Bloom: Geerlinde Pevenage
Marketing strategist, creative content developer, passionate entrepreneur and founder of BOSON Content. Geerlinde Pevenage is all of these things. You can read about her fascinating journey in this week's Bloom story! 👇🏻
Top expert in content marketing and strategy Geerlinde Pevenage is a pioneer in the digital marketing landscape. With our hands on our hearts, we can call her a digital marketing strategist from the very beginning. Geerlinde started her career as a digital project manager in a predominantly male world. That didn't stop her; fearlessly, she worked on her expertise at the largest advertising and marketing agencies. Fasten your seatbelts and read about her fascinating journey here.
How it began ...
Four years of writing on my own in a small room was not something I wanted to do... Marketing Communication seemed to me to be interesting.
It all started during her studies. After her Germanic studies, she was allowed to start a doctorate, but on second thought, Geerlinde was not keen on that. Instead, she opted for a ManaMa (post-master's) course that seemed very interesting in terms of content: marketing communication. This was followed by an unexpected turn; Geerlinde landed a job as 'Digital PM', in a non-digital era at the time, without any idea of what that meant. As one of the social media pioneers, she later set up her own agency in this field. Can you be highly educated and self-made? Geerlinde proves it and embodies the qualified self-made woman. With her visionary talent, she could predict, spot and experience every new off- and online trend in content marketing. In this way, she always took the lead and provided her clients with front row seats.
You are a content marketer, how did you end up in the tech world?
I actually ended up in tech spontaneously. I was educated as a Germanist, but I didn't fancy spending four years alone in a small room writing on a doctorate. Hence the ManaMa in marketing communication. Through my internship, I ended up in a communications agency in Ghent and I found it interesting enough to pursue it further.
The breakthrough of the digital age
So how did you get into your first tech or 'digital' role?
There, we advertised in a game for the first time, started an MSN bot for the first time, in short, experimented with digital marketing for the first time.
Her first job in 2006 was an immediate hit. International advertising agency Ogilvy spotted the early bird strategist in Geerlinde and it became a match. "I started at Ogilvy as a Digital Project Manager and really had to figure everything out. One of the first assignments, for example, was to set up an interactive billboard with a website and livestream. I really had to google what HTML was and learn everything myself from scratch. That was my start in digital and I put websites live for two years. What fascinated me most was the digital thinking; the strategy. Which communication campaigns for which target groups and how to package everything creatively. I immediately realised that this was what I liked, and I quickly became a digital strategist in the team. We rolled out a lot of interesting innovations for our customers: in-game advertising in FIFA, MSN bots, Second Life meetings, banners with live streaming, ... we experimented a lot with digital.
Facebook hilarity
"At one point we met with some young potentials from Ogilvy in Milan to exchange ideas and hone skills. I had proposed an idea to create a kind of digital diary where you can create a profile and connect with people. Then a certain 'Charles from the UK' spoke to me and said that something similar had occurred to them. It was called 'Facebook' (laughs exuberantly). I made a profile and sent it on to colleagues. It was a very weird thing in the beginning. Nobody saw the potential, but I believed in it. We are talking about 2007, long before the heyday of social media channels. But then a new manager came 'above' me. That was a frustrating moment, because I had to explain to him what SEO was, for example.
Did you feel short-changed then? Why did you not get the role?
'I've always been a feminist, it makes me angry, I don't see gender differences but then felt it.'
Yes, actually. The management back then was mainly male and I was still a white man, of course, but still. Why wasn't this discussed with me at the time? I have always been a feminist, it makes me angry, I don't see any gender differences but I felt it at the time. I don't understand why it always has to be men. It really was a man's world back then, when I went to internet events with the manager there was always someone who said, "You're the assistant to.... ?". To which I resolutely said NO. So I quit, it was time to start something new.
Geerlinde did not have much time to think, an ex-colleague approached her to take a big step forward in creating a new cell within a known media agency, Dentsu Aegis Media. When I was asked to set up a digital communication cell because there were a lot of questions about Facebook and social media, I was completely won over. Geerlinde created one of the first Facebook pages in Belgian social media history for fast food chain Quick. This was soon followed by BMW, Nintendo and other big players that she could add to her record of achievements. After three years of writing beautiful strategies, however, it was time for something new.
Three-year cycles
Is it now 2011? Three years on? You seem to work in three-year cycles? (laughs)
That is so true! I started working for a social media company in Ghent called Talking Heads. First for six months as a strategist, then as a managing partner. We had a lot of great customers like NMBS, Infrabel and Unilever, but after three years I wanted to broaden our proposition: from pure social media to digital content marketing and storytelling. My colleague managing partner wanted to focus more on government communication. We then decided to part company amicably.
'I thought, Geerlinde, stop, schluss, done, either you keep whining about what went wrong or you do it yourself.'
I then went back to work for a large advertising agency, Wunderman Thompson in Antwerp, as Director Content & Social. There I worked on the content strategy for major clients such as Telenet, Microsoft and JBC with a small team. After 3 years, that small team already consisted of 20 people and I was on the verge of burn-out. Then I had had it with the advertising industry. Selling clients things I didn't believe in, viewing content in a strange way, it was no longer for me. I thought, Geerlinde, stop, schluss, done, either you keep whining about what went wrong or you do it yourself.
From intrapreneur to entrepreneur
The intrapreneur in you always starts something new, builds teams, transfers and moves on. What made you decide to start your own business at Cronos?
'I already knew the story from Talking Heads, who were also with the Cronos Group. The network effect to generate business was an important factor. Doing business within the Cronos Group gives you the opportunity to work hard on the content of your story in peace and quiet and less on the admin and legal matters.
The entrepreneur was already there and digital was your flagship. Can we make the link with technology there?
Technology is everywhere, digital has become a way of life. If the wifi breaks down at our place, my daughter breaks down too (laughs). That's just the way we live now and it will be even more so in the future. Soon digital content and services will be so hardwired into everything that we will no longer be able to distinguish between digital and 'real life'.
What are you doing in BOSON content today? And why the name?
I am an incredible nerd. As a child, I wanted to be an astronaut or an archaeologist and discover the world. One of the things that fascinates me enormously is quantum mechanics & quantum physics. Bosons are quantum particles that give power to everything. That's like content marketing; it gives your story power and makes your communications stick together, so you build a content ecosystem.
Bosons are quantum particles that give power to everything. That's like content marketing; it gives your story power and makes your communications stick together nicely, so you build a content ecosystem.'
What do you do every day? What does your day look like?
Well, we have grown so much that I don't have enough time to do everything myself. At the moment, I am still keeping several balls in the air, but we are also really looking to expand the team. A strong content strategist would be the ideal addition. I prefer to focus on sales because I can tell the story of the company from my passion. BOSON Content from my passion. Now I also do strategy, I make sure that everything is running smoothly, that everyone is happy, do quality checks on the productions, ... We have been achieving good figures for three years in a row and we have enough work to recruit people.
Three years has just passed, do you have a next step in mind?
Pun intended, but indeed! I'm working out a business proposition to move towards a cluster model with companies like BOSON Video, BOSON Meta and BOSON Copy. It's time to start something new and explore further, learning is everything to me. Starting Boson has succeeded and now I can take the next steps. If I could start all over again, I would do something completely different, probably medicine.
Is medicine still a hidden passion at the moment? Where did the idea come from?
I come from a family of linguists, so nothing commercial. At first, they were not interested in what I am doing now either. My first choice was medicine and I am also fascinated by everything that has to do with the digitalisation of medicine, for example wearables to detect health problems. I am someone who likes to observe things, make them better and move them forward. Detecting problems and creating solutions, that's what drives me.'
'I am fascinated by anything to do with digitalisation of medicine, for example wearables to detect health problems in people.'
What are your greatest successes?
(Sighs) I am not concerned with what I am proud of, but more with results. With Boson, I am very happy that I took the step to being self-employed. I waited far too long and should have done it ten years earlier, although I did need time to let the idea of becoming fully independent mature. There are two things I am proud of: Boson is doing well, the employees and customers are happy, the results are good and there are ideas to expand it further. Secondly, I am proud of my daughter who is now thirteen.'
It is clear that you are driven by passion, interest and surrender. Do you have a tip for people who are still looking for their passion?
There are thousands of things you can do. You have to find something that interests you.
Yes, I don't understand how people can do something they don't like to do. My tip is to just try things out. There are thousands of things you can do. You have to find something that fascinates you. If it works out, all the better, if it doesn't work out or you don't like it, then drop it and try something else. What you like can also change over the years, so you don't have to resign yourself to it and just keep discovering new things!
Your parents are not as passionate as you? There is a boson in you?
No, absolutely not. I am atypical (laughs), there are no entrepreneurs in the family or anything. That's how I am, not only professionally but in really everything. I talk big with my hands and my whole body. I owe that to my Portuguese-Luxembourgish roots, among other things; my grandmother was a very passionate, present woman. I got it more from her, I think.'
What do you still want to achieve?
Raising my daughter to be a beautiful independent woman is an important mission'.
Apart from Boson, I want to start playing sports again and one day I want to be able to play the piano. Raising my daughter to be a beautiful independent woman is also an important mission. And maybe one day I will digitally research something in medicine. I would also like to set up a think tank to think about solutions to social problems.
Is there someone you look up to and would like to meet?
I am rather pragmatic... maybe someone who can do something in the medical world? But don't come up with a specific person. I do have a mentorship programme myself and mentor women who have interesting business ideas. That started because I myself missed a mentor, so it may have taken me longer to get where I am now. That is what I would like to be for others.
