Ebbinge Amsterdam

Fred. Roeskestraat 115

1076 EE Amsterdam

Nederland

+31 (0) 20 5 725 725 info@ebbinge.nl
Contact

About us

LinkedIn Cookies Privacy Statement Disclaimer
© Ebbinge 2020

The first 100 days with Cees Hannema, Omoda

Cees Hannema has been Head of Marketing at Omoda since April 2022. He is responsible for helping to realise the solid growth ambitions this fashion retailer, with 33 physical stores and an online presence in six European countries, aims to achieve. Cees brings many years of experience in the field of digital marketing and e-commerce with Unilever and Jumbo, among others. In conversation with Derek van Essen and Astrid Jacobs van Ebbinge, Cees talks about his first 100 days at Omoda.

the-first-100-days-with

What did you notice most on your first day?
The step from a large corporate environment to a much smaller family business is huge. Unlike a large corporation, there is so much warmth and cordiality in all the people you encounter at Omoda. Everyone takes the time to ask how you are doing and what you are going to do in your new role – there really is a sense of family. On the other hand, you also notice that the processes are less tightly regulated than I was used to with previous employers. There are fewer procedures, but that also gives you more freedom and space to establish things yourself.

What attracted you to this company and this role?
Being closer to the action, so to speak, and achieving results faster was an important motivation in taking this step. I also have a lot of affinity with the fashion industry and the ambitions Omoda has appealed to me in a big way. We want to grow fast and are looking for the right people to do this, which is also one of my tasks. There was also a good connection with Jan Baan, the CEO. I believed not only the story of Omoda, but also the people in charge of making it come true.

What impact did you make in your first 100 days at Omoda?
I mainly used this first period to listen very carefully. The way I’ve been received by the whole company is really fantastic, I’ve never seen anything like it. For the first 4 weeks, introductory interviews were scheduled for me every day. I worked in the stores, in the distribution centres, on the phone with customer service, and that helped me a lot to get to know the whole company.

I also had one-on-one discussions with all 26 employees in my team and spent a lot of time with Jan to discuss plans for the future. Based on all of this, I have put the strategy for the coming years on paper. How we will position our brand and further develop our proposition, what investments are needed and what the organisation should look like now and in the future – these types of things. Now that is all in place, we can accelerate.

What did you learn in the first 100 days?
If you work for a large organisation and you have a good idea, you first have to jump a few hurdles before you can really get started. In this role, I am far more flexible: when I make a decision, it is 100% my decision. It gives me a lot of energy, it’s also exciting. Because what if you make the wrong decision or choice? It is therefore a bit more entrepreneurial than was the case in my previous positions and that simply means that you sometimes make decisions based on your gut feeling.

Our CEO has long been accustomed to working in this way, and this creates an interesting dynamic. I try to convince him from time to time that we should maybe hold off on something or sleep on it before making a decision. On the other hand, we have to make a thousand decisions every day, which is why we sometimes have to move quickly on things and just get on with it. Because what if it all works out just fine anyway? This in turn teaches me a valuable lesson.

We are currently living in a digitally fast-paced world, how is that reflected in your role?
Digitisation is really in the DNA of our company. Omoda started selling shoes online back in 2007. Just to add some perspective, Zalando started a year later. But in addition to our large online presence, we are also a fashion retailer with physical stores. This means that we must not only focus on digitisation. We are already advanced in this area and it is precisely the combination of online and offline that is so important to us. You can also see this in practice: if we open a new store somewhere, online sales in that region also increase.

The first 100 days are over. What’s next?
We are on the eve of many more great things. I truly believe in our proposition, which is also why I left the safe nest to step into it. I am very grateful and happy to be able to contribute to Omoda’s great ambitions. Last year, for example, we started selling clothing in addition to shoes and recently also started with children’s clothing. The new steps planned are promising. I am very much looking forward to being a part of that.

Photography: Pieter Bas Bouwman