Anthura directly approached us via Google for an interim manager marketing and product management position. The team’s manager (8 FTE) had been out for a long period, resulting in a lack of direct leadership. They asked if we could immediately fill this position, and of course, this was possible for us.
The interim assignment at Anthura consisted of two parts:
- Providing temporary leadership to the Product Management and Marketing team.
- Offering operational support and coaching to the same team.
Below is an outline of how our interim marketing manager, Hans Dekker, approached and executed this assignment.
Part 1 of the interim manager marketing assignment involves providing temporary leadership to the Product Management and Marketing team.
Part 1: Restoring Calm to the Team
People-oriented leadership
Initially (from June to the end of September 2024), the focus was on bringing calmness to the team through people-oriented leadership. The team had experienced several turbulent months. By introducing clear direction and structure, calmness and focus were restored, which had been lacking for a long time. The improvement in atmosphere was noticeable as early as the second week of this interim assignment. Laughter returned to the team.
New Website
At the start of the assignment, Hans noticed that work on a new website had been ongoing for months. A recently hired marketing employee was responsible for its completion. In his first week as interim manager marketing and product management, Hans collaborated with this employee to establish a project-based structure. They clearly distinguished between what was minimally required for the website’s launch and what could be handled afterward. This significantly accelerated the process of launching the new website.
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What additional staff do we need within this team?
One reason for the team’s unrest was understaffing. Both Product Management and Marketing had vacancies for additional staff. Management wondered which competencies were lacking and needed reinforcement. Due to the absence of internal expertise, they asked us to investigate this.
This was achieved through the following steps:
- Establishing tasks and competencies
- Clearly differentiating between current and new roles
- Recruiting new colleagues
Through multiple team sessions and one-on-one conversations with team members and a management team member, clarity was achieved regarding task allocation and its logic. The RASCI model was utilized for this purpose. Having team members complete the model and engage in discussions created greater understanding and support within the team regarding this exercise. Hans served as a facilitator and mediator between the team and management in his role as interim manager marketing and product management.
Refining and Maintaining Brand Identity
The new brand book outlined Anthura’s new tone-of-voice extensively, making it nearly impossible to develop practical texts. The approximately 25 requirements were reduced to four. Hans converted sample sentences to meet these four new tone-of-voice requirements.
Alongside a permanent employee, other guidelines were reviewed and refined, such as translating PMS colors to CMYK and determining RAL colors.
Addressing Loose Ends from Rebranding
Anthura underwent rebranding in 2024. Due to a colleague’s departure, there were several unresolved issues from this project. Besides his leadership role, Hans addressed these, significantly reducing the list of outstanding issues.
For locations in Bleiswijk, China, Germany, and North Macedonia, Hans ensured:
- new coffee and tea mugs featuring the new logo,
- company vehicles received new stickers,
- emergency signs were replaced,
- locations in Germany and Bleiswijk received new signage,
- and multiple PowerPoint presentations and cultivation manuals were updated and aligned with the new identity.
Part 2 of the interim marketing manager assignment involved operationally supporting the Product Management and Marketing team, running from mid-September 2024 until mid-February 2025.
Part 2: Operational Marketing Support
After transferring leadership to the new manager, Hans continued handling various operational tasks. This ensured continuity during the peak season of trade fairs and events, allowing the team ongoing access to Hans’s marketing expertise and experience.
Activities included:
- Further shaping participation in SAIL Amsterdam 2025. Participation was already secured, but a save-the-date needed to be sent. Hans ensured that sales created and updated the invitee list.
- Organizing trade fairs in the US and Vietnam: coordinating various aspects with organizers, stand builders, design agencies, printers, and suppliers of giveaways.
- Organizing Anthura’s own event, Anthura NXT, featuring Markt Tuitert as a speaker.
- Addressing additional loose ends in the rebranding project.
- Assisting in the creation and maintenance of the content calendar.
- Providing support with various technical online challenges related to the website.
- Developing and launching a complete online campaign for an Anthurium variety.
Developing Marketing Strategy 2025 & Beyond
Lastly, and equally important as all the above, we developed a marketing strategy providing clear direction and guidance for Anthura to build upon in the coming years.
