In this episode of Visionaries, Patricia Corsi, Chief Marketing & Information Officer at Bayer Consumer Health, and Antonio Sciuto, SVP of Global Business Development Officer at Salesforce, share their secrets to successfully navigating the ever-evolving global and local marketplace dynamics. For them, it comes down to two central questions:
- How do you evaluate across several markets what to approach globally and locally?
- What are the capabilities required to stand up the strategy?
They answer these questions throughout the episode and share some hearty career advice that you won’t want to miss. Here is what they had to say on Visionaries, and how it could impact your global and local markets!
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Evaluating What to Approach Globally vs. Locally.
Ask the Right Questions
Patricia Corsi: When evaluating what to approach globally vs. locally, it begins with asking insightful questions. What we focus on plays a crucial role. For instance, when you consider buying a car, suddenly, you notice that car everywhere. This concept applies both globally and locally. If you focus solely on differences, those are all you’ll see. However, if you shift focus to commonalities, they’ll become more apparent. The magic is in the balance between the two and looking through the eyes of the people we serve.
When looking at consumers, our question should revolve around improving their experience, rather than fixating on what sets them apart. Good questions push us to break barriers, prioritize, and understand how to distinguish what needs to be global versus local. The objective is to avoid debates over whether everything is the same or unique. It’s not a linear equation; it’s a blend of both.
“Good questions break barriers, prioritize, and help us understand how to distinguish what needs to be global versus local…avoid debates over whether everything is the same or unique in each market. It’s not a linear equation; it’s a blend of both “
—Patricia Corsi
Unlock the Power of Data
Antonio Sciuto: A new approach to global and local thinking starts with unlocking the power of data. By examining need states, consumption occasions, and identifying a global target audience, we simplify discussions between global and local teams and reduce the workload. Data can be used as a guide to understand and assess the role and relevance of global touchpoints.
The role of data is paramount, particularly in the race for AI. Now is the time for action and change. We must avoid linear thinking when it comes to global and local dynamics. There are ways to unlock the power of different organizational elements and assign tasks based on data and the value they create.
Cut the Bias in Data to Extract the Full Value of Gen AI
Patricia Corsi: It is crucial for individuals to take responsibility for thoroughly analyzing the data and addressing potential biases within it.
I will share a simple example. When working with text-to-image AI for my nonprofit organization Good Latinas for Good, I requested an image of Latina women ready for interviews. The initial result was overly sexualized. Surprisingly, even with a request for a non-sexualized prompt, the only change was the addition of glasses.
This underscores the need to question our role in handling data. Will we perpetuate existing issues, or will we create meaningful change? This issue is particularly relevant in healthcare, where issues with data are exposed, such as safety belt tests only based on men and varying results in oxygen measurement devices for different skin tones. These disparities are embedded within the data, highlighting the need for critical examination to unlock data’s maximum value.
Capabilities Required to Stand up The Strategy
Use Human-Speak to Simplify Data Challenges
Patricia Corsi: Looking across markets and deciding our strategy is complicated. Valuable data guides us on what to do across the board, but also what should be tailor-made. It all comes back to education. Speaking as someone who isn’t an IT specialist but leads an IT group, I believe it’s important to use user-friendly language so that people are motivated to learn. Technology professionals can alienate others when they speak with acronyms and technical jargon. To address this, you must learn the basics and work with individuals who understand how important it is to speak a language anyone can understand.
Foster Collaboration Among Teams
Patricia Corsi: The second step is to foster collaboration amongst teams. We merged our IT and commercial teams globally and assigned them to collaborate on a shared mission. By doing this, we were able to accelerate many projects as many perspectives—customer, client, technology—were considered simultaneously.
To navigate this, prioritize high collaboration and simplicity. Encourage curiosity with a purpose. And ultimately, it’s essential to make decisions. With new technology, it’s easy to get caught in the cycle of pilots that generate minimal business impact. By embracing new agile ways of operating, it is easier to either stop or scale up projects. This goes beyond education; it represents a cultural shift in our approach to doing business – a shift that continues to evolve with the continued advancement of generative AI.
Grasp Opportunities to Accelerate Personalization
Antonio Sciuto: Start by accelerating and addressing data issues while collecting data from various sources — not just customers but also employees and operations. Data is integral in all aspects of business.
Collaboration, as Patricia mentioned earlier, is another key factor. The traditional separation between global and local, as well as the compartmentalized view by function or country, is outdated. It’s time to bring different groups together to work based on outcomes rather than tasks. The transition may be challenging, given existing organizational structures, but it’s the right direction.
Measuring business impact is also crucial. Success reports may not reflect overall company performance. It’s essential to select the right metrics and focus on business outcomes to align global and local objectives effectively.
“The traditional separation between global and local, as well as the compartmentalized view by function or country, is outdated. It’s time to bring different groups together to work on outcomes rather than tasks.“
— Antonio Sciuto
Question from The Audience
“We now see how personalizing experiences, messages, and content can help captivate customers and market performance. But how can it help build deeper connections with “one” brand? “
Patricia Corsi: It generally starts with building a trusting relationship with consumers and customers. By engaging at a deeper level, we can create a bond where the brand is present at crucial moments in a person’s life. This is certainly something we do with our Bayer brands as we stand for quality and reliability. Our mission, ‘Health for All, Hunger for None,’ is precisely about that: ensuring that, depending on the condition, a solution is provided and the product is readily available; for instance Alka Seltzer for a heartburn or an Aspirin for a headache.
Antonio and Patricia’s Career Advice Tips
Lead with a People-First Mindset
Antonio Sciuto: Ultimately, the most important aspect of your career is people. Regardless of your achievements or future plans, it all centers around your team and those you work with. As you grow, your role should become less relevant as you empower your team, build confidence, trust, and a sense of family. The best advice I’ve received is to take care of your people, and they, in turn, will take care of the business and you.
The best advice I’ve received is to take care of your people, and they, in turn, will take care of the business and you.
Antonio Sciuto
I particularly value guiding people in their development and careers. Salesforce’s culture embodies this family-like atmosphere, even extending to customers and partners. ‘People first’ remains my top priority.
Embrace Collaboration and Vulnerability
Patricia Corsi: Leadership is a journey, and for many, it takes most of their career to recognize that collaboration and vulnerability are superpowers.
Being competitive is valuable, particularly for personal growth, but it doesn’t mean others must lose for you to win. Collaboration is powerful, and it can be humbling to recognize how collaboration is one of the most important aspects of success. Particularly in marketing, with its history of arrogance, a humbler approach is better. Sometimes, taking care of your team means offering tough feedback when needed. When someone gives you feedback, it’s a gift — accept it graciously.
Particularly in marketing, with its history of arrogance, a humbler approach is better. When someone gives you feedback, it’s a gift — accept it graciously.
Patricia Corsi
Many come to these realizations later in life, but embracing these values earlier makes us more successful and effective leaders.
Meet the Visionaries
Patricia Corsi, Chief Marketing & Information Officer at Bayer Consumer Health: Patricia Corsi is a Marketing, Brand and Consumer Aficionado. She joined Bayer in 2019 as Global Chief Marketing and Digital officer for its Consumer Health Division. Since May 2022, on top of her current responsibilities, she is also IT Officer. More than 20 years of working in companies such as Sony, Kraft/Mondelez, Unilever and Heineken have given her valuable experience and understanding of managing different categories, geographies, industries, facing challenges from turn around to building new business. She has also seen the good and the dark side of being a Latin woman in business and uses these experiences to infuse her leadership style. She has received many honors during her career, to mention a few: Women to watch, Effie Advertiser of the year (twice), Cannes awards, multiple Effie awards (both in Latin America as well as in Europe), 2020 Wequal EMEA Award for brand innovation, 2020 Adlatina Award, 2021 Top 30 CMO by Adweek and Top 10 out of the top 100 Brand Innovators Women in 2021. She is a passionate supporter of women, be it as a jury of the “Future is Female” awards, sponsoring financially entrepreneur women in areas of risk, through micro-finance or supporting children and women empowerment on her role as NED of Womerang. She was the Jury President for the Health & Wellness at Cannes Lions 2022. Patricia is also a non-executive director of Tate and Lyle plc.
Antonio Sciuto, SVP of Global Business Development Officer at Salesforce:
Antonio Sciuto is the Global Business Development Officer in the Office of Marc Benioff at Salesforce. His main goal is to develop and execute strategies to unlock digital whitespace full potential across industries. Before joining Salesforce, Antonio gained 20+ years of experience as a global business executive in more than 50 countries. He became a Salesforce Trailblazer during his 9 years at Nestle. Antonio has also served as Board Member with Keep America Beautiful, a non-profit organization that inspires and educates people to do their best to improve and beautify the country. He also worked at McKinsey (in Public Sector and Infrastructure) and in Procter & Gamble. He has received many awards for his outstanding accomplishments and leadership in business transformation leveraging digital: ADWEEK CMTO ‘18; CMO OF THE YEAR ‘16 – CPG US (Consumer Goods Technology); INTERNATIONALIST OF THE YEAR ’16 (The Internationalist association); GLOBAL HEAD OF eCOMMERCE ’14 (Italian Chamber of Commerce). He has an honors degree in Business and Administration from Bocconi University. He is Italian and speaks fluent English and Spanish. He has competed professionally in tennis and soccer.
Visionaries, hosted by Nadine Dietz, airs every week and is brought to you in partnership with The Wall Street Journal. Each week, two new visionaries share their game plan and how that impacts today’s teams, talent, and hybrid work environment.
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