Channel Post speaks with Icey Bin, Marketing Director of Innjoo about succeeding in IT through creativity, effective communication and advanced marketing skills.
Tell us about your leadership style and philosophy.
It’s very important to share the same vision as your team and coach them while taking their personal interests into consideration. I’m kind of a “content” sharer and inspirator. I’m always willing to share everything with my team be it strategy, working skills or life experiences. My aim is to encourage them to think differently and try creative ideas. Since the young generation has an independent personality, I like to lead my team by example and give them the freedom to decide, plan, act and create.
What made you choose IT as a career opportunity?
The center point of my generation is all about “smart” and “internet” so the career choice of “Smart IT” industry comes naturally to me. My major at college was marketing. What drives me here is the intention to experience the tides of time and build an emotional connection between technology and arts through marketing skills.
How has your unique background prepared you for success in the industry?
I was born in a time when China was experiencing the revolutionary development of its economy especially over the internet. I’ve witnessed rapid change in areas ranging from consumption environment, purchasing habits to technology itself. Building on these experiences, my 11 years dedicated in marketing have equipped me with a comprehensive understanding of emerging market and effective communication in a smart era.
What was your most interesting job?
I would say it’s the current marketing director role at TecSync (group company of XTOUCH and InnJoo). This role has offered me a platform to perform on an international level while sitting in the new world hub – Dubai.
I have a great passion for western culture and have traveled to more than 10 western countries. Those cultural imprints continue to inspire me to develop unique marketing concepts, be it designing a new 360 degree marketing plan or applying a quote from an old poem or copywriting. These happen almost everyday.
What advice would you give to women looking to break into the field of computer technology?
There is an unbalanced gender ratio in business not only for IT industry but in other fields as well. According to a gender ratio survey conducted by by the Peterson Institute for International Economics (research firm), 60% of firms surveyed had no women on the board; half had no executives in the C-suite; and one in three businesses had neither.
The gap remains huge but it is not impassable and the solution is not not to seek special treatment. Instead what one needs to do is to keep accumulating knowledge and skills to develop your core strength. Dare to break the gender routines and arm yourself with insightful industry knowledge.
What is the greatest transformation in technology you’ve witnessed in your career?
The changes of technology are tremendous and revolutionary. In my father’s generation the post office, pay phone station, etc played a major role in remote communication. Then I witnessed the first feature phone Nokia 8210, desktop computer, game play station with keyboard etc. All these devices came There with a keyboard and it was all about TYPING.
While for my generation, everything is born with ‘smart’ – from smartphone, tablet, wearables to home appliances. Now there is a screen and it’s all about TOUCHING. There is a lot more to come as we welcome the ‘virtual’ age – self-driving cars, artificial intelligence, virtual & augmented reality, etc.
What are your thoughts on the next transformation in the tech industry?
The world is stepping into an even more intellectual world. I think the big change will be from ‘touch’ to ‘speak’, to be all about voice control. When your voice controlled assistant will help you make reservations or book a taxi right before you head for an urgent meeting, life will be much easier.
What’s next for you in terms of your career in the tech industry?
I’m now working at a tech startup acting as the head of marketing. There are many challenges in building a brand from 0 to 10. In the digital era, like everything else, the way marketing works also keeps changing and this requires you to refresh yourself with new tools and innovative concepts.
Take InnJoo for example, the meaning of InnJoo is Internet Journey, Internet Joy. My next goal is to enhance the InnJoo’s eco-system to bring more joy to the end users with InnStore, InnHome, Innfluencer and Innteraction. A good product can speak for itself but now we need strong marketing techniques to make it speak better.
In the long run, I would like to deep dive into developing a new-type of marketing infrastructure that can enable growth of start-up companies in the digital age. Now I’m in the middle of an emerging market – Middle East and Africa, with fertile soil to plant the seed and that is something meaningful to do.