Q&A: David Buckingham of Ecrebo
David Buckingham
CEO
Ecrebo
Responsibilities: I am responsible for the overall running and success of the company. As a privately backed software business this includes all of the expected things. It includes managing the exec team; direct involvement in sales and marketing activity; international expansion; managing the U.S. subsidiary; balancing resource against opportunities; reporting to the board and shareholders/investors; managing and developing core third-party relationships; ensuring client satisfaction; keeping abreast of relevant retail and tech trends; managing internal teams across product, engineering, sales, marketing and customer success; setting the overall vision and direction of travel; and keeping staff members motivated and driven for success.
How you help clients win during uncertain times: The Ecrebo platform enables retailers to deliver targeted advertising, offers and messages to shoppers in real time, across multiple channels, at the point of highest impact. In times of economic uncertainty, retailer competition becomes even more intense and our platform drives customer retention and growth to higher measurable levels.
Shoppers appreciate rewards and offers even more when times are hard. So the ability to deliver relevant targeted offers (e.g. discounts/rewards on staple grocery items of relevance) leads to happy shoppers, which delivers higher retention rates for our retail clients.
New marketing tactic that you use: Not necessarily that new or unique, but we have found that a clear focus on our value proposition in our outreach, with specific customer case studies and metrics, is impactful as long as the follow up is politely relentless and relevant.
Essentially we're using B2C shopper segment development strategies to apply to the B2B world. When you can reference case studies from peers, the cut through is noticeable. As you would expect, we use a variety of AI tools to help manage the targeting and efficiency of delivery.
Best career advice you've received: Nothing lasts forever. To paraphrase — enjoy the good times while they are here, and don't sweat too much about the harder times. All things pass.
Memorable aha moment in your career: Rather than a specific eureka moment, I have learned over the years that the braver you are in decision making, the better the results — if not always instantaneously visible!
What you're reading and watching right now: I'm watching a Netflix series called "Black Rabbit" starring Jude Law and Jason Bateman. I'm 6 episodes in and absolutely loving it. I'm also reading a book called "Top Girl," which is a true-life account of a young girl who got caught up in drugs culture and became part of a drug-dealing gang in West London. It's gripping but harrowing.
Future travels: I have lots of business travel coming up to the U.S., Canada and Europe. Leisure wise, I have a ski trip with my son in February to France and later in the summer I'm vacationing in Mauritius with the family.
