What is your background and what is included in your current role at Auxipress?
I joined Auxipress to reposition the company on the market and unleash the potential of our assets. I am currently developing with the team a new way to approach our customers and prospects. And we build together a range of solutions dedicated to brand managers, helping them make informed decisions by observing media, analyzing social trends and listening to audiences.
Prior to that, I was Head of Solutions Europe at Talkwalker. There I led a team of consultants who help companies solve their business problems by listening and analyzing conversations and digital audiences. A fantastic experience.
I understand the challenges and needs of brands particularly well as I also led the Media & Public Insights department at Argus de la Presse (now Cision) for over 10 years in Paris. With my team of 70 people, we helped 500 clients manage their brand through a combination of metrics, reports, insights and opinion surveys.
I have worked with many companies, including prestigious brands and international organizations such as PSA (Peugeot-Citroën), Nestlé Waters, Red Bull, Aéroport de Paris, EY, Groupe Seb, Decathlon, Volkswagen Group, L'Oréal... helping them improve their performance by leveraging data.
And to close the loop, I came back to Belgium (where I was born and raised), I found Auxipress and its team of passionate experts, leader of the Belgian market and always looking forward to bring the company to the next level.
What differentiates Auxipress from other media intelligence companies?
Compared to global media intelligence firms, we are based in Brussels and specialize in understanding the small but complex Belgian media and audience landscape. Our country is particularly divided in terms of culture, languages, aspirations and communities, which requires a deep understanding of local challenges to help brands stand out from their competitors.
Compared to local media intelligence companies, we are the leading player in our country, being the only one to offer complete media and social media coverage (press, web, radio, tv, social media), all integrated in a digital solution
coverage (press, web, radio, tv, social media), all integrated in a digital solution
and able to provide a full range of services: monitoring, measurement, insights and trends.
What are your greatest challenges ahead at Auxipress when it comes to serving your customers and developing your offer?
“Get the basics right” isn’t always as easy as we would like it ;-). Our environment is continuously changing in terms of client needs, data access, copyright management, data providers, partners and teams. In order to always push a step forward our skills, process, knowhow, management... we are running an improvement processes named “from good to great” challenging the status quo and aiming for greater efficiency and quality of services.
When it comes to develop our offer, all starts with listening. Of course, we need to listen to our clients in order to frame their needs and bring the relevant solutions, but we also need to observe and listen beyond their requests what are their current challenges and how their environment is evolving. The idea is to be able to grow in parallel to their future needs. In order to do so, our Management team is involved in daily meetings with clients and prospects in order to capture these needs and build a vision within the top executive team.
What is the focus for Auxipress in 2023 and how will you get there?
After recovering from Covid19 in 2020/21, repositioning our brand in 2021, and growing since (thus welcoming nearly 30% of new talents in the last 2 years), in 2023 we will maximize our market share by leveraging our current assets and getting ahead of our competitors while building, training, and consolidating our new team to achieve the best possible practices in the market.
On the product and marketing front, we are currently launching two new solutions.
First, our brand new portal "Universal Insights" innovatively integrates media monitoring and social listening and extends our business from PR to marketing/digital departments.
We are also launching MediaTopiQ, our proprietary "Observatory" of brands and trends in Belgium. MediaTopiQ captures all media and social phenomena in Belgium and allows endless analysis and measurement of brands' media presence, topics, trends... and associated values, thanks to a unique data set and methodology on the market.
When it comes to the actual data behind media intelligence, what kind of data or media not currently used can be interesting in the future?
Data generated by our clients' marktech environment. The ecosystem our clients use generates tons of data that is usually not integrated into a holistic view. Clients don't usually know how to build a holistic view of all their actions. We are currently partnering with the main tools used by our clients
(engagement tools, press release distribution, google analytics, social media
(engagement tools, press release distribution, google analytics, social media insights...) to bring this unique helicopter view of the effectiveness of the communication activity. This allows us to move from a role as a "silo" media measurement specialist to a role as a global consultant measuring the overall effectiveness of communications.
How do you think the media intelligence industry will change in the next five years, and what are the greatest challenges ahead?
I foresee more segmentation among market players. Some are moving towards more "off-the-shelf" solutions with standard offerings, less customer service, more automated processes, and lower prices (and easier to replace), while others are moving towards offering dedicated, integrated, and more complex solutions. I don't think that a "mid-range" positioning can last very long.
In the meantime, the "SaaS bubble" is bursting and I hope all players will face the same economic reality. Most MMOs are not externally funded and we have to make difficult choices between protecting our margins and investing in our future - while competing with social listening players pumping significant external money into developing their technologies. This should stabilize the MMO landscape and allow for more stable, long-term partnerships and integration.
How would you like to see FIBEP develop over the next five years?
First of all, Fibep is very valuable to us. We appreciate the opportunity to meet, network, and build close relationships with our peers. We always come back with a useful list of improvements to apply directly to our operations and new ideas to implement. In addition, it is very interesting (and sometimes reassuring) to see how others are addressing the same issues.
Ideally, FIBEP should continue to exist, offering a unique experience and spirit alongside AMEC, and providing a forum for MMOs to share best practices while staying away from blanket statements and presentations. By focusing on a forum for MMOs, FIBEP can continue to be an industry organization that has a recognized voice to represent and promote our business by explaining our important role and value to marketing, media, and political and legislative bodies.
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