Kiran Suryanarayana speaks to industry professionals and former CMA award winners about their professional journey
Jonathan Lowy – Operational Marketing Manager, VMZINC
Jonathan Lowy speaks to an audience of architects to highlight the value of zinc as as a versatile, dynamic and high performing material for the exterior of buildings, roofs and walls
What is your role at VMZINC?
I wear two hats at VMZINC. One is a technical hat, so I get involved in technical support such as writing and literature as well as things like environmental product declarations and British Board of Agreement (BBA) certificates. The other hat is marketing and product (mainly to architects). I predominantly deal with the UK, and the Irish markets, but sometimes I also get involved in other markets around the world.
What’s the most interesting thing about your job?
I think the variety the job offers. I’ve been involved in the technical, as well as the marketing aspects, and often get involved in various markets so that creates quite a lot of variety. My job is not monotonous and that’s what makes it interesting.
How has marketing and communications changed since you started your career?
The whole shift from face-to-face to a whole new online form of interaction is something I’m not too fond of given that I’m not at the forefront of technology. I think the world was slowly progressing but the pandemic just multiplied the speed of change by 10, or 100. We could argue that we have more reach because we’re online, but sometimes it’s nice to have more physical face-to-face time, which has probably been reduced. Although the world is headed towards a virtual platform, sometimes you’ve got to make sure that you do get together now and again. I think that’s important, especially in the world of marketing and communication.
At VMZINC we manufacture zinc primarily for the exterior of buildings, roofs and walls. We’ve got to sell the idea to architects and so architects are our customers, even though architects don’t buy the zinc they specify. Our route to market has been via communicating to architects and getting specified and most of that was done face to face. The routine before the pandemic was that we went to architect’s offices and gave lunch time CPD presentations. But the pandemic changed traditional forms of marketing, it wasn’t a choice that we made; rather it was imposed on us. And we have to live with what is going on.
Looking back now, what would you tell your younger self?
I don’t have too many regrets. But to the younger generation, I would say, if you get an opportunity to travel or do work experiences abroad, take it. It is a wonderful experience to explore different cultures and languages. I’ve been lucky that I’ve been able to work in France, the US, Canada, and the UK. It is not just working in those markets, but living in those countries.
Another aspect is the importance of listening. I suppose there’s always the thing that part of communication is listening and sometimes we don’t give that enough importance. So make sure that you listen, be it to a customer or a colleague, to take the time to understand what that person needs.
What’s your next challenge?
I mentioned the skill of listening and really listening to what the architects want could be a game changer for the company, basing our services on what the architects find useful. As far as VMZINC goes from a geographical standpoint, we want to tap into the North American market and probably Canada. That would be our next goal.
