Every company wants its products and services to be seen. This requires a marketing professional who is familiar with social media, content, ads, newsletters and events and who can generate attention and traffic. Find out what Raphi’s everyday life as Head of Marketing & Communications looks like at Nine in our interview with him. ⬇️
Elena: Hello Raphi, thank you for taking the time and talking to me!
Raphi: You’re very welcome – I’m looking forward to your questions.
Dear Raphi, how long have you been working for Nine and why did you choose us as your employer?
I’ve been part of Nine since January 2024 now and joined the Cloud Navigators from a content marketing agency. Although it hasn’t actually been that long since my start, it already feels like I’ve been with the company for a long time – a very good sign, which I think also speaks in favour of the company. There were various things that attracted me at Nine: I felt a great vibe from the very first informal video call with Tom, the CEO. I was also fascinated by the products and services that Nine offers. I already had a lot to do with PCs, servers and cloud technology at my previous employer, Digitec Galaxus AG, and I also keep up to date with these topics in my free time. After all, the chemistry was right when I spoke to the stakeholders of the respective teams in their office and I already saw myself as a member of the team. And anyone who knows me can confirm that the snacks and sweets offered free of charge in the cafeteria also played an important role in my decision to start a job at Nine. Last but not least, I was also attracted by the fact that I was able to (re)build marketing practically from scratch.
Sounds like the perfect match. 🤝 What were your highlights on Nine’s blank marketing page in your first year?
Actually, it’s not only an advantage to have an «untouched» marketing working field. On the one hand, it gave me the liberty to decide which advertising measures I wanted to implement, how to do them and on which channels. On the other hand, of course, this also led to high expectations and demanded a lot of initiative from my side, as I was solely responsible for the entire area. But as I am someone who likes to dig in, make things happen and contribute creative ideas, the conditions were ultimately perfect. But to come back to your question: I already had a meeting with Engineering on my third day at work and was immediately given responsibility for the new Nine website. I later learnt that Nine had been working on this project for almost 5 years. The fact that we went live at the end of June is definitely one of the top 3 that happened during my time at Nine – including being mentioned in a short article in Netzwoche. I’m also proud of the growing number of followers on our social media channels, as I’m now able to regularly fill those channels with exciting content.
And what does a typical day look like for you? Or is there no such thing with all those projects you talked about?
You’re absolutely right, there’s no «typical» day at work for me (laughs). But there are certain processes and tasks that I take care of on a more or less regular basis. For example, I check whether we’ve received questions and comments on social media. Then it’s about finding suitable answers together with Engineering. Checking my mailbox for sponsoring opportunities, events and other enquiries is also part of my daily business. But there are many things that I can’t plan ahead, for example designing a label for Deploio beer. Then, of course, a Head of Marketing & Communications also has to deal with administrative tasks, such as uploading invoices to our finance tool or responding to tickets received via our customer support desk. As you can see, I can’t complain about a lack of work or variety. The great thing is that it’s the unpredictability that makes the job so exciting – and nice things like ordering snacks and beer for our TechTalkThursday events are just the cherry on top of the whole marketing cake. 🍰
Perfect, because with the events you address the topic of my next question: Where can one meet the 9ers outside the office?
At industry-relevant talks, conferences and conventions, of course. I try to work closely with Engineering to select events that are thematically relevant to our products, but also have a community that is interested in what we have to offer and with whom we can exchange ideas to make our products and services even better. Together with you, HR, I also organise internal events such as employee events, team activities and after-work drinks. Here too, the common thread is the same: Even when planning events, there is no such thing as a «standard». Then, there’s also the whole sponsorship issue: We don’t want to be present «just» as visitors at important events, but preferably with a booth or even an expert talk and thus show the audience our expertise. This is where I again rely on the input of our Engineering – they know the most popular events and know when and where we need to be present, and with which products.
Speaking of working together with Engineering: You are solely responsible for marketing and communication at Nine, so unlike the engineers, you don’t have a large team behind you. How do you deal with this challenge?
Even though I often or mostly worked in teams during my studies and also during my previous jobs, it is still my nature to want to do as much as possible by myself. In my current job, I had to change this mindset because I rely completely on the engineers for blogs, for example – especially for technical articles… Whether it’s to suggest relevant topics or to write the texts themselves. I therefore see it less as not having a team behind me and more as being the project owner for marketing projects, but achieving the goal with the help of cross-team work. The responsibility for the end result lies with me, but to get there, many people need to work together.
With so much variety in your job, do you still need to balance that out in your private life?
Yes, of course! Even though I really enjoy my work, look forward to the tasks ahead and experience lots of surprises at work, I still need a break from time to time – just like everyone else. I’ve been playing floorball for almost 30 years now. It energises me for my working day. And thanks to the flexible working hours, I can sometimes leave early to attend a spontaneous technical training session or take part in a club board meeting. Nine is very generous in this respect and ensures that I can organise my hours to suit both me and the company. I really appreciate that and it makes work and leisure even more special. I also have a different group of colleagues in the two clubs where I train twice a week as a floorball goalie, with whom I can talk about other topics. You know, to get my mind off work-related things. Even though I’m interested in Nine’s products and services and it’s my job to promote them and make them appealing to potential customers, I really enjoy socialising in a completely different community. And, as a small plus, it often leads to conversations or even ideas that I can then implement in my day-to-day work. For example, one of my teammates has already held a presentation at one of our TechTalkThursdays. 🥅
Thank you very much for the interesting look behind the scenes.
You’re very welcome!
