5 Minutes with... Nick Jia

Nick Jia aims to position CHEP where it needs to be, focussing on fostering innovation and meeting the increasing demand for sophisticated personalisation.

Drawing on his diverse background and extensive industry experience, Nick is set to drive transformative technology solutions that deliver measurable results for clients while propelling CHEP to the forefront of the industry.

He caught up with LBB’s Tom Loudon to discuss his role, leveraging brand partnerships, and his vision for the future of CHEP.

LBB> Congratulations on your new role as executive director of marketing technology at CHEP! Please tell us about your responsibilities in this position and what your main objectives are.

Nick> Thank you! The new role is an exciting one - I've joined the team to help lead and grow CHEP’s brilliant tech team in the ANZ market. It’s about looking at what we do and how we do it and seeing what opportunities exist for us to evolve our current practice areas and grow into new ones. 

And it’s equally about working with the broader team and agency group to grow the function, everything from supporting the growth of our existing clients, finding new business opportunities, and developing our tech partner relationships. 

LBB> How do you plan to support the growth of the marketing technology function at CHEP and meet the increasing demand for sophisticated personalisation, cross-channel marketing, and customer data management solutions?

Nick> We’re fortunate in that we have a powerful team in place with a unique proposition in the market. We have brilliant capability not just in the tech space but across creative, media and a broader range of specialisms. 

It’s unique because we have the ability and expertise to consider the end-to-end conception and execution of a tech program, everything from how it fits strategically within a business to how it should look, what the experience should be for customers, how we talk about it in-market, and then, of course, all the technical expertise to build it and bring it to life. 

I believe we should become a MarTech and AdTech centre of excellence, where clients know they can come for a holistic view of the development and implementation of their tech program. 

I also think there’s a lot of opportunity in continuing to grow our capabilities in emerging technologies like customer data platforms and looking at how we use Generative AI to solve real business cases rather than playing with it on the fringes.  

LBB> What experiences and skills from your previous roles do you believe will be most valuable in driving CHEP through new technology solutions?

Nick> I’d say the diversity of my experience allows me to bring a holistic view of how we can grow the CHEP tech business. I’ve held roles that are tech-focused, roles that were focused on strategy, and I've spent time working for product vendors as well as for consultants. 

It’s given me a great understanding of what our clients need, what our tech partners’ expectations are, how to package the value proposition so that tech programs are easy to understand for broad audiences, and importantly, I’ve had the experience of showcasing how tech solutions can solve real business problems, and deliver value to the bottom line. 

I’m looking forward to drawing on all that experience to help grow our clients' businesses and, in turn, ours. 

LBB> How have you partnered with leading brands in the past to accelerate their commercial performance using technology solutions? What were the key challenges and successes?

Nick> The challenges can often vary based on the region you’re working in, the industry and the client. Overall, I think there are some common challenges many business face, including: 

Getting more evident on their marketing and customer experience objectives, goals, and growth, and identifying how tech can help achieve those objectives. 

Being able to better define a business case for tech programs that clearly articulate the benefit to customers. Understanding how to optimise your tech ecosystem to ensure it’s as efficient and effective as possible.

Being clear on what success looks like for your tech investment and understanding how to measure it. People-enablement. Ensuring the team that will be using the tech is capable and fully equipped to use it the way it’s intended. 

They’re just a few of the common challenges. I’ve seen the most success when there’s a natural partnership between the agency and the client in delivering the tech program. When you have a true partner, you know to ask the hard questions, work together to find the results, and constantly look for the solution that will deliver the best short and long-term value. 

LBB> How do you see the MarTech landscape evolving, especially with the growing adoption of AI-infused, cloud-based technology? What opportunities and challenges do you anticipate in this space, and how will CHEP stay ahead of the curve?

Nick> It’s always good to see the tech industry evolving, but we need to constantly ask ourselves, ‘does this new tech solution fit the needs of our client?’

MarTech is another tool to solve a problem and deliver value. There are lots of new, shiny things in the tech landscape, but if we’re just chasing those new things instead of being clear about how that particular tool or solution will deliver value, we’re not doing our job.

Technology should be trending towards being simple to implement and use, and we should be getting quicker at realising value from our investments. 

But while there will always be challenges, they always present opportunities. If we continue to be flexible with how we approach challenges, take the time to truly listen to our clients and understand their needs, and provide the most suitable tech solutions, then we’ll continue to win and stay ahead of the curve. 

LBB> How do you hope to leverage creative, media, and technology services to transform and innovate the digital customer experiences of clients?

Nick> For us, it’s about constantly talking to clients about how we can provide them with a connected output. We’re an agency with many specialisms, and some may be relevant to clients, some may not, but the benefit that we bring to the table is we don’t just think about tech in isolation.

We think about tech in the context of the entire customer experience. We talk to clients about providing a connected view of technology. Not just what it can provide from a functional level but how we can use creativity, media, or data to supercharge technology’s potential. 

As long as we continue leveraging all our brilliant minds in our business and talking to clients about what we can provide across the entire experience, we’ll continue to win. 

LBB> What key qualities contribute to a thriving and collaborative work culture in the MarTech space?

Nick> Like most businesses, it takes a good balance of soft and hard skills to be successful. 

A healthy MarTech culture needs good people and diverse personalities. In an industry that’s forever evolving, we look for people who are constantly willing to learn, whether junior or senior, and people who are equally willing to help share their knowledge.  

The other key attribute we look for is people with a strong business mindset. We’re selling more than code and products. We’re selling measurable results, so we try to instil a culture where our people feel as much like a consultant as they do a dev or specialist. 

LBB> What are your long-term visions and goals for CHEP's marketing technology function? How do you plan to measure success and drive continuous improvement in this area?

Nick> For me, it comes down to ensuring that I’ve contributed to the team’s success in some way, shape, or form. 

If we can build on the fantastic work the team has done to date, create more work that combines creative, media, tech and consulting and have us recognised as one of the leading CDP and marketing automation partners in the market, I'll feel pretty happy with what I’ve done. 

LBB> What advice would you give aspiring marketing technology professionals who aim to combine creative, media, and technology services effectively?

Nick> That’s a tough one! The first advice would be to think about the challenge you’re trying to solve holistically. Think about it more broadly than just the tech problem or solution. Look at the business case and value proposition and how you can use creative or media to help make the tech work better. 

The second one would be to truly listen to your clients. If you listen carefully, you’ll find opportunities beyond the brief to integrate those services.

And finally, I’d encourage everyone in tech to broaden their knowledge base. Go deep on your specialism, but take the time to understand how the other things, like creativity, media, or data, interconnect and play a role in the work that you’re doing.