Why digital marketing guru Catherine Heath rarely talks about technology

In late August this year Melbourne’s digital elite assembled at the city’s public library. The event was the Australian Interactive Media Industry Association’s V21 conference, and this year’s line up promised to be the biggest event yet.

One of the key draw cards was Catherine Heath, the Head of Strategy & Planning, US West Coast, for the digital agency Huge. Among digital agencies Huge, a member of the Interpublic Group of Companies, is one of the standouts on the world stage. Its renown owes much to recent initiatives such as the development of the HBO GO platform, the “TV anytime experience for HBO subscribers”, the new website for TED, and the new immersive cross platform digital experience for one of the most beloved multi-generational entertainment series: The Simpsons.

A couple of weeks after the Melbourne event Catherine and I shared a telephone call while she was in between meetings in Singapore. We spoke for some time about: what it was like to work in a company like Huge (by all accounts being surrounded by hundreds of very talented digital designers, technologists & strategists is pretty fun most of the time); what the youth of today were doing with digital technologies (the best way to sum it up is they are setting expectations on UX/UI, not following them); and where the world of digital marketing and branding was heading (digital is quickly becoming the lead player in the overall marketing mix, meaning other forms of marketing are having to support the digital strategy, a complete turn around of events).

The conversation then moved onto what companies have to do really become leaders in the digital space, a topic dear to my heart.

Catherine doesn’t describe herself as a “techie”. She comes from a brand strategy background. But that is what’s now needed to provide meaningful insights in the field of digital communications. In the initial years of the digital marketing revolution the people with the power were the tech-heads. And they still are inherently important, though it’s what surrounds them now with cross functional agencies that makes what they do really interesting on a broader scale.

For someone deft at writing code the logical side of their brain is the area that gets exercised most frequently. As a result conversations with talented technologists can become black and white, on or off. This is great when it comes to designing software, but it does not produce an engaged conversation with a business leader who is looking to transform his business.

And on reflection that was the interesting aspect of the conversation with Catherine. I don’t think we talked about technology trends once. Data was only mentioned very briefly. The majority of what we discussed was about how digital thinking was now shaping the value around brands and the impact that would likely have in years to come.

We discussed what it meant for a business to go “all in” to digital. That included the effort required from clients, and in particular the courage that leadership needed to transform a company to face the challenges of today’s ‘digital first’ world. “It’s not about digital ideas, rather ideas for a digital world” she says. “Life-first thinking is imperative in a world where digital is omnipresent, digital is no longer a channel or a medium – its simply a way of life”.

Catherine leaves you with no doubt that the digital transformation that has been happening in world of branding, marketing and communications has really only just started.

There is a new wave of customer relationships and connections being invented right now - and she is in the middle of it.

Mark Cameron is CEO of customer experience innovation agency Working Three.

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