Daniela Martino
Communications manager, Coloplast UK
I got into marketing aged 18 when I joined my first employer as a marketing apprentice. I had previously completed a work experience placement in the marketing department, which I really enjoyed, and it was this experience that inspired me to pursue a career in marketing.
I approached the company directly about an apprenticeship as I felt that university wasn’t the right career path for me and was fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to start the apprenticeship after completing my A-levels in 2011. During my time there I was promoted twice, and completed a degree in business and marketing funded by the company.
I have been in marketing for more than seven years now, having joined AB Agri as a marketing executive in April 2017, before taking on the role of communications manager for services marketing at Coloplast UK two years later.
When I was at school, marketing was touched on, at most, in business studies classes at GCSE. But business studies was an elective subject, so if you didn’t choose it you weren’t taught about marketing at all. Children need to be made aware of the different skills that have a place in marketing. For example, a student might be great at English and creative writing, or have a flair for art and design but wouldn’t immediately think these talents could come in handy in a career in marketing. As an industry, we need to demonstrate the many different areas and reiterate that these need different skills and talents. We need to tell students where their unique skills could take them – I bet not many students know they could actually turn their knowledge of social media into a career in marketing.
