n Chris Haddad, CRM manager at Oz Hair and Beauty. Describe a typical day in the office for you at Oz Hair & Beauty.  Though it sounds like a cliché, no two days are the same. I’ll begin my day with the urgent emails and usually knock the critical thinking tasks off the to-do list while my mind is fresh. I try to leave calls and meetings for the afternoon. The start of the week usually involves looking at results from tests and automations that we’ve recently implemented, which then will result in optimisation towards the end of the week. It’s a good balance of strategy and executional work. What are some of the initiatives in your company that you’ve led that you’re most proud of? Tell me about the impact that you’ve had on the company.  During my time at Oz Hair & Beauty, I’ve had the opportunity to build out the CRM team and strategy which involves taking ownership of all things email, SMS, and web-push to drive repeat business from our existing database. Since the department was formed, we’ve taken a shift from what once was a ‘spray-and-pray’ email strategy to now implementing a data-driven and omnichannel approach. With this, we’re able to engage in customer profiling to produce quality attributes and deliver an enhanced customer journey as a whole. We’ve also introduced additional channels including Web Push and SMS to the direct marketing strategy which enables us to reach a wider demographic and target those who may not be as engaged on other channels. We’ve utilised omni-channel automations to nurture the database depending on where people are in the customer lifecycle journey. And lastly, we’ve introduced the shift to first-party data to ensure our customer attributes are relevant. In turn, this allows the customer experience to be targeted and personalised. Why do you love your job? I work with a young, vibrant, and talented team in such a collaborative environment. Being a role very dependent on data and consumer behaviour, it is exciting to see the forever changing consumer trends and how customers respond to communications. I enjoy a challenge and this industry continues to present them whether it’s the constantly changing privacy laws or finding new ways to be innovative. The company has experienced enormous growth during my time here and I’m thrilled to be a part of the Oz Hair & Beauty journey. What is some of the best career advice that you’ve ever received and why?  The best career advice I’ve received is to never stop learning even if it’s 1 per cent more than yesterday. I find myself able to apply this ideology where I’m required to think critically, and problem solve. With an industry that is so reliant on technology and innovation, I’ve got the opportunity to learn so much on a day-to-day basis. What would you say are some of your greatest strengths in your role?  I’m a quick learner, which has been an advantage when it come to adapting to changing environments and behaviours. With a quantitative background, I’m able to deep dive into our data analysis and make informed decisions based on previous trends and tests. Creativity is also something I take pride in – finding new and innovative ways to approach the customer experience, while also referring back to our data-driven strategy. Who is your retail hero and why?  Entrepreneur Mark Bouris. His drive and determination to constantly move forward is something I can resonate with. From the early stages of his career to founding Wizard, Mark has always been an inspiration for me and will forever keep me from becoming complacent.