Mercedes-Benz is Driving Toward a Sustainable Future | Connections Ep 11 | Salesforce

This kind of transformation also creates panic from time to time because by transforming you need to start to change things. It means that you have to say goodbye to some of the topics which probably were very close to your heart for many, many years.

Hey, I'm Sarah Franklin and welcome to Connections, where we hear from some of the most innovative leaders in marketing. Today we are talking innovation in the auto industry with Sabina Scheunert, the VP of digital and IT sales and marketing at Mercedes Benz Cars. And where better to talk to her than right here in Munich, Germany? Thank you so much, Sabina, for joining us here today on Connections.

Yeah, thank you very much for the invitation.

Sarah, what kind of career did you envision for yourself as a child?

I had many ideas for many also years. I wanted to become a teacher. I love to be in school, maybe because it was easy for me, I have to admit, but really I love learning. It is something that inspires me.

I love that my mom was a teacher, so I have a lot of respect for that. What did you learn about the auto industry at your time at BMW?

I have been growing up here in Germany and I was passionate, really I was passionate about the cars. Germany is one of the biggest countries when it comes to premium luxury auto industry and I was always fascinated by the products and I thought I have to move inside of this industry. And then I went to BMW and I had to learn so many things. So we were having long life cycles and everything had to be calculated right in terms of the business cases because the investments were huge. And what I really learned is that you have to be super structured and in a big, huge corporation, you have to think about the different divisions and how they can function the best in terms of not only bringing out the best products, but also serving customers and then also from a financial perspective, being really successful.

And then you spent time working in China. Tell us about that experience.

It was a hard decision. After I've been spending a couple of years and working here in Munich for BMW and there was a first time stop in moving to Paris, to France. So I got an offer and I accepted that. Worked then for psa and by having done that, followed then the opportunity as well in becoming the first female CEO for a car manufacturer in China, which was really tremendous.

What an inspiration. What did you learn from that experience?

China became the biggest car market in the world and Chinese customers have a different expectation and I really had to learn things from scratch. It was not only this kind of hurdle with regards to the language barrier, which is for sure an issue. But it is also that I had to get familiar with the DNA of China, talking then to customers in terms of what really drives them. And what I learned in China is that speed is super important for them. Chinese customers are looking really for the latest technology available.

We're dealing with technology. And fast forward to today where you have both IT and marketing. Talk to me about how you see the intersection of IT and marketing in your role.

This was a natural growth, I would say. We were thinking about how can we shift from a very product centric organization towards a customer centric organization. And you cannot do it without not bearing in mind your IT landscape. And this is how I then went into. So not only probably from my math background, but it was a natural kind of takeover that I also became responsible for IT applications. And now I am the pure IT lady for sales and marketing. You're right, Globally. And I'm running this with lovely colleagues around the globe.

It sounds actually though very complex. All of the data, all of the processes being managed in the IT systems. I've heard that you talk about radical simplicity. What is that?

I mean, we have 130 years of history and you can imagine we cannot compete with startups when it comes to process definition. Most probably the biggest transformation starts with again analyzing our processes. Shifting towards electric mobility, shifting towards autonomous driving, shifting towards offering connectivity to our customers. We knew that we have to gain speed, therefore we tried to identify what kind of catalysts probably could redefine for us. And radical simplication was one of it. In terms of that this is going to help us in gaining the seed that we need.

You've talked about empowering your team through a culture of fearlessness. What does that look like?

We are living now in this, we call it internally, the VUCA world. So everything is very volatile, you have a lot of uncertainties and I mean this kind of transformation also creates panic from time to time because by transforming you need to start to change things. And also by radically simplifying processes, it means that you have to say goodbye to some of the topics which probably were very close to your heart for many, many years. I have to say that I got inspired whilst I was in the Harvard Business School. I had the chance being there for a week. And Amy Edmondson, she's a professor there, she talked about psychological safety and about how teams can really perform better by having this kind of fearless, this surrounding which is safe enough in terms of driving change.

I love that. Can you share how others could make that part of their leadership team where they bring psychological safety. What would you recommend for people trying to create that culture of fearlessness?

I would always recommend that you kind of try to dig into the topic. You have to understand it, you have to find the areas that apply for you in your industry. And then I would always also introduce it as a working topic for the teams. This, I think, makes the change. Do not just simply read about it and then try to introduce it. Take it, but also define it in a way that it really applies to you individually.

Trust is top of mind for all of us at Salesforce. How does that value show up for you at Mercedes?

Very, very important. We have this expression in German. We are really turning the stones currently and we do it massively. This massive transformation. Electric mobility is huge and you can imagine it only goes if you have trust in each other. I mean, 130 years, as I said, we have that history and customers are trusting us when it comes to safety, when it comes to the technology, the driving system that we are offering inside of our cars. And I think this trust is since years and decades inside of our DNA. It belongs to our brand. It is one of our key values. And whatever we do, trust is a key element for us inside of our brand.

So the automotive industry is going through the biggest transformation of all time. What changes are you making to make sure that you thrive?

For us in the company, it is super important that we are really becoming customer centric. We really have to understand what do they need in terms of coming over their range anxiety when it comes to now. We have been used to fuel our cars for so many years and now it's all about charging. And it means we really have to offer products that go beyond the classical purchase of car. It is also by ensuring that we have the right speed. I mean, we have to get faster, we have to take quicker decisions and it demands, yeah, a fearless organization, a culture in terms of being brave enough and taking those decisions that are shifting us or helping us in shifting towards a sustainable and full electric car manufacturer.

What excites you the most about the technology that you have now to that customer? Connection with marketing, because you uniquely have them both.

It's about this huge opportunity that we currently have in taking the technology that exists and in changing the entire landscape around the globe in terms of what are the key applications, the key processes for us that really drive innovation.

What innovation are you most excited about right now?

That we become 100% electricity car manufacturer. So by the end of that decade, you will see, wherever possible, legally possible, we are going to sell 100% electric vehicles. It is that very intensive journey in which we are in now towards that huge shift. It is not a commitment anymore. We are on that journey and the decision has been taken and we are.

All in Mercedes drive. Sustainability is such a powerful message. How do you think that will help you in your marketing and connecting with customers?

For us it was a very obvious shift that we took already years ago. We launched our sustainability strategy and we had already very, very clear ambitions in mind. When we talk about the infrastructure that I'm very close to in terms of CO2 neutral, you know, where we are hosting our applications and where do we get the energy. It's a huge endeavor. It is not only the shift when it comes to the product and the it is an entire radical shift of our full company when it comes to sustainability.

I love how you want to wow your customers with project.

Wow.

How are we doing that together with Salesforce and Mercedes?

It's a lovely journey. Sarah. I have to admit, you know that we have three working streams and it really works very, very well. We just launched the eqs together but we are also shifting now when it comes to our service cloud and I have to admit that this possibility together now as strong partners in gaining that 360 degree vision and also information around the customer. This really fascinates me and hopefully also it's going to wow our customers.

I have every confidence that it will Perfect. Never miss an episode episode by subscribing and turning on your notifications. We'll see you next time.