A passionate, tenacious and dynamic business leader, Rianca Hepburn, Head of Marketing, Tips & Toes has eight years of experience in leading the marketing department of the organization and building updated marketing strategies, communicating flawlessly the marketing plans to the team, and driving the company towards success by positioning it and its brands both digitally and offline. A creative problem solver, Rianca has been instrumental in adapting new marketing channels, implementing new technologies, and developing new ideas to stay on top of the game. She is focused on expressing herself and conveying concepts to her audience in a way that crafts engaging product stories and brand messages while effectively engrossing others on an emotional level. Rianca has been a student of Hospitality Management and Tourism at the University of Derby through Switzerland, which she pursued with the explicit goal of managing hotels professionally but instead, she fell in love with the subject of marketing. Majorly because marketing gave her the opportunity to get outside of her worldview and better understand the needs, desires, interests, and patterns of others.

She took her first trainee job in the marketing department of Rotana Hotels in the UAE. This helped her to learn and made her curious to  explore other industries as well. Her exploration into different industries brought her to Tips & Toes. During the last eight years at Tips & Toes and Bedashing Beauty Lounge, she was exposed to not only the beauty service industry but also the beauty retail industry as she worked closely with the supply chain head collaborating with brands such as Kevin Murphy, Schwarzkopf, Karastase, L’oreal, Essie and many more.

Rianca is a person with profound knowledge and exceptional abilities in advanced marketing solutions. She is a goal-oriented, committed, and highly ambitious business leader who is also a visionary, result-driven, experienced, and efficient team player with exceptional leadership skills. The influential leader is winning the beauty market of the Middle East with her determination to stay upto- date with the latest trends and her curiosity & passion for accommodating lifelong learning. Let’s hear it from her.

What are the various responsibilities you shoulder as the Head of Marketing for Tips & Toes? Tell us about your major focus areas.

I started at Tips & Toes with 16 locations and have been able to successfully expand the growth to 35 locations breaking into new markets, and new territories and not just expanding in the UAE but into the KSA market as well. My major role as the Head of Marketing is strategizing and analyzing two competitive beauty brands with two different visions and targets to achieve high-quality results. I lead my team while making sure everything runs smoothly from start to finish. My priority is bringing digital transformation within the department; utilizing today’s technology to expand creativity and increase innovation by automation processes to free up time for modernization. I believe leadership is about mapping out where I need to go to win as a team; it is dynamic, exciting, and can most often be inspiring.

Throw light on some of the most critical challenges you face as a marketer. What steps do you take to overcome the roadblocks that you face?

Working as a head of marketing for two competing brands, with their strategies and objectives, I overcome the challenges by ensuring that the hat I wear changes depending on the brand I focus on. I believe, being able to switch my mind between two tones of voices, two objectives, and two different target audiences can get overwhelming, but it is made easier when I know the brands, when I believe in the brands and when I have clear goals for each of them. Working in the beauty industry, one can quickly run out of engaging ways to communicate the same services to customers, but for me it is simple. Instead of focusing on the industry and being part of the status quo, I take a sledgehammer and break it down.

I do things differently. I believe, communicating to clients not as a brand but as a person, someone they can relate to is by far the most effective way to create content. It all comes down to trends and being relatable in the content. Nowadays people want to be informed, taught something new, or laugh; so, I focus on being funny, teaching them something new, or giving them interesting information.

What are some of the most significant milestones that you have achieved throughout your professional journey?

I reached my own goal of becoming a Marketing Manager by the age of 30. I did not only become Marketing Manager for Tips & Toes but also became the Head of the Department for Both Tips & Toes and Bedashing Beauty Lounge, the two largest beauty and spa centres in the Middle East. I worked in the marketing department alone for 18 months, before the hit from Covid we all faced, I started to build a team from the ground up and currently stand with a team of 11 incredible marketers.

“My priority is bringing digital transformation within the department; utilizing today’s technology to expand creativity and increase innovation”

How do you foresee the UAE marketing landscape evolving? In your opinion which industry trends will be the most influential going forward?

Content development and advertising in video format are on the rise these days. An increasing number of customers choose to watch rather than read information. In 2021, overall internet video traffic accounted for 80 percent of all Internet traffic worldwide. It is expected that the average person will spend 100 minutes each day watching online movies/ videos. Video content is proven to be a powerful medium. As customers’ expectations are rising, it is also the most important digital marketing trend in 2022. Consumers will demand the same level of comprehension while visiting the brand’s website or using the app as they grow savvier with their devices. As a result, websites will need to be more dynamic and customer-focused. Consumers' insatiable desire to get their hands on technology is driving these digital marketing trends. Digital marketing trends will shape how organizations engage with customers in the future, which is why staying on top of them is so important for marketing and advertising professionals. However, the future is always a guessing game. We as marketers rarely have the luxury of taking our time. As a result, the only choice for dealing with uncertainty is to begin doing.

What would your advice be to young women who also aspire to become business leaders and entrepreneurs in the future?

I would advise young women to embrace the reality that nothing in the plan they make for themselves may happen the way they anticipated and that is perfectly all right. They must ask for help and seek experienced insights early and often because I believe they do not have to learn all of the lessons on their own. I say this because I am blessed to have been surrounded by several extraordinary mentors and colleagues who have helped me achieve more than I could have by myself. And most importantly, they must not let fear get in the way of their success or choices.

“Leadership is about Mapping out where I need To go to win as a team; it is Dynamic, exciting, and can Most often be inspiring”

Rianca Hepburn, Head of marketing, Tips & Toes

Having a BA (Hons) in International Hospitality and Tourism Management from the University of Derby, Rianca has eight years of experience in heading the marketing department of Tips & Toes and Bedashing Beauty Lounge and experimenting with new strategies & tactics in an attempt to achieve heightened success.

• Headquarters: Dubai

• A business leader you admire: Lori Greiner