Voice of Experience: Michelle Bottomley, Chief Marketing and Sales Officer, Mercer

“Work for bold and brave people – intent on creating positive change.” This is advice Michelle Bottomley, Chief Marketing and Sales Officer at Mercer, encourages young female professionals to follow.

“When you work for brave leaders intent on transforming their business – and partner across the firm – you have the impetus and opportunity to develop a holistic view that leads to more powerful solutions than any one person alone could have on their own,” advised Bottomley.

Turning Data Analysis into Strategic Decisions

Bottomley graduated from college with a dual degree in Economics and Biology, and was especially drawn toward statistics. She recalled, “I started my career in the corporate research department at Liberty Mutual Insurance. I was working toward my Ph.D. in Econometrics, and lucky to work with their corporate database – one of the most advanced at the time.” Bottomley added, “I was able to see the process of how data analyses were translated into corporate strategies.”

This early experience sparked Bottomley’s passion for looking at businesses through the lens of customer data. Recognizing this interest in unlocking customer value led Bottomley to Bronner Slosberg Humphrey – now Digitas –where she grew the analytics function into a strategic capability. “I was very fortunate to begin my career around data, putting the spotlight on how marketing programs drive customer behavior change in ways that help companies grow their business,” said Bottomley.

From Insights to Action

During her time at Bronner, Bottomley shifted from the analytics side of marketing to a strategic client management role when a colleague suggested that she utilize her analysis skills and her talent of really understanding the implications of data in order to build strategies and programs that grow client relationships. Bottomley noted, “I really enjoyed working with clients to help them connect the dots between their target audiences, highly targeted marketing programs and revenue growth.”

Bottomley’s next career step brought her to Epsilon, a leading data-driven marketing company, where she worked in the travel and entertainment area with clients like Disney, Enterprise Rental Cars, Dayton-Hudson and AMEX Platinum on building databases, segmentation and targeted communications to increase customer loyalty. “This was a fantastic time to be at Epsilon as they had lots of data and loyalty programs and clients who wanted to connect the dots between the data, communications and ROI,” said Bottomley.

According to Bottomley, the internet influenced her decision to leave Epsilon and work at Ogilvy in New York City. Bottomley joined Ogilvy in 1998 and was hired to help them rebuild their direct and digital business. She began leading client service and moved into a role leading the consulting organization, which became a critical component of Ogilvy’s resurgence during Bottomley’s ten-year career there. Bottomley led the NY office for OgilvyInteractive which became the leading US digital agency, according to Gartner, when she left in 2008.

“At Ogilvy, I really learned the power of insight, branding, and 360 degree communications in helping the world’s best brands grow,” said Bottomley.
Bottomley never thought she would leave Ogilvy, but was ultimately drawn to the innovative team at Barclaycard that was working on transforming the world of global credit card payment. “A big part of my background has been business transformation and reinvention, so when Barclaycard asked me to join, I had to be part of it,” recalled Bottomley.

According to Bottomley, accepting the Chief Marketing Officer role at Barclaycard U.S. was one of the best professional moves she ever made because it provided her with another valuable insight into marketing: the client perspective. She noted, “I discovered what an enormous amount of opportunity there is to change the way an organization thinks about itself and the value it delivers in the market through marketing.” Bottomley served as the CMO at Barclaycard US before moving to the UK as the Global CMO.

Career Transformations

After leaving Barclaycard, Bottomley embraced her dream to start her own boutique marketing consulting firm, which she operated for a couple of years before her client, Zinio, asked her to come aboard full time to lead the turnaround of this 12 year old pioneer in the digital magazine newsstand space. “Going into the next phase of my career, I went with a smaller company to lead a business transformation focused on mobile-first e-commerce which gave me an appreciation for the power of technology to deliver a great digital experience that grows revenue,” said Bottomley.

She continued, “Out of this experience, I was attracted to Mercer because it is a business focused on enhancing and protecting the health, wealth and performance of the global workforce – central to the growth of countries and companies.”

Bottomley remains excited about getting back to her roots and helping Mercer enhance the strength of their brand and propositions by creating a market-back and client-centric culture. “One of the most exciting things I am working on right now is helping Mercer create a clear and distinct brand from the top down. There is tremendous opportunity to deliver an extraordinary experience for Mercer client’s and their employees,” said Bottomley.

She added that another exciting aspect of her current role as Chief Marketing and Sales Officer at Mercer is the work she is doing around private health exchanges and the increased options for employers to provide improved healthcare benefits to their employees. “This is new ground for the way US businesses provide benefits to their employees that will lead the way employees take greater control and gain more satisfaction from their benefits than ever before.” remarked Bottomley. She added, “I am very passionate about this and excited to be part of a movement toward greater consumer choice and better outcomes.”

The Balancing Act

According to Bottomley, juggling work and family remains a great challenge for working women. And yet, an even larger challenge she has witnessed for professional women is that of getting back to work when children reach school age. “I know a lot of women who left the workforce to raise their children and are now trying to reenter at the same level, but are encountering obstacles,” she noted.

Women need support to remain on their career trajectory while also fulfilling their commitments at home, according to Bottomley. “Working women can enable those who have taken time off to re-enter the work force through creative work arrangements that meet their scheduling needs and provide valued expertise to the firm,” added Bottomley.

Casting a Wide Net

Bottomley advised young female professionals to sharpen their analytics and insights skills as a foundation for developing strategies that drive growth. “One of the lessons I learned early on was how to take businesses apart and put them back together based on the value that customer relationships create and the levers able to grow that value over time,” said Bottomley. In addition, she acknowledged just how critical her key mentors have been in influencing her professional growth and development throughout her entire career. Bottomley added, “My mentors were pioneers in the use of data to develop high impact marketing programs –the use of digital to grow brands and customer relationships – and the development of big brand ideas to elevate companies. Having strong stewards of change as partners and role models inspired me to deliver bold, yet practical solutions that move the revenue needle..”

When I was 10-15 years into my career, I undertook a large turnaround working for passionate leaders committed to bringing the power of digital and brands to transforming businesses. I have always sought situations where there was a tremendous amount of potential and a need for vision/strategy/differentiated capabilities to fuel growth. Turnarounds can grow the business and you in the process. My advice to women at this stage of their career is to embrace turnaround situations – the messier the better – as they provide an opportunity to rebuild and grow the organization and show you how to navigate complexity.

Women at Mercer

Bottomley recognized the Women@Mercer group she is involved with as passionate and smart women who are focused on the health and financial wellness of women in the workforce, equally at Mercer and in a broader sense. “I am so proud of the work this team has done and I am interested in helping them create a larger platform widely available for other organizations to build upon,” said Bottomley.

According to Bottomley, when you begin to look at the data around women in the workforce, it is very apparent just how important it is to have a high percentage of female participation. “The Mercer workforce study shows that and companies with a high percentage of women in the workforce are more likely to grow than those without a high percentage of women,” noted Bottomley. “To that end, Women@Mercer will deconstruct what really works about winning environments where women are able to stay professionally engaged throughout their lifetime through custom data and research for other organizations to reference and exemplify,” she added.

Outside the Office

“I love the beach and the mountains,” said Bottomley, who spends much of her spare time enjoying outdoor activities with her family. “We love to ski, bike, hike, garden, and do anything else that allows us to be outside,” she added.

By Michelle Hendelman