Our latest leadership spotlight features Jo Button-Card!
Jo possesses an extensive background and career in Digital Marketing; working with leading organisations across a range of sectors. Due to her established background, Jo has proven success in driving business outcomes within dynamic, high-paced environments. Jo's most recent positon was as Digital Director at Camelot; where she oversaw all digital activity.
Among some of the recognisable names in her experience to date include The AA, Capital One and she is also a Founding Member of Chief; a private network built to drive more women into positions of power and keep them there.
In our exclusive Q&A with Jo, she discusses her career to date, why she loves the fast-paced nature of the digital industry, Why “it's important to listen to your team and your customers”, how doubling digital sales at the National Lottery lead to a positive change for local communities and her keen interest in police and detective work!
Read our Q&A with Jo below.
Why did you join the Digital Leaders Club?
I found out about the network through Jack Johnson and was keen to join and connect with fellow Digital Marketers. The WhatsApp group is fantastic; you can ask for recommendations, and get great advice, suggestions and tips from Digital leaders from a range of sectors, which is invaluable.
What's your career journey been like to date?
My career path has very much focused on expanding my digital knowledge and expertise while making a difference to customers. I’ve progressed by taking on a number of different digital marketing roles across a wide range of sectors to strengthen my experience and leadership abilities.
I started out on the Marketing Graduate Scheme at Centrica, on theAA.com focusing on customer experience and CRM. Since then I’ve had roles in CRM and Digital Marketing at two travel and leisure companies, before taking on a wider Marketing role at Capital One. My current role is at Camelot, operator of The National Lottery, where I’m accountable for all Digital channels.
Tell us about your most recent position
My role as Digital Director at Camelot was incredibly rewarding, as its core purpose was to support good causes, such as local communities, sports and arts. I was accountable for the Digital Channel, which covered a wide range of responsibilities including strategy, trading, customer experience, digital product, design and UX, digital operations, CRM and digital marketing. My proudest moment is delivering on the long-term strategy and transformation of the digital experience for National Lottery players, and doubling digital sales to £3.6b.
What do you love about working in digital?
What isn’t there to love? The fast-paced nature and constant innovation mean you have to look ahead but also pivot and change plans quickly.
What are the common challenges you see in digital leadership?
I think it's important to listen to your team and your customers and ensure to not be complacent when things are going well. Keep abreast of the market, key trends, and what’s new and keep a dialogue with suppliers and partners, as you may need their support to make changes.
Have you had any interesting moments in your career so far?
My involvement in The Fourth Licence National Lottery bid whilst also leading the Digital Department throughout Covid was the most interesting moment of my career. It really strengthened and reinforced my leadership and coaching style, whilst highlighting the importance of wellbeing within the team, supporting each other through some challenging times as we manage priorities and personal commitments.
Have you had any challenges in your career to date; and how did you overcome them?
One of the biggest challenges in my career was six years ago when I took accountability for the Digital department. The employee engagement scores within the department were incredibly low, specifically regarding collaboration. My main focus for the first 3-months in the role was to restructure and give clear accountabilities and responsibilities across teams. This worked well and was supported with regular feedback and pulse surveys, where the leadership team and I would review and make appropriate changes.
Tell us about your best success story
My key success story is doubling National Lottery digital sales leading to positive change for local communities through increased contributions to good causes - from sports and education to arts and heritage. This involved restructuring and leading the digital department to transform the digital experience for customers, producing a four-star rated mobile app, growing the base to 10.7m active players, and increasing retention levels.
What’s it been like transitioning to a hybrid setup over the past few years?
We transitioned quite easily to a hybrid setup, which is working well across the department. We had a number of discussions across the leadership team with our People Business Partner to look at key areas of focus to improve upon within our hybrid working approach.
We wanted to ensure that individuals continued to enjoy the benefits of working from home but needed to address learning and development scores, which had dipped slightly in our engagement survey. We made changes to ensure there was a continued focus on collaboration and that everyone had access to coaching and mentoring. Teams come together on key days, where they’ll have team meetings, one-to-ones and informal catch-ups with other departments. We have a weekly virtual department meeting to check in with performance, key campaigns and delivery dates, and organisation news, which is then supported by a 6-weekly face-to-face Digital All Together so we can come together as a Department.
What are your hobbies and interests outside of work?
Spending time with my children, the gym and swimming, seeing my family and friends, films, and I love researching travel destinations!
What's your plan for the future?
I’m planning to take a little time out after I leave Camelot, as the longest break I’ve had in my 25-year career is 3-weeks. I’ll be looking for a new job and I would like to try a different sector with a clear purpose, where I can take on a challenge and add value.
What would you be doing (for a career) if you weren’t doing this?
I wanted to be a police officer/detective!
Connect with Jo on LinkedIn