Senior Director, Global Customer Intelligence, Dow Jones | Wall Street Journal 

I’ll say these experiences have helped me develop cultural empathy – being curious and open-minded to different cultures and refraining from preconceived biases. I also consider cultural differences from a marketing perspective – for example, at Dow Jones, I’ll think about: What are the differences in how we consume news and information? Are there differences in how we use certain platforms? Are there local markets or partnership opportunities that would make sense for us as a brand? It’s also a great ice-breaker for when I’m interviewing customers – for example, I find when I share something about myself or home, it puts people at ease and allows them to open up and share their experiences. You realize that fundamentally people are not all that different – everyone uses Facebook, watches Netflix, loves food, etc., but there are cultural nuances, differences in how and why we do things, and these are the opportunities for companies and brands.      

I’m always curious about new approaches and ways of collaborating to tackle our business’ toughest challenges. At Dow Jones, we’re looking at business growth through the lens of our customers and as a result, we’re increasingly layering behavioural analytics with traditional research to generate deeper insights and conclusions about our customers’ motivations and needs. We’re also applying lessons from behavioural economics to our marketing strategies and designing solutions that drive engagement. As our business focuses on creating meaningful customer experiences – for example, through our WSJ membership efforts or through bespoke partnership opportunities – customer journey mapping, design thinking, exploratory research and consumer surveys will be of tremendous value in uncovering customers’ needs states. For our advertising partners where demonstrating ad effectiveness is key, ...