#Newsmaker: Carryn Martin joins new proptech app as brand manager

Carryn Martin

Here, Martin tells us why she’s excited to be entering the proptech space, joining such a young company and more about behavioural economics as a tool to help achieve business objectives…

Congratulations on your new appointment. How do you feel about it?

Thank you! I’m grateful and excited about the opportunity. I’ve wanted to embark into the unknown for so long, craving innovative and entrepreneurial minds to collaborate with, and this it. I’m very happy!

Tell us more about the role and what you’re most looking forward to.

Being part of something unknown and helping it evolve into something people know and need has got to be the most exciting part of this journey. Developing Flow as a trusted necessity in the minds and lives of ‘Generation Rent’ is my core function, which as I’m sure, involves many facets.

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What do you enjoy most about working at Flow? Having the opportunity to be a part of and having influence in something from the very beginning is what most appealed to me (Flow launched in 2019). Often, we’re just slotted into the conveyer belt of what has already been done, commissioned to keep doing the same thing.This is different. The highlight would have to be that no two days are the same. Each day is filled with new lessons and achievements, both big and small.

What do you love most about your career in general and brand management in particular?

Brand management is always evolving as new tools and techniques emerge in the industry. I enjoy the nature of having to keep up with changes in the way we consume brands, and researching what it takes to forge new trends. In my career, I love that there’s always something to learn. There’s no one way to solve a problem or satisfy a need, there are 100s. The excitement and challenge lies in ascertaining the best ways for each particular problem or need.

And of course, to do all these wonderful things, one gets to engage and work with some brilliant people. Collaboration is one of the best parts!

Tell us a bit about your experience in the industry and how you feel about entering the proptech space.

I was fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to work for and with some prominent brands early on in my career – Redbull and Audi. My experience, however, wasn’t linear, and that’s how I landed here. I did marketing within the property industry (Rabie Property Group), and writing for rewards (eBucks), so Flow was the perfect fit.

The proptech space requires unique solutions to brand and marketing, and having the opportunity to apply my unique experience is stimulating and challenging. Being a niche industry, which is still in the infant stages, the propetch space has extensive potential. The rapid growth over the last few years is just the tip of the iceberg.

What are some of the challenges and opportunities facing marketers in this sector, that you’ve become aware of since joining the company?

Since joining, the prevalent challenges are time and novelty. With the local proptech industry being at its infant stage (in SA), users interacting and transacting this way is all new. In turn, the challenge for marketers is that marketing, analyses and consumer insights are drawn from smaller samples than that of more mature industries. The nature of the industry being disruptive means time is a challenge too. It takes time to research, to develop, to implement and it moves so quickly. Things are changing as they grow and as we learn, and it all takes and impacts time.

How do behavioural economics play a part of Flow’s offering (rewarding good tenant behaviour)?

Behavioural economics proves that we are social animals driven by things other than money. It is our intrinsic need/motivation to achieve and receive recognition and reward, hence the gamification of rewards and loyalty programmes. Flow uses this together with a proprietary algorithm, understanding the complexity around present-bias and achievement, to encourage a positive change in behaviour that relates to the customers’ biggest expense item, their rent.

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What are the pros and cons to focusing on behavioural economics?

I wouldn’t say the focus is behavioural economics, but rather that it’s a pivotal tool we employ to achieve desired objectives. That said, there are pros and cons. One pro would be that behavioural economics is data-driven to produce the desired effect. A con, I would say, is that it’s a beast fitting across business items lying in data science. It’s a simple plug-and-play solution. It requires continuous assessment, development and improvement.

What’s at the top of your to-do list (at work)?

If there was a list, it would be horizontal [laughs]. Most tasks are high priority owing to the nature of our business being a startup. My key focuses are diving into metrics on spend, exploring new opportunities for the brand, Flow Marketplace partners and mapping out the Flow rewards offering.

What are you currently reading/watching/listening to for work?

• Reading: Yes! 50 Secrets from the Science of Persuasion by Noah J. Goldstein, Robert Cialdini, and Steve Martin
  
• Listening: How I Built This with Guy Raz

I’m a firm believer in learning from others’ successes and failures.

Tell us something about yourself not generally known?

I used to be a ballet dancer!

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