In today’s corporate world, digitalization and sustainability are two of the most potent market impacts. Each has given rise to an enormous amount of research on how it will alter management practice and, in general, business and society. However, the area surrounding the junction of these trends is still mostly uncharted. Reducing the carbon footprint and becoming more sustainable requires integrating digital technology into business processes. Additionally, digital technologies have the ability to optimize energy usage. A sense of the sustainability objectives and values that major corporations identify with the digitalization procedures. The corporate global director of marketing, digital, and e-commerce at Henkel, Pamela Pedrucci, believes that sustainability and digitization are the two main forces driving her future innovation.
Career Progress
Pamela Pedrucci’s journey starts from a small village in the province of Modena to Milan, with a degree in mechanical engineering and a master’s degree in industrial design at the Polytechnic under the aegis of architecture and a genuine love for travelling, photography, and anthropology of culture overall, was characterized by perseverance, adaptability, and a “fork in the road.” With the assistance of her parents, she left Italy after studying, took a fork in the path, and is now headed towards what will be her “life outside of home.” She first met her South African life partner, Robert, in London in 2002 and has now become a mother of twins, age 12, and a daughter, age 7. She then worked in the United States, United Kingdom, China, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and is now in Germany. Pamela is based in Amsterdam after having lived in six different countries, where she developed her interests and became more conscious of the underpinnings of foreign cultures and aspiring to be a role modelling towards inclusion and diversity, not only referring to gender, but also different mindset and leadership style.
“Dare to lead as a Woman, be a compassionate leader, lead from your head and your heart.”
Seven of the nine nations that managed the pandemic the best during the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 were led by women. According to Pamela, they were able to connect with their citizens by expressing empathy and affection, assuring them of the steps taken and emphasizing the importance of their assistance.
From many sources there seems to be a flaw in the link between emotions and leadership ability… Being emotional and passionate at work is good!
The first step is acknowledging these stereotypes and making the decision to accept emotions as a natural aspect of being human and as a crucial component of increasing employee engagement. In order to achieve a work-life balance, Pamela advises that one must be persistent and discover the growth sweet spot on a task that is difficult, yet doable.
Dare to set your ambitions high: there will always be detractors in your life and career who will bet against you. However, as you wake up every day remind yourself that you are the owner of your actions and thoughts and those will ultimately determine what you can achieve.
When driving change, you don’t need to be afraid to make decisions that are often unpopular or tough. At the same time, you have to quickly decide who are the people who are fully committed to jumping on the train with you. Once you have set a clear direction, have assembled the right team, and know what motivates them, you can achieve marvellous things.
Her Role in Henkel
In her role as Corporate Global Director Marketing, Digital, and E-Commerce for the Consumer and Craftsmen businesses at Henkel, Pamela demonstrates the ability to drive profitable growth in new and existing markets, designing, and implementing solutions to maximize sustainable solutions. Her ´daring´ attitude in the corporate world has proven to be able to invest in relationship and redefining ROI to mean Return On Interaction instead of Return of Investment. She is an experienced executive in digital marketing with over 20 years of background on both strategic and operational level in B2C and B2B marketing management, category management, brand development, marketing communication, and trade marketing. Pamela is currently driving Henkel’s conversion from B2B/B2B to P2P through marketing and digital transformation. In her role, she said, is about bringing out our typical female gathering skills in a holistic view as leaders fostering teamwork, inclusiveness and personal growth for all.
Pamela, as a change agent and brand builder, is responsible for the innovation pipeline and the category’s purpose-leading sustainable program. Pamela enjoys the breadth of her responsibilities at Henkel, which include all aspects of the consumer journey from upstream to downstream marketing (innovation portfolio and communication both B2C and B2B).
Innovation for Sustainability
Large organizations have a responsibility to promote good change and foster shared values; this is also true for Henkel, where Pamela and her team have identified the key issues and tailored their sustainability plan to address them. The mission statement of Henkel, “Pioneers at heart for the good of generations,” both informs current goals and describes the role Henkel has played since Fritz Henkel started the prosperous company 145 years ago with his pioneering spirit. This goal is expressed in the purpose’s second clause, “for the good of generations” Where it t is possible to pinpoint three tendencies that influence the current method of innovation. First of all, they are observing an increase in innovation-related rivalry on a global scale.
According to Pamela, ´a good solution today becomes average tomorrow and is rendered useless the next day if not focused under ground-breaking consumer-centred insights´. Additionally, they have noticed that the definition of “innovation” is expanding. Innovative business models are now included in the discussion of innovation, which is no longer limited to new products. The third trend is digitalization, which compels businesses to fundamentally revaluate how they create, provide, and advertise their goods and services, as well as how they approach their marketing plans. In conclusion, Pamela expresses that innovation lacks purpose if it doesn’t begin with a solid insight, when identifying an unmet need for a customer or a craftsperson in the business.
Being True to Legacy
When it comes to KPIs or measurements, this is critical, because they can either make a company that its employees enjoy or make it toxic as a result of a downward spiral of focus shifting. Pamela believes that the company’s mission or called the “destination” they are providing to the workforce and, eventually, to consumers and customers, should be the only KPIs employees should be concentrating on. As far as leadership style, in a nutshell, it comes down to understanding when to “turn it on” and when to “turn it off,” to put it briefly, Pamela is a firm believer in being totally present and empowering the team. She had spent the previous 18 years working in circumstances where staff were supported, yet not directed, and where the manager always followed closely behind when an issue arose, constantly and consistently Pamela aspires to live the same legacy for her prior manager(s), whom she sees as the role models she has been given and to leave this behind as a role model towards her team, one day.
Brand Building
In Adhesive Customer and Craftsman, Pamela and company are transitioning from an offline to an always-on environment, where developing an annual marketing plan continues to be a crucial way of fostering brand recognition, consumer engagement, and company expansion. According to her, ´there are no ideal marketing channels; instead, everything must be pertinent and built on a solid understanding´ In Henkel Consumer and Craftsman business, for example, marketing efforts are being shifted away from tactical “performance marketing” toward strategic brand building. Pamela undoubtedly loves “The Brand Gap” by Marty Neumeier. The book is the first to propose a comprehensive theory of brand development. It demonstrates how both methods of thinking may be combined to create a compelling brand—a brand that customers believe is necessary to their lives, a purpose brand—in contrast to most marketing books, which lean more heavily toward either a strategic or creative approach.
Pamela Pedrucci started working at Henkel a year and a half ago. A campaign named “Loctite, Second Chance” stands out among the others as having a special place in her heart because it influences behaviour change and revolves around significant ideals.
Pamela advises, “So, take a look online, get inspired, and inspire others. Repair don’t throw!“
Since joining, she has become the go-to person in the house when things break or get damaged, or simply when she is talking to her 12-year-old twins about how she can positively impact the environment with a single drop of glue by recycling or upcycling and avoiding unnecessary consumptions. She thinks that a change in behavior and a move in the direction of sustainability are more important than harsh KPIs.
She adds, “If I look back, I have so many things of which I can be proud of my team and of the company I have chosen.”
Six Components of Leadership
To Pamela, the most important is leading with purpose which means understanding your strengths, passion and values and bringing your best self to work every day. It is about having integrity and making value-based decisions, and about setting stretch goals. This is a typical responsibility for a leader and member of Henkel’s Leadership Team Management. According to Pamela Pedrucci, there are only six essential components:
- Adapt your pitch to the audience or stakeholder that you need to persuade.
- Learn about best practices.
- Describe the problem, develop a compelling business case, and demonstrate the benefits and effects of your plan for them and their company.
- Avoid getting off topic by being specific in your demands or questions.
- Exude assurance and assertiveness.
- Incorporate an outside viewpoint.
Pamela affirms that large corporations like Henkel must be humble, open to other viewpoints, and constantly upskill and reskill in order to keep up with the changes in consumer behaviour regarding shopping, using products, and brand engagement.
Learning Curve of the Route
While Pamela has learned that work is important and a fundamental aspect of how we live, but she says ´there’s a plethora of experiences waiting for you: change companies, functions, explore countries and different companies’ size, create your comfort area within your discomfort in order to stay curious.’ It can be easy to feel like you shouldn’t take time off and that work should be your focus as you move up the ladder. Thou she said it’s okay to say “no.” You don’t have to impress and work extra hours; just make sure to take the extra time to deliver high-standard quality. This is something she learned from her previous working experiences in The Netherlands, for instance, where productivity at work is necessary to make up for productivity outside of work. Since then, she has treasured these lessons.
Futuristic Vision
There are two aspects of Henkel´s strategies that makes me excited to go back to work on a Monday morning, digitalization, and sustainability. Pamela affirms that ´those two pillars are and will be the two leading drivers for our future Innovation´. We are at the point where supply chains and production have been digitalized, but we don’t stop there. Software now no longer just supports us; it can take data-based decisions for us. Likewise Digital, is a major growth market for the next few years and in some instances will lead to radical changes production, packaging, sales, and logistics – there will be changes everywhere in light of consumer centric approach and decision making.
Data and more Data, as a critical enabler that fuels most technological advancements, new value propositions, marketing department, whilst predicting consumer behaviors. Making sense of this enormous amount of data and determining its value through analytics and big data techniques had come to be known as the Internet of Behaviors (IoB) which will revolutionize new approaches to design, new services and product within Henkel and beyond.
Website: www.henkel.com
