what does Office Depot do and what's your role in this company?
>> Okay, Office Depot is a multinational.
We operate in 59 countries.
We basically deliver any products that companies need for their own functioning.
So we started with office supplies, but we have been incorporating
technology and different marketing solutions in order to tend the market.
>> And your role is, in this company?
>> I'm the general manager for Spain and Portugal.
As any multinational, we have a lot of cross-functional roles.
Most of our teams are relying on some functions
that cross throughout Europe or America, like human resources or logistics.
My main job is sales.
>> Okay, that's fantastic.
So how many distribution channels do you use in general?
>> Okay, we have four.
So we have a direct channel divided in two.
We go to large accounts, international accounts, public sector.
Then we have a subdivision of that, which is regional for mid-market companies.
>> Okay.
>> We also have an online channel which comes from a direct channel where we
first went to the market with catalogues.
And we also have retail in some countries.
We don't have it in Spain, but we have about 2,200 stores throughout the world.
>> And what factors are key for
you when you start thinking about designing a channel strategy?
>> So the most important thing is really trying to understand the client.
We need to address what the client needs and then tailor our offering,
our way to contact them, according to what they need.
So in many large accounts we need a key account coordinating that
all of their services are done.
Where online, where we don't have a presential meeting on a day-to-day
basis with that account, in remote we can detect all their needs and
deliver exactly the service that the client is expecting.
>> I guess in this sector, trade marketing is important for you.
So how do you handle it?
Do you use it a lot?
And in the organizational structure where do you position it?
>> It's quite important for us.
We are a channel that represents our OEMs, our manufacturers.
So we work under the umbrella of a category manager.
Within some companies you might call that merchandising or purchasing.
We call them category managers because they define the strategy for us, as to how
we will go to the market with a specific line of products or specific solutions.
So we will work with 3M, for example, or HP, and in that conversation
a category manager will talk about trade marketing as one more tool for
us to deliver the service or solution to the client.
>> Okay.
>> We also have a marketing department, and a marketing department works in
parallel to that because that represents our channel view.
>> Okay. >> So the marketing department takes into
account whatever the category manager has devised, but
it has a broader option by channel for a specific segment.
>> And sales is also independent.
It's another department.
>> Yes, we have a sales manager that relies
on what the category managers are devising, and
is relying on the support that marketing is activating for them to go out and sell.
>> Fantastic.
And could you share with us a success story that you had in trade marketing?
>> Lots of successes, otherwise we wouldn't be as successful.
>> You had failures as well, because we can learn.
>> Yes, of course.
We have to learn every single day.
Perhaps I would just comment that any campaign where we've been able to
listen to our customers.
Most of the time we do that through listening to our sales people.
So when we've been able to capture what the client needs
through our sales people and engage our manufacturers in that same conversation,
that's when we've been successful.
So a lot of times, rather than just think up in a closed
room of a specific promotion or an advantage for the client, if
we include everybody in the conversation, that's when we're successful.
The other good important thing is that we need to react fast.
If it doesn't work, we have to change it.
Learn from it, but change it.