Meet our new communications consultant, Dominic Robinson

So, Dominic, could you tell us a bit about yourself?
My background is in a mix of corporate communications, public relations and marketing and I have worked across the European region. I started my career in a global communications agency, Hill+Knowlton Strategies and have since worked in number of tech companies including Uber as part of their EMEA policy and communications team. My last full-time position was at a Wallenberg-financed artificial intelligence startup in Sweden. I’m British and married to a Norwegian and have two children, a three-year-old and a one-year-old.

What are you passionate about?
What I enjoy the most is to see the end-results of the work that I’ve done and see it translate into commercial impact. I’m passionate about understanding what the audience wants and try to get under the skin of the person you are communicating towards.

On a personal level, I’ve got two small kids, so free time is limited to say the least. Norway is a beautiful country and I have started to go running at least once a week on the waterfront in the evening with my wife. Otherwise I’m a keen home brewer and have been trying to perfect a number of the Norwegian Kinn brewery IPA and stout clones.

Why did you want to join StrongPoint?
On the personal side, I love e-commerce and when I lived in London I bought everything online. I once got my wife’s birthday cake online and even had an e-butcher. On the professional side I strongly believe in the power of technology and know just how important it is to make complicated things easy to understand. I’m thrilled to be working in a company that is making it easier, better and smarter to buy, sell and shop both online and in-store. If I had to go to a physical shop in London to get something – for me it was always shoes – I’d have them delivered rather than having to carry the bag home. That was possible because of their modern digital infrastructure. I’m excited to be part of that type of development with StrongPoint.

In your new role, how will you contribute to increase efficiency and simplify e-commerce and store operations in the retail industry?
I love translating complicated things into simple and easy to understand language and use communication to drive commercial objectives. Where I see myself adding most value is helping to create compelling stories that engage our customers.

What are you looking forward to the most in your new job?
I look forward to achieving impact, and learning how I can do that best.

We live in extraordinary times; how do you think the current situation with the corona virus will affect the future of the retail industry?
Nothing is different but everything has changed. Covid-19 has accelerated existing trends and has created a greater sense of urgency. Retailers can use ecommerce to target new demographics that before Covid-19 were perhaps not obvious targets – for example people who are not from a digital native generation. There will be a lot of people – and I have several baby-boomer generation relatives – who will be looking for long-term solutions to minimise shopping in physical stores.