Interview

Sofie Askervall  is Global Marketing Director på Natural Cycles. Sofie is a results-oriented marketing professional with a diverse background in performance-driven and influencer marketing. Currently leading global marketing efforts at a rapidly growing startup in the women’s health sector, she drives expansion strategies and spearheads key initiatives. Her deep passion for women’s health fuels her dedication to creating a positive impact in this field. With a proven track record of executing successful marketing campaigns and a strong understanding of the industry, she is committed to empowering women and delivering exceptional results in the dynamic world of marketing.

How does your company work within the four dimensions of Martech, and what is the dimension that is most focused on moving forward?

At Natural Cycles, we're all about working smart and effectively and to navigate the people, process, data and tech within martech does require a holistic approach. We set clear goals, align our marketing tech with our overall business objectives, and invest wisely in solutions that ultimately result in growth and return. Of course, strategy and data are always important (as always for startups and scaleups these days) and is our primary focus as it gives us the knowledge we need to navigate and make smart decisions on our marketing investments. Having said that, we also value our team and their skills. We do our best to give them the tools and support they need to succeed. We're always looking for ways to optimize our processes and make the most of our investments. By balancing all four dimensions, we can maximize our impact and drive better marketing outcomes.

In terms of people, we know that collaborations between marketing and other departments are essential. We work hard to make sure that implementations go smoothly and that we're always adapting to new technologies and processes. It's not always easy, but we learn from our mistakes and try not to make the same ones twice. For example, we’ve started bringing in our tech partners before we consider kicking off the evaluation process, in an effort to consider their needs and make sure they’re prepared to support an implementation.

In a heavily regulated environment like the one Natural Cycles is operating, it's important to have

well-documented workflows. This has helped us ensure consistency, efficiency, and better utilization of our marketing tools. We've learned a lot about how to optimize our processes over the years, so we can automate tasks, prioritize implementations, and focus on measuring and optimizing results based on data analytics.

Do you see big differences in Martech maturity between your different markets?

• If yes, what are the main differences?
• And how are you addressing these?

Every market is unique, from how likely potential customers are to engage with our brand online to how quickly they adapt to digital experiences. If I had to pinpoint the main difference between markets for Natural Cycles, it would be the cultural and regulatory environment.

The markets where we're certified and therefore can market Natural Cycles as a birth control method are all “developed” and have established regulatory frameworks. But they're not all as comprehensive.

Regulatory compliance is the foundation of everything we do, including our marketing strategies. At Natural Cycles, all of our marketers are regularly trained on the regulatory requirements for our different markets. It's a tricky balance because some markets have higher expectations for personalized and seamless digital experiences. They're more likely to interact with us online and expect quick, responsive service. While we tailor our marketing strategies to local market conditions like infrastructure, economic factors, and cultural attitudes, we always stay true to our brand and how we want to represent it, even if the markets expect different approaches