Five minutes with Karen Guyer
Meet our Industry 4.0 & Connectivity Lead Consultant – Karen Guyer.
We’ve welcomed our newest Lead Consultant to our Consultancy team, Karen Guyer. Karen will be heading up the business unit for our Industry 4.0 & Connectivity vertical and brings a wealth of industry knowledge to the role. So, without further ado, let’s spend 5 minutes with Karen.
Congratulations on your role at Fox Agency! Please tell us about your career journey so far.
My career has been a lot of fun to date! I have been lucky enough to work for well-known global agencies. Partnering with ambitious award-winning brands, redefining categories across a broad range of sectors including Fintech, SaaS, Retail, Culture & Education, Healthcare, Aviation, Automotive and Manufacturing.
Agency life for me has been split between B2C and B2B and I have enjoyed both in equal measure. There are so many learnings from working with consumer brands that can be applied within B2B, so Fox Agency felt like the perfect fit for me.
What does your new role as Industry 4.0 & Connectivity Lead Consultant involve, and what excites you the most about it?
I will be heading up the business unit for our Industry 4.0 & Connectivity vertical supporting our clients in refining their value propositions and go-to-market strategies. Industry 4.0 is one of our long-standing areas of expertise within Fox Agency and with it comes a knowledgeable and talented team. I am looking forward to working with them and our wonderful clients, building on the already great relationships we have in place to drive future growth.
What’s on the horizon for Industry 4.0 & Connectivity that has your attention?
I think between connectivity, automation, security and circularity, there is a lot to pay attention to that will continue to shape manufacturing and the industrial sector over the next few years. How industries will be able to instil confidence, provide reassurance and prove credibility in these key areas will greatly impact their ability to compete.
What do you see as the biggest challenges for Industry 4.0 & Connectivity, specifically within B2B, and what advice would you give to enterprise businesses in that space?
Industry 4.0 can be a conservative sector when it comes to marketing, with many sales being driven through established relationships and often focusing on product features, reliably and cost. But with connectivity, data and services value propositions are changing, and storytelling is becoming an important tool in translating technical capabilities into business value.
With more connected supply-chains and ecosystems, I would encourage businesses to call on their marketing teams more to support them in the co-creation of content. Helping customers to understand the full journey from individual products to connected solutions. And with connected solutions comes data, that can be used to help understand customer needs better, allowing for highly personalised engagement, supporting sales in driving brand preference.
What has been your biggest professional achievement to date?
There has been lots of work that I am proud to have been part of during my career, including high profile culture projects, heritage brands, start-ups and large-scale digital transformation projects.
One thing I do consider a professional achievement was to continually learn and adapt after making the conscious decision to step back from work for seven years to raise my young family. This attitude and way of thinking while I was away enabled me to re-join agency life and continue my career.
Finally, tell us something interesting or unique about yourself?
Several years ago, I bought a small piece of mixed woodland in Suffolk and since then I have been learning how to manage it, and the joy of owning something totally wild.
