Daria Kepa-Green, Marketing Director at Cytora: “I think of programmatic advertising as something that we’ll be moving away from”

It’s not often that raising your hand can change your life, but that’s exactly what happened for Daria Kepa-Green, Marketing Director at Cytora. “[Our student organisation] needed someone to help with the promotion and communication for one of the projects they were running and I raised my hand to help.” And that was it: Daria was hooked on marketing. “I started a parallel degree in social communication on top of what I was already studying.”

Her journey to Cytora, an InsurTech company that includes Allianz, bms, Markel and Starr among its customers, includes roles as Marketing Director at Appvia and Head of Marketing at a Berlin-based startup acquired by Sauce Labs in the United States. And Daria has true international experience, having worked in China, Germany and the UK.

In this wide-ranging interview, we cover everything from AI (of course) to programmatic advertising. “Just recently a friend showed me a desk he got,” Daria explains below, in relation to the headline for this very article. “I clicked on the link to see what it looked like and for the next week, I was spammed with retargeting ads.” We’ve all been there…

So, what does the future look like? You’ll have to read on to find out, but we think it’s fair to say that Daria thinks differently. She’s the first marketer we’ve interviewed who has helped to create a successful podcast, and as you will discover Daria sees people rather than technology as the key to marketing success.

Why Dust or Magic? That stems from a quote by legendary American advertising creative director, William Bernbach: “An idea can turn to dust or magic, depending on the talent that rubs against it.” (And if you’re wondering where you’ve heard the name, Bernbach was the inspiration behind Don Draper of Mad Men fame.)

Could you please introduce yourself to our audience? What motivated you to pursue a career in marketing, and how did you embark on your journey in this field?

I almost found marketing by accident. It all started when I joined a student organisation back at university. They needed someone to help with the promotion and communication for one of the projects they were running and I raised my hand to help. I then quickly realised it’s something that I really want to pursue. I started a parallel degree in social communication on top of what I was already studying. What I love about marketing is that it’s incredibly versatile – no day is the same, you get to engage in many different activities keeping your brain active and creativity flowing. It just doesn’t get boring.

I was fortunate to have been working in my field with international companies as well as small local startups in China. After that, I moved to Germany to head the marketing team in a company that was acquired by a US-based startup after a year of joining. My career now is focusing on one of the most exciting InsurTech companies out there so that’s a very inspiring place to be.

What are your thoughts on the escalating integration of AI in digital marketing and its potential influence on the future of marketing, Martech and social media?

I think it’s incredibly exciting. It opens up an opportunity for all of us to be more creative, and hit the ground running with some generative AI drafts, or MVPs, for example. It unlocks more people to bring ideas to the table and execute them faster, and helps fill in the potential technical gaps that in the past would have been deal-breakers.

Recommended reading: Daniel Bailey, SVP & Regional Sales Leader EMEA, Genesys: “The world around brands is evolving faster than it ever has”

How do you ready yourself for an AI-driven landscape as a marketing leader? What new skills do you need?

Self-control. With the abundance of Gen AI content, we can easily be tempted to do more and more of our marketing content using generative tools. Whereas they could be of great aid, I think we always need to keep in mind our audience’s experience. We don’t want them to think of the content we produce as fake, create unrealistic expectations or distort reality to the point where the brand loses credibility and authenticity. The unique brand voice and visual style is something that people identify with and can quickly be lost if over-relied on AI.

How do you perceive programmatic advertising in today’s marketing landscape?

It may be a bit controversial but I think of programmatic advertising as something that we’ll be moving away from, especially now that cookies are being phased out and the majority of internet users have adblock for display advertising. I think we’ve got to the point where most of us don’t even register ads anymore, and when they do it’s because they are so ridiculous and irrelevant. 

Just recently a friend showed me a desk he got, I clicked on the link to see what it looked like and for the next week, I was spammed with retargeting ads. I think it’s an opportunity for us all to re-think how we are spending our budgets, what is the actual ROI on the campaigns we are running and whether there are better, more creative ways to drive the business.

Recommended reading: Zoyeb Batliwala, Director Operations – Client Services and Customer Success – at Apna: “At the heart of every decision, the customer’s voice should be the loudest”

Could you share some of your most noteworthy accomplishments that you take particular pride in?

Making Risk Flow is the podcast that I pitched upon joining Cytora almost two-and-a-half years ago. It was a first-of-a-kind podcast which focused on digital risk processing in commercial insurance. With the audience being very niche and the topic being specific it took us a lot of hard work to get the podcast to where it is today. It is now being recognised as one of the industry’s top podcasts with highly esteemed guests making regular appearances on the show. It really helped Cytora’s brand awareness and put us squarely in the position of a thought leader in our category.

What core values have played a pivotal role in shaping your approach to marketing and communication?

Respecting our audience – I think everyone is tired of over-optimised SEO blogs that aren’t actually sharing any information, or gated whitepapers to again provide common knowledge. So many times this tactic has been used to get people’s email addresses/phone numbers and spam them with product or service offerings. If you are creating something for your audience make it meaningful and make it easy to access. 

Humility – the market is always changing and so is marketing. Understanding that reality allowed me to not assume I have all the right answers, and it helped me to be creative within my role. Just because something has, or hasn’t worked for me in the past, it doesn’t mean it will/won’t work now. Constantly analysing the industry I operate within and the changes in the market, help me and my organisation be different, not follow beaten paths, stand out and be successful.

Recommended reading: Aniesia Williams, Chief Client Officer at Epigen: “Empower employees to contribute ideas and initiatives that enhance the customer experience”

What piece of advice would you offer to fellow marketing leaders that has been particularly beneficial to you personally?

Share your plans early – by getting people on board with your strategy early, before it’s finalised you can flush out any worries or concerns they may have, and it’s a great opportunity to gather feedback to improve your plans. The last thing anyone wants is to share a beautifully crafted strategy only for it to be picked apart by people you haven’t aligned with before.

My suggestion is to meet with each of the stakeholders/people who have a vested interest in your strategy one by one and walk them through your thoughts, no pressure, an opportunity for both you and them to have a low-stakes conversation.

On their side – no one really likes to be surprised by massive shifts in the strategy that are just presented as a matter of fact. Once you’ve done all your rounds, incorporated feedback and addressed the concerns, your final presentation will feel like smooth sailing and everyone will be excited about what’s ahead.