Rolling up his sleeves and getting to work – Nate Plaunt sees and seizes the opportunities. Not just since today. After completing college and earning his marketing degree, he first went into gastronomy. There, he became Director of Marketing and Operations of a small restaurant operator. At 29, however, he left the industry and dared to begin a new career starting as a market research intern.
But Nate is not only courageous. He also has the necessary optimism, curiosity, and hands-on mentality to achieve his goals. For example, when a customer from his then-employer asked him what he knew about SEO, he replied “not much, but I can find out.” And he did just that. So well, in fact, that after a short time, he moved on to lead an SEO team in an agency. But Nate knew he could do more. He wanted to leverage his holistic business marketing knowledge to contribute to strategic decisions for his clients. Although he was not a web developer, he was successfully positioned as the head of website development strategy in an agency. It was a place where Nate experienced that marketing and sales need to work together for business success. Therefore, he started immediately at LAPP to transform marketing from a reactive sales arm to a strategic partner.
When Nate switched from the agency to the corporate side, he no longer had to “juggle ten customers.” But things didn’t get quiet for him. In his five years at Thomson Reuters, he held four different positions. And all of them – including his job as Director of Global Marketing Automation – were involved in restructuring. Nothing that frightened Nate Plaunt. He loves the challenge. And that’s why he remembers so well the interview with the CEO of LAPP for the position of Vice President of Digital Marketing. When the CEO said to him, “We need someone to build up a structure,” it matched. After all, Nate sees himself “as kind of a builder.”
And like any good builder, Nate leaves nothing to chance. On the contrary. He likes to explain how important planning is to him with a quote from Juma Ikangaa. The Tanzanian long-distance runner set the record for the New York Marathon in 1981. He said, “The willingness to win means nothing without the willingness to prepare.” In terms to LAPP’s Strategy 2027, which focuses on innovations, sustainability, digitalization, and service solutions, this means “setting the right priorities” and establishing a culture of forward-looking, thinking, and acting.
This is exactly what Nate understands. For example, a major milestone at LAPP North America was the launch of the new website. The fact that this major project came across the platform so quickly is closely related to his management style. Instead of asking whether you have already done one thing or another, he relies on a culture that focuses on results. Nate is anything but a micro manager. He gives employees the freedom to contribute themselves and their knowledge to the achievement of their objectives.
Another change has already been noticeable since Nate Plaunt took up the position of Vice President of Digital Marketing at LAPP North America. Digital marketing is based on data. Above all, customer data. Even the color of a button on a website is therefore no longer a matter of personal preference for him and his team. His mantra is that if you want to be part of the solution, you need to understand what customers want and need. He therefore knows that a digital customer portal is more than just a tool for customers to see what they have to offer: it is a space for customers to solve their problem. For him, interaction is also an indispensable part of the portal – to get in touch and give customers even more space for their very individual inquiries and challenges.
Without question, Nate can design at LAPP. But he doesn’t just appreciate this about his employer. As a family man, he feels that he has been incorporated into the LAPP family. Since his first day at work. On that day, when he suffered a blow of fate in his private life, he received the support “that I could not have wished for better.” For Nate, LAPP is an employer for whom he will certainly be doing a lot. For example, by constructing a digital solution that consistently understands customer problems, tackles them, and shows how LAPP can solve them.
