We spoke with Ross Jennings, ABX Lead Industrial & Electronic Verticals – Henkel Adhesive Technologies at Henkel, to find out how the ABM Academy helped him on his journey from pilot project participant to ABX specialist.
The interview
You’re at a dinner party and someone asks what you do – how do you explain ABM?
ABM is about delivering unique experiences to people and accounts, at the right time. People like you and me, who have challenges that they need to solve. Through working with a cross-functional team that always has the customer truly at the centre. In the end, contributing to the growth of our overall business.
How did you get into ABM? Was it intentional or by accident?
It was totally by chance, and I hadn’t heard about ABM before starting the role. I was part of an ABM pilot project team at Henkel as the business unit stakeholder from marketing, dedicating only 20% of my time. Throughout the first couple of years of the pilot, I kept learning and developing my skills, and my contribution increased. My interest grew to the point that at the end of 2023, I joined our central ABX team reporting into our ABX Director.
What’s the biggest risk you’ve taken in your ABM career, and did it pay off?
Probably launching our brand to ABX programme – Uniquely Wired targeting the Data & Telecom industry. We set ourselves a goal to launch a magazine in 2025 representing the voices of those in the industry. I wasn’t sure if it was going to work, and it took me a few months to finally say let’s do it. In the end, it worked, and we moved from producing a magazine to launching our online HUB in 2026 with interview-style articles with leaders and experts from big data and telecom companies, podcast sessions, and even live experiences!
What was your ‘lightbulb moment’ during the Academy course?
The training reconfirmed that we are moving in the right direction at Henkel. Hearing from other delegates on the course about what they are doing in ABM really opened my eyes up to how far we had come on our own journey. It was also a great refresher on some of the more process-driven parts of ABM.
What’s in your ABM toolkit that you couldn’t live without – and what’s the most overrated thing everyone raves about?
My ABM master decks. For every vertical, we have master decks that contain everything we are doing from strategy, content, activation, campaigns, all the way through to reporting and outcomes. It’s the one place where we can really find everything we need.
What’s overrated? Creating lots of (sorry to say, poor quality) content for the sake of creating it. There needs to be a purpose and reason for doing so. Content gets out of date quickly, and there’s lots out there to consume, so it needs to be right for your target audience.
Fast-forward five years – what does success look like for you?
To continue to provide unique experiences for customers and accounts in our industries, which add real value to our business growth. Not doing things for the sake of it, but because they really make sense and align with the business opportunities.
If you could give aspiring ABM-ers one piece of advice, what would it be?
If something feels right and it’s backed by facts, then it’s probably right – so do it! Challenge the status quo and do something different.
Final thoughts
Ross’ story is a great reminder that ABM careers aren’t always planned – sometimes the best paths start with a pilot project and a willingness to keep learning. We loved hearing about his Uniquely Wired example and can’t wait to see what ideas come next.
Ready to start your own ABM journey? Explore our ABM Academy courses and find the programme that’s right for you.
Read our previous Alumni Spotlight, where we sat down with Tara Pritchett, Executive Director, Customer and Digital Marketing at SAIC.
