3 questions I wish I’d asked as a junior marketer: Birds Eye’s Steve Challouma
Achieving an outward-looking approach to his work has been a big focus for Birds Eye marketing director, Steve Challouma, who having spent more than two decades in the industry has learned how to channel shyness into creative firepower.
As marketing director of Birds Eye, Aunt Bessie’s and Goodfella’s, Steve Challouma has extensive experience of FMCG marketing at big brands.
But working his way through a career path that started out in business development at Unilever in the late 1990s is only part of the story. Like many graduates, Challouma found the transition into work difficult, due to a natural shyness. However, as he moved through the business he discovered that creative recruits are highly valued and his more experienced colleagues were willing him to succeed.
Challouma’s experience has taught him a number of lessons, such as not to ignore the daily challenges of marketing in favour of the more glamorous elements of communication and the importance of knowing your numbers if you want to attain true mastery of your brand.
“You almost have to develop a mental attitude, even at a junior level, of being like a managing director for your group of products,” he reflects.
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