thoughtful digital presence. I see Digital as an evolution, the World evolves, and Marketing as a science has to keep up with that evolution. But from there, saying that there is Marketing and Digital Marketing, goes a long way.

The fundamentals of marketing remain, whether we speak digital or offline, and those who do not consider them as the basis of their strategy will always be closer to not being successful.

4. You were for about 12 years, Marketing Manager of jp.group. How did this opportunity come about? What were the main areas that most innovated in the comapany?

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As I mentioned before, I started in 2004 as an assistant designer and finished my career in the company as Marketing Manager. Without false modesty, the opportunity came from my commitment, dedication and above all hard work and well done.

I cannot say that I made innovations, it was more ajustments / changes to the way it was done and saw the Marketing in the company. I had been in the Marketing department for a long time when I took over and had my vision of what I wanted, I knew what we were doing less well and needed to be changed.

We started working and paying more attention to the emerging digital channels, we changed the email marketing policy that was previously mass mailing, to start sending segmented emails according to the customer profile. There was also a clear bet on E-Commerce which was gradually increasing its weight in the company's performance, and we also broke the billing record to date. Strategies and actions were now defined and decisions made more based on data and less on "guesswork"

5. What was the most succesful marketing campagin you ever developed?

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It is hard to choose. There is no love like the first and yet as an intern at an advertising agency I was able to participate - as a copywriter - in the first annual FCP launching campaign (still in the former Estádio das Antas) and it was a huge learning that marked me forever .

I remember a JP Group Christmas campaign with Débora Monteiro and Isaac Alfaiate as models. For being a success but also for the adventures that involved it. It resulted in thousands of euros in sales in 3/4 days. I actually felt good at what I was doing. Luckily I was able to create and participate in many campaigns that were successful in sales or brand awareness with which I worked.

6. Inbound Marketing and Outbound Marketing, which one do you think is the best strategy for B2B companies?

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I'll already say that I'm passionate about Inbound Marketing. I would always bet based on an Inbound Marketing strategy. Because the B2B customer is usually a more demanding customer, more “educated” about the solutions available in the market but is not afraid to make a bad choice and the decision process is much longer.

A Good Inbound Strategy: With well-defined personas, good SEO, a good lead content and nutrition strategy makes all the difference in answering the potential customer's questions, their “pains”, making them more comfortable and helping them on their purchase decision process. When that time comes he will remember that we were the ones who helped him.

PARTEAM & OEMKIOSKS is an excellent example of a successful and successful inbound marketing strategy.

Let me just say that having Inbound as a base does not imply giving up on Outbound, I really think that both have a place in a winning marketing strategy.

7. As PARTTEAM & OEMKIOSKS is a leader in the development of digital billboards and multimedia kiosks for the international market, what is your opinion about PARTTEAM & OEMKIOSKS, its products and its digital marketing strategy?

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I have known and followed PARTTEAM & OEMKIOSKS for about 4 years and I can say without any favors that it is a company that is in the lead by merit. Merit of its founder, its team, and everyone's unremitting pursuit of innovation. It can be seen that there is a very strong innovation culture. This translates into its products, that are allways shown as something new to add to the market, therefore the sustained growth that I believe will continue and strengthen.

PARTTEAM & OEMKIOSKS's digital marketing strategy was what caught my eye, essentially on LinkedIn. Because it is consistent, there is a consistent communication guideline. It is not limited to the ordinary “look at our XPTO product” but there is a genuine concern to educate the public about the potential and applications of digital displays and kiosks. Another aspect that captivated me was the fact that the collaborators were the first ambassadors of the brand, something that was not yet widely seen at the time. PARTTEAM & OEMKIOSKS is also a reference in this respect for good practice and results in sight.