Vonnie Alexander - Curiosity, Courage, and Customer Experience

Vonnie Alexander’s time in the marketing industry has been defined by curiosity, variety and restless ambition. At AAR, she leads the CRM/CX practice, working “between the wonderful worlds of agency and clients”. In what can be a complex discipline, she believes that simplicity is key and achieves that through active listening and “asking the right questions”.

Never one to sit still, she also coaches on the No Bullsh*t Leadership course - helping future leaders build the skills and confidence they need to achieve their potential.

What makes Vonnie the powerhouse of consumer experience she is today?

A varied background

Vonnie fell in love with the buzz of agency life while working at Rapp as a student during university holidays, where she was busy becoming trilingual by studying French and Spanish. After a brief flirtation with a career in law and some time spent teaching in Europe, Vonnie made her way back to marketing, where her drive and some great leadership from mentors saw her rise to board level - before going on to co-found her own agency, Kitcatt Nohr Alexander Shaw.

Alongside her partners and team, Vonnie steered Kitcatt Nohr to success (deftly navigating an economic crash along the way), then repivoted entirely to embark on what she describes as a “challenging and life-affirming” career in executive and leadership team coaching. She joined AAR in 2023, adding yet another dimension to an already multifaceted professional life - and all while fitting in a break to travel the world.

Looking to the future

For Vonnie, the biggest challenge facing marketers is adapting at the ever-increasing pace of change, and embedding that change across teams and marketing operating models.

This requires a “boldness and courage” to resist the instinct to “preserve the status quo”. The advice she would give to anyone who is working in marketing or in an agency would be to learn and properly understand the commercials. It is the most important thing and too often overlooked. Grasping the commercial impact of marketing, demonstrating its effectiveness, and its effect on the business will make the single biggest difference to your career success. This is true both agency and brand side. CMOs need to prove the value of marketing, and know how every lever they pull impacts the bottom line and margin, and agencies can’t help with this unless they understand how their client makes money.

Vonnie’s specialism in CRM/CX has its own particular challenges, with brands swamped in data they aren’t yet sure how to make the best use of. But one of the key factors in getting this right, in Vonnie’s view, is having leaders with the confidence to own what they know and admit to where the gaps are - drawing in the knowledge they need to take the brakes off all the technology at their disposal and deliver better customer experience at scale.

Position of privilege

When asked what makes working with AAR different, Vonnie was enthusiastic about the “position of privilege” AAR holds in the industry - being allowed at the table to see how both brands and agencies work, and the moment they come together. “Our USP is mutual respect - we spend a lot of time with the brand team interrogating their challenges and getting under the skin of what they really need, and are principled in ensuring we always give our honest, neutral advice. But we also spend as much time with the agencies, so we don’t only know their work, but their culture too.”

Vonnie’s extensive business experience is part of what makes her so valuable in this role, but her experience in coaching also brings key skills in brokering relationships - from breaking deadlocks to just breaking the ice. And perhaps being the mum to 13-year-old twins helps too; “grappling with teenagers - now that makes everything else look easy”.

If you'd like to get in touch, message Vonnie on valexander@aargroup.co.uk.