Interview with S. Arief Rakhmadani – The New Strategy Director of Magnivate Group
It gives us great pleasure to inform you that Syamsul Arief Rakhmadani a.k.a Arief is now our new Strategy Director. Graduated from Monash University, Arief has a broad experience in the field of Public Relations, Content Development, Social Media and Digital Marketing. We are very excited to have him with us, so let us get to know him a little bit closer.
Magnivate: Hello Arief, congratulations for your new position as the new Strategy Director of Magnivate Group! Please tell us a bit about your background and how it has prepared you for this role?
Arief: I’ve been in the PR digital industry for the last 8 years. Almost five or six years ago, I started to see the trend that people were moving into the digital realm, people started to blog more, and there’s a lot of social networking going on. Then I moved to a company called Edelman, there’s where I learned a lot about PR, I learned a lot about how digital marketing being shaped and help the brand in communicating with their customers. Because of social media existence, people nowadays have begun to say whatever they want to the brand and brands have to be able to listen to them and involve them in some of the business processes.
Magnivate: Give us an idea of why this role was created?
Arief: I met Kevin (CEO of Magnivate Group) 3 years ago, and I was amazed because he’s young, energetic and brilliant. I looked at the Magnivate’s portfolio and it’s absolutely brilliant. There’s a division called Magnivate Touch which handles the social media and how social media can function as the digital marketing and also the digital PR. The social media and digital marketing in Indonesia are starting to step up their game. There have to be a continuity in the strategy behind it that we can implement somewhere on the future campaign. I think that’s why the role was created.
Magnivate: What do you think about Magnivate? And what made you decide to take this role?
Arief: I already knew about Magnivate for a long time, Magnivate has always been connected with young people, brilliant minds, enthusiasm and I think I will fit to the company, not that I’m young but the philosophy and the work ethics are something that I can relate to.
Magnivate: As the new Strategy Director, what are the key areas you would like to push forward as a priority?
Arief: The thing about digital and social media marketing or whatever you call it, is how you bring the brand to the heart of the customers. There are companies that are already digital savvy but they only do it in the marketing department which I think it needs to go deeper. Social media business have become more and more adaptable to the brand in Indonesia and I think a brand has to realize that social media is not just some communication medium but also something that has to be seamlessly delivered with their business process.
Magnivate: Okay enough with the serious stuff! What do you do in your free time?
Arief: I like photography, so I usually go someplace i can take pictures of people. I love to hangout with my friends and family. I’m also a movie-buff, so I usually go to the cinema or watch my DVD collections. But mostly, I spend my time in front of computer Tweet-ing, Facebook-ing and doing those kind of things.
Magnivate: Coffee or Tea?
Arief: Coffee of course.
Magnivate: Favorite Music?
Arief: Coldplay is my favorite band. I like a lot of genre but I’m currently into Jay-Z, Kanye West and Hip-Hop music. For the old stuff, I like Bon Jovi, Scorpions, now you know how old I am, hahaa!
Magnivate: Last but not least, if you weren’t a Strategy Director, what else could you see yourself doing to make a living?
Arief: A Chef, I really like cooking! I do cook in my spare time and I used to work in restaurant before, If I’m not a Strategy Director, probably I’ll become a Chef.
Magnivate: Thank you Arief, for the time to talk with us and welcome to the family!
Arief: Thank you!
We are so sure that Arief is up for a challenge to take Magnivate to a whole new level. So, if you see him around the office, make sure that you give him a warm welcome!
