A day in the life of… Matthew Critchley, Interim Marketing Director at Eurostar

We caught up with Matthew Critchley, currently working at Eurostar, to hear about his approach to measurement, advice for new marketers, and what his day-to-day routine looks like.

Please describe your job: What do you do?

Currently I am consulting as the interim Marketing Director for Eurostar. We are launching a new campaign ‘see more when you don’t fly’ for all their marketing channels. We are planning and working through launching content, communications, delivering offline media and performance campaigns.

What kind of skills do you need to be effective in your role?

Curiosity, a constant need to ask questions and knowing what the right questions are to ask of research and data. Managing the creative process, ie creating an atmosphere in which creativity can flourish. Execution – getting things done.

Tell us about a typical working day…

Walk the dog, get the train, cycle to Kings Cross. Walk to the office when in London or get the Eurostar when I am working in Paris. Discuss media status and campaign performance to ensure we are driving sales – over 55% of sales go direct through Eurostar’s own website. Building the relationship plans to ensure we are settling in the new media agency, Wavemaker. Approve a poster of our campaign mascot Seymour, the ostrich, looking at macaroons. Sign off the pages in our magazine. Work through ROI and ensure efficiencies in spend.

What do you love about your job? What sucks?

I love problem solving and dealing with different cultures. Trying to understand what makes a difference to consumers. It is always exciting to use creativity to deliver business results – seeing the difference.

It sucks having to leave my family to do it.

What kind of goals do you have? What are the most useful metrics and KPIs for measuring success?

As an interim role I have a lot of execution targets. However the output is being measured using brand awareness metrics and efficiency targets. I am judged on ROI and efficiency measurements both from econometrics and attribution. I find the simple measures are the best. Sales – when it’s broken down by YoY ticket and traffic. Econometrics and attribution are helpful. I think one simple brand strength measurement often over looked is the percentage of sales sold on promotion.

What are your favourite tools to help you to get the job done?

GA360. But most important for me is my dyslexia. It helps me see the bigger picture and make connections across data and insight.

How did you end up at Eurostar and where might you go from here?

I used to work for Richard, our Customer Engagement Director, at B&Q. He asked me to help. In terms of what’s next – I am looking for my next marketing role. I like transformation and challenges so we shall see.

Which marketing or customer experience has impressed you lately?

I think the GWR brand is really well defined, it gives the brand heritage whilst driving incremental travel. A stand out campaign that only a few people will know unless you live near Farnham is a shed company that just does banners with shed puns on them. I think they are going downhill – the banners don’t deliver brand value but as a retail campaign it makes their location and what they sell top of mind; if I ever need a shed. Also I love Lidl. It is a company with a great point of difference. Great retailer, great offering, brilliant big and bold campaigns.