Oriol Ramon, current Marketing and Sales Director at The Excellence Collection, has evolved professionally between agencies and clients, from his start at DoubleYou to his current role in the hotel sector. With a specialisation in Digital Marketing, Oriol has witnessed the digital transformation, from the mobile explosion to the growing importance of data analytics and the evolution of tools like Google Analytics. Now leading various business areas strategically, he highlights the importance of data segmentation and the interesting professional evolution driven by Artificial Intelligence in the digital sector.
Of course. I am Oriol Ramon, and I currently hold the position of Marketing and Sales Director at The Excellence Collection, a company that manages Luxury All-Inclusive Resorts in destinations such as Mexico, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic.
I specialise in Digital Marketing and my professional career began at DoubleYou, a creative digital marketing agency. I started as an account executive, managing projects, with day-to-day interactions with creatives, developers and, of course, clients. I was also responsible for presenting projects and coordinating the production of digital campaigns.
There was a gap between physical and online banking services. Many processes started online but had to be completed at a physical branch.
After three years, I decided to leave the agency and moved to London. There, I joined a performance marketing agency, where I had my first direct contact with this type of digital approach. Performance marketing focuses on achieving concrete results through data analysis, evaluating whether the investment in digital media is generating results.
After that experience, I spent a year at a digital marketing consultancy and then spent three years at Cofidis, where I managed a considerable budget in digital marketing, always with a very performance-oriented focus. Then, I joined Banco Sabadell as Digital Marketing Director. At the time, many companies were not used to seeing tangible results from their digital marketing investments. During the six years I spent there, I was able to demonstrate that every investment campaign we ran generated a positive return, which led to greater investment from the company, as we were truly adding value.
During that period, there was also a gap between physical and online banking services. Many processes started online but had to be completed at a physical branch. It was a transition period towards digital, marked by the launch of the Digital Account and other online services.
During my time as an account manager at agencies, I acted as the bridge between the agency and the client, as well as running digital campaigns. At that point, I felt it was the right moment to move to the client side and better understand the business aspect. At an agency, you often only see the results of campaigns but do not always fully understand why those results are being generated.
For example, at Cofidis, I experienced how changes in the scoring requirements for loan applications could double campaign results from one week to the next. From the agency's perspective, you simply see the increase in sales, but you do not understand the true reasons behind it. Business decisions have a major impact on performance and results, regardless of how high-quality the campaigns you run are.
Now, I have spent more time working on the client side than at agencies, and I find I prefer this perspective, since it lets you see the full picture of the game. Whereas at an agency you are on the pitch, on the client side you play the role of coach.
Having solid data backing our decisions made it easier to obtain more funds to drive sales.
Data analytics has always been fundamental. For example, at Banco Sabadell it allowed us to identify the channels generating the most traffic, the most conversion and their respective costs. This information was crucial, as it enabled us to justify allocating more budget to those specific channels. Of course, objectives were also aligned with budget, but having solid data backing our decisions made it easier to obtain more funds to drive sales.
When the Digital Account project at Banco Sabadell ended, I felt I had closed a cycle. After six years dedicated to the project, I decided it was time to look for a change. I knew that if I had stayed, there would probably have been other interesting projects in the future, like a digital mortgage, for example. However, after having worked for about ten years in the banking sector, I needed a change.
An opportunity came up to change sectors and continue growing professionally. I decided to step outside the purely digital world and gain a broader vision of marketing. For over 6 months now, I have been in Panama, working in the hotel sector as Marketing and Sales Director, which represents a very exciting change for me.
One of the most significant changes was the transition from desktop to mobile by users. It was a change that, although we now see it as normal, at the time represented a considerable transformation for many companies.
Without a doubt, I have witnessed great evolution in the digital space from 2008 to now. One of the most significant changes was the transition from desktop to mobile by users. It was a change that, although we now see it as normalised, at the time represented a considerable transformation for many companies that had to adapt digitally, especially by creating mobile-friendly websites.
During this period, we went from having websites that functioned more like digital catalogues to transactional websites. For example, when I worked with Audi, our focus was not so much on the direct sale of vehicles, nor on lead generation. However, it is likely that today marketing strategies are more oriented towards generating test drive requests or dealer appointments. And who knows — it is possible that in a few years, buying cars online will become a reality.
Database exploitation is fundamental. Having clients correctly segmented and understanding which products are right for them, as well as how to communicate with them, is crucial.
At this point, I have a much broader business vision. The core of our activity lies in the digital space, since we have a direct sales approach rather than relying heavily on third parties, as many companies in our sector do through tour operators and online travel agencies (OTAs).
My responsibility focuses on managing various areas, primarily social media, CRM data exploitation, a performance team, media investment, e-commerce and OTA relations. I also oversee a very interesting Digital Projects department, whose goal is to digitise and improve processes and tools. Two other departments I also oversee, which are new to me, are the Revenue Department, where price elasticity is analysed in detail and actions are set to achieve specific objectives based on occupancy levels at our hotels and competition. And there is also the Events, Groups and Weddings Department, since our all-inclusive resorts in the Caribbean are popular destinations for events, especially among the American public. These events are important for us as they typically involve group bookings of between 20 and 40 people.
Yes, exactly. The challenge is that these bookings are made well in advance, often planned a year or more ahead. This presents a challenge in terms of managing occupancy, as events like weddings tend to be scheduled for weekends, coinciding with peak travel times. We are constantly researching and improving our future demand forecasts, based on event projections.
On another note, and as a curiosity, I had never before in my professional career experienced a Black Friday. And honestly, I found it fascinating. During the two weeks leading up to the promotion, we saw a huge number of visits to our website, but the conversion rate dropped sharply, as people were waiting for the deals. Then on Black Friday itself, we experienced a huge spike in sales. This dynamic was something I had heard about in other sectors like retail, but it was interesting to see how it applied in our context.
Database exploitation is fundamental. Having clients correctly segmented and understanding which products are right for them, as well as how to communicate with them, is crucial. Ultimately, it is about truly understanding your product, knowing your target audience and running campaigns effectively.
It is easy to get lost in all that information, which is why data management is essential in digital marketing.
When I started in marketing, in 2007, Google Analytics was barely used. Clients did not even ask for it, as there was not yet such a great need for data at that time. During my time in Barcelona, I directed a Digital Marketing Master's programme at EAE Business School and have taught classes for years. I remember telling my students to be careful — there is an overwhelming amount of data. You need to know how to manage it.
Data management is essential in digital marketing, as it is easy to get lost in all that information. It is essential that those working in this field have analytical skills to identify what is relevant at each moment and can structure information in a way that is clearly understood. You need to ensure that data is useful for improving and growing the business.
The evolution of analytics tools has facilitated this process. A few years ago, these tools were not as developed as they are now. In addition, there has also been an increase in budgets dedicated to digital marketing. As we demonstrate results with these tools, their direct impact on business growth and evolution becomes evident.
I consider AI to be an opportunity rather than a threat — more of a driver of professional evolution.
In my opinion, I believe that any technology used with good intentions has a positive impact. AI represents one of the most revolutionary changes in recent years and can be leveraged in various ways, such as for inspiration, automated writing or image editing, among other uses.
AI is often perceived as a threat that could eliminate jobs. However, from my experience in digital marketing, especially in SEO and SEM — as with Google Ads — I have observed how machines can optimise these processes. Currently, we achieve better results when we intervene less and let Google's AI take the wheel. We set ROAs targets, simplify campaigns and ads adapt according to searches, giving AI the work that was previously done by people, but with superior results.
Does this mean the SEM specialist role is destined to disappear? It may be that fewer hands are now required, but the professional profile must evolve, providing the machine with the necessary guidance for execution, since for the moment AI does not make autonomous decisions. The specialist must adjust the platform and provide the necessary data for it to function.
In summary, I consider AI to be an opportunity rather than a threat — more of a driver of professional evolution.
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