Badsender was invited to spend a day in the offices ofExactTarget in Paris. We are thus on Thursday, February 27th, rainy arrival at 10:30 am on rue de Londres near the Saint Lazare train station. A small problem with an elevator that doesn't want to go to the right floor, but quickly solved! I am welcomed by Johanna Zuber (Marketing Manager) and Jean-Philippe Baert (Managing Director).
This day is an opportunity to meet some of the ExactTarget team members in France, to discuss the evolution of the market and the platform. Of course, the impact of the Salesforce acquisition will also be discussed.
Let's go!
We start with a meeting with Jean-Philippe Baert
Around a coffee, I start the day with an interview with Jean-Philippe Baert. Jean-Philippe is Managing Director of ExactTarget's French office. Since the establishment of ExactTarget in France in 2012, he leads all operations in Southern Europe, but also in the Middle East and Africa.
Jonathan Loriaux: I've heard that ExactTarget France is growing in terms of employees? Is this related to the merger with certain SalesForce teams or to the company's growth?
Jean-Philippe Baert: Both! Before I answer your question, I'd like to go back for a moment to the acquisition of ExactTarget by Salesforce. At the time of the acquisition, Salesforce clearly asked Scott Dorsey to continue to run ExactTarget as an independent entity of Salesforce. By independent, I mean that ExactTarget remains free to move around in research and development, marketing and sales. This is to maintain ExactTarget's level of growth.
Going back to your question, there are two reasons for the increase in employees. On the one hand, the Radian6, BuddyMedia and Social.com teams are being integrated back into ExactTarget. On the other hand, yes, the business is doing very well in France, so we have to hire new profiles, both sales and operational.
JL: Even if ExactTarget remains independent, there are still some changes?
JPB: Indeed, the first thing, as I just said, is that Salesforce's social solutions are reintegrated into ExactTarget's products. This brings us to a slight name change, as the entity is now called "ExactTarget marketing cloud".
Secondly, while R&D, marketing and sales remain independent, our general services will increasingly be pooled. This is the case for human resources, for example.
But the most important change is the geographic move, as ExactTarget and Salesforce's Paris offices will be co-located in the same building later this year. This is not just a matter of geography, but will allow our sales teams to work together, a process that has been underway for several months.
JL: ExactTarget France is the HQ for Southern Europe, the Middle East and Africa. How does it work outside of France?
JPB: It's going well! And it's even moving fast, as we plan to recruit in Italy and Spain. The Spanish and Italian markets are very different from what we find in France. Very few multichannel marketing players have tried their hand at these two countries, so there are very interesting things to develop there. On the other hand, we also have great projects in preparation in the Middle East and South Africa, but it is still too early to talk about them today.
JL: Today, how is ExactTarget structured in France? How are the teams organized?
JPB: In Paris we have three types of profiles. The first team is dedicated to sales and business development. This team works more and more closely with the Salesforce sales teams. Then we have a marketing and partnerships team, and we are recruiting a partnership manager to strengthen this area. The last team is the "Service" team, supported by a French-speaking team based in London. But tomorrow, with the emergence of ExactTarget in Southern Europe, more and more activities will be reintegrated directly in Paris.
JL: You talk about hiring a person dedicated to partnerships, what are the different types of partners you have?
JPB : There are two main categories of partners. There are the customer relationship specialists, such as ETO, E-deal.com, Axoa.fr, Devenson.com, ...
Then we have the Global System Integrators, these large international consulting specialists, who are increasingly interested in ExactTarget's technologies and who are already Salesforce partners today.
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JL: What functional changes can ExactTarget customers expect in the coming months?
JPB: First of all, there's the integration of Salesforce's cloud marketing tools. The APIs are already integrated and the tools will be fully included in the ExactTarget suite. Then, the other big evolution is Salesforce1. This solution will simply integrate the various tools of the Salesforce universe using a standardized API available on any device.
What is "orange culture"? Meeting with Johanna Zuber
Johanna has been part of the ExactTarget adventure in France since the beginning. She's the marketing manager for the French office... and it's thanks to her that I'm here today. As she is the #2 employee of ExactTarget France, we will take this opportunity to ask her about the ExactTarget spirit.
JL: I've heard of "Orange Culture"! What is it?
Johanna Zuber: Every ExactTarget employee, whether manager or secretary, spends a full week in training in Indianapolis. This training has a clear objective, to teach this famous Orange Culture to newcomers. This means that for a week, a dozen people will be brought together to learn about the company's history, discover the different products, explore the campus via a treasure hunt and, above all, integrate the company's values (see photo).
At ExactTarget, the emphasis is on team spirit. For example, during the training, each employee learns how to use the platform and one of the exercises is to send an introductory email, a small biography, to all members of the company.
JL: And on the ground, how does this Orange Culture materialize?
JZ: For example, ExactTarget has a corporate social network, Chatter, on which various discussion groups are active. Groups about innovation, by department, but also groups that have absolutely nothing to do with ExactTarget's business
We can also talk about the policy regarding hours and working from home. Flexibility and accountability are the key words. It's also the involvement in different charities. But I'm sure you'll get a glimpse of Orange Culture in the other interviews you'll be conducting with us.
ExactTarget also offers bonuses and benefits to employees who actively participate in the company's blogs or who become ExactTarget's representatives on social networks.
JL: Do you organize special events for employees throughout the year?
JZ: There is a huge annual event that brings together all of ExactTarget's employees every year. It's the GSSK for Global Sales and Services Kickoff.
JL: Currently, what profiles are you still trying to recruit?
JZ: We are looking for several Solutions Architects who will be responsible for setting up campaigns for our clients, but also for accompanying and advising them (see the job description). On the other hand, we are looking for reinforcements for our sales team and a partnership manager.
JL: ExactTarget was recently renamed "Exacttarget Marketing Cloud" following the reintegration of some companies from Salesforce. Does this mean you're going to go blue?
JZ: Not at all! We will keep orange as our dominant color.
It's not over yet
This article is only the first part of the story of my day at ExactTarget. It's hard to put everything here without writing a novel. The continuation in the next episode (and we'll talk a little more about email).
Note: This article was sponsored by ExactTarget
