Since graduating from LSE with a BSc in Management, Aliki has built extensive experience in marketing and communications building global and local brands, whilst leading and developing multi-cultural high performing teams. She has worked in the cosmetics and spirits industry before moving into culture and music.
Current job title and description of what this role entails:
Head of the Marketing & Digital Division at the Philharmonie Luxembourg.
In my current role, I lead a team that manages the visual identity of the concert hall, the promotion and sales of its events, and the digitalisation of the customer experience.
Tell us about your career journey since graduating from LSE?
I began my career in London with L’Oréal, as I saw them as one of the best on-the-job marketing schools. I then joined the global commercial and marketing teams at Pernod Ricard and won an intrapreneurship competition that allowed me to set up my own start up within the group. I then became a Marketing and Communications Director at two of the largest cosmetics groups, where I managed a portfolio of luxury brands such as Christian Louboutin, Jean Paul Gaultier, Paco Rabanne, and Carolina Herrera. In 2022, I returned to my native country and joined the Philharmonie Luxembourg as Head of the Marketing and Digital Division, allowing me to combine my passion for music with my experience in marketing and communication.
How has the programme you studied helped your career since you graduated?
My degree gave me a strong introduction to the principles of marketing, how to manage a business and build a strategy. Having said that, what I am most grateful for is the door it opened for me with L’Oréal. I always wanted to work for them and by being part of the marketing, advertising and PR society during my degree, I was able to meet with their recruitment team and learn more about my career options. Along with two other LSE students, we took part in their Brandstorm competition and came second, allowing us to discover more about working for L’Oreal and getting a chance to interview for an internship with them. Following this I interned with them after my second year of university and by the time I started my third year I had already guaranteed a graduate scheme position with them. My dream had been fulfilled before I even finished my degree and I still am extremely grateful.
What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve received?
“Be a swan. You want to give the air of being calm and collected, confident and competent to the outside world, even if you are feeling a lot of pressure and doing a lot of work!”
This is how one of my managers described me, he taught me to always apply this rationale as nobody wants to work for stressed leaders. The aim is that if you show that everything is under control, your team will feel the same way and the work environment you create will be a lot more pleasant.
What’s the greatest challenge you’ve had to overcome?
In marketing things evolve at a very rapid pace; new social media platforms emerge, new digital tools become available, and you need to market to new generations. When I started working as a brand manager, we didn’t even have a Facebook page for our brand and look at things now. It is therefore crucial to continuously learn, stay connected to popular culture, and stay curious to stay relevant and create a connection between customers and your brand.
What are your hopes for the future?
Marketing can often be criticised as a profession that drives consumerism and manipulates people. But I have always wanted to work and build brands that have a real purpose and give back. As an example, in my current role, the Philharmonie Luxembourg has a charity arm, the Fondation EME, that brings music to people excluded from Luxembourg's social and cultural life due to age or a disability. It is a wonderful way to give back and I really hope that a lot more brands do this in the future to have a positive impact on the world. Marketing as a force for good is what I would like to see more of.
Share with us your fondest memory of the Department of Management.
I used to love my behavioural psychology lectures with Dr Kanazawa. He was fascinating, and wanting to go into marketing, I found the topic incredibly interesting. But I guess what I loved above all in my degree was my class, the people I met and the good times we all had together. During your degree you learn a lot, but you also make long lasting friendships and being an LSE alumni means you always have a tight-knit community around you that you can tap into at any time in the future and that’s priceless.
If you would like to be our Alum of the Month or if you would like to nominate a Department of Management alumni, please email dom.alumni@lse.ac.uk.