Marketing the nuts and bolts

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Smart man: Martiens Barnard turns the technical jargon into plain English.

What does your job entail?

My primary duties focus on the creation of the technical marketing material used by our various channels of distribution.

This entails transforming difficult investment concepts into meaningful material which can be understood by a diverse audience.

We try to highlight what differentiates our products from the rest of the industry. The team which I manage is responsible for reporting, product-related marketing material, the construction of sales tools received by our advisers, the design of the Discovery financial needs analyses and various system enhancements.

What are your background and qualifications?

I did an honours degree in actuarial science at the University of the Free State. I am currently in the process of furthering my studies to become a fully qualified actuary.

Describe a typical day

On a typical day at the office, I’m working on documentation detailing product expansion and growth – thinking carefully about how we can differentiate ourselves from the rest of the market.

I’m heavily involved with the implementation of systems to ensure operational efficiency.

What are you trying to achieve?

To grow with and within the company and to see Discovery Invest become the dominant market force.

What are the challenges?

The possibility of a double-dip recession and the ongoing eurozone debt crisis are some of the macroeconomic themes, but a closer-to-home challenge facing the South African public is declining levels of employment and an environment which is not conducive to saving.

These are obviously issues which we need to find ways of addressing.

Where do you go from here?

I would like to qualify as an actuary. This will further equip me with the ability to entrench myself in the business, from a theoretical perspective.

The blessing about Discovery is its continuous innovation and business growth, which in turn provides one with an opportunity to extend oneself within the business. You don’t need a new title to signify your growth at Discovery – this is in turn obtained from the organisation renewing itself through cutting-edge developments and intellectual leadership displayed by Discovery people.

I have been with the company from day one and I have grown and matured with it, yet I have not arrived because, as Discovery grows, I have to expand with it to meet its demanding business needs.