MAEGAN LUJAN, DIRECTOR- SOLUTIONS AND SERVICES AT TOSHIBA

Maegan Lujan, Toshiba’s Director of Solutions and Services, is a strategist, storyteller, and leader with a mission to motivate and inspire others. With nearly two decades of industry experience, she has developed a dynamic background in executive management, marketing, and business and sales development that is highly technical with expertise in the domain of imaging, printing, documents, and content management. MEDIA 7: Congratulations on making the “Top 100 Product Marketing Influencers 2020” list! What inspired you to get into marketing? MAEGAN LUJAN: My career path has really been an ever-evolving progression over the last 17 years. I originally started as a sales representative in this industry when I was 18 years old. He had so many questions and a thirst for knowledge that he couldn’t seem to quench. My curiosity grew as the years went by and I moved from sales and business development roles to marketing. I feel like it was a natural progression as I continued to evolve as a young professional. There is a common stigma that marketing does not understand sales and therefore there is a disconnect between the products that are needed (the industry void that you are trying to fill) and what is actually being pursued. As someone who spent nearly 10 years in a sales-related capacity, he knew he could bridge the gap between marketing and sales, and basically empower an entire corporation to be more effective than ever. Today I manage not only the products I bring to market, but the overall multi-channel solutions strategy, and it’s amazing! M7: After the COVID-19 outbreak, the printing industry paused for a brief period — people were working from home and businesses were running out of paper. How did you manage to get the ball rolling after the threat? MJ: This is a fantastic question! In fact, this has been one of the most active and progressive years of my career and for our industry as a whole. Fortunately, Toshiba has a great executive leadership team. When events like COVID-19 arise, you have two options: stay on the forefront of change or succumb to it. Being a distant memory is not the Toshiba way, so we brainstormed and produced like never before! Powering the remote control the workforce became our top priority. It was not easy; Several days longer than 12 hours and lots of caffeine! We were stretched to our limits, so to speak, and it was amazing. In my entire career, I have never seen a group of people from different backgrounds — sales, marketing, operations, leadership — come together and produce such amazing results. Yes, COVID has affected our hardware sales, but our solutions and managed printing division are performing like never before. Sometimes what seems like a huge challenge is the best possible catalyst for positive change. M7: Given Toshiba’s target customers, what marketing channels do you use and which do you see as the most promising? ML: Very promising … another great question. These days, there are a lot of disruptions in communication channels, as companies virtualize overnight and brands desperately try to establish an authentic point of contact with their target audience. So I think in the next year we will see a lot of diversification in the way that B2B brands use personalization in their social media marketing strategy. For example, as a consumer on all platforms that I am connected to, I have very specific and curated content that reaches my feeds and influences my buying behavior. As an executive, I don’t see much of this in the B2B world. I think we will see that the tactics that worked for individual entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs will be improved and refined for corporate B2B worlds. At Toshiba, we are placing great emphasis on our direct selling and reselling channels from the content marketing and social media side. More now than ever, being relevant and connecting effectively with our target audience is crucial to our continued success. So we’re redefining our positioning, analyzing data like never before and 100% focused on moving forward to optimize our frictionless shopping experience. M7: How do you prepare for an AI-centric world as a business leader? ML: Well, I can get to this from a few directions. I think we must first ask ourselves whether we consider AI to be a pro or a con. I have always believed that the power of technology was to improve the quality of our lives and we can determine how that happens. AI is another horizon for companies that we are living in a similar way to decades ago when outsourcing for the purpose of reducing expenses became a trend. AI will simplify and automate a huge number of manual tasks; it will reduce errors and provide value. As a technology leader, I understand that, which is why I am less fearful and more optimistic in anticipating the abundance of opportunities it provides. I hear these types of questions most often and followed by concerns about the ability to keep the job. As with any progression to a new technology, there will be a change in the types of jobs that emerge. You need to focus on cultivating skill sets that computers don’t possess and that are based on intuition and emotion, helping you manage the results of non-binary tasks. Let’s apply artificial intelligence and the progression that technology can bring to something common, like reporting the news. Basic reports, world updates, weather, etc. they can and will be automated by AI just like flight trackers at airports. Does this mean that news anchors will be displaced? I do not believe it. Telling stories is an art that people have and technology does not. However, just like the changes the business world has undergone with COVID-19, I believe there will be a period of adaptation that will separate those who can and those who cannot. So if I were a journalist and wanted to prepare my career for the future, I would pursue narrative writing (storytelling) that evokes emotion and connection in a way that “scheduled news” and technology will not be able to do in the future. Distant future. M7: What marketing strategies do you hope to implement in 2021 and why? ML: It’s about being intentional on social media; build, attract and retain your target audience. It’s one thing to post random updates on social media or create a new campaign, it’s another to identify a definite result and get it. And that’s one of my goals. Personally, I will be involved in subscription-based thought leadership, video marketing, and SMS marketing. I have a message that I want to spread, an income goal that I want to achieve, and a way forward to make the goal come true. I have been testing the waters, so to speak, for about a year, identifying what does and does not achieve the desired results, and I am currently executing the practices that produce success. It is something really exciting! M7: In all these years, what has been the most challenging project that you are proud to have accomplished? ML: Oh man … I must say that I launch my personal brand (s) as I navigate my corporate career growth and an unprecedented change in the way the corporate world operates due to COVID- 19. It has been an incredibly busy, difficult and rewarding year to say the least. Like most Virgos, when I embark on a project, I do my best! As a marketer, I have similarly approached my personal brands in my career; Identify a gap, define a goal, and investigate to the extreme. What I didn’t take into account at first was how much research this trip would entail. Several books, thousands of hours and a million little clicks later, I feel like everything went well. I could use a week’s nap, but hey … I had a dream and I’m making it come true! M7: What is your advice to young women considering a career in high tech? ML: Pursue your curiosity! Identify what excites you, chase the sunrise after that, and go down as many rabbit holes as necessary to land where you want to be. Research, learn, and overcome any self-doubt or imposter syndrome that you may have simply doing work day after day. More importantly, when entering a particular role that does not serve you or your future path, make sure you maintain connection points and finish all efforts on good terms. Relationships in the world of technology are important and you need to think long term. ABOUT TOSHIBA Toshiba America Business Solutions (TABS) provides multifunction printers, managed document services, and digital signage for businesses of all sizes in the United States, Mexico, and Central and South America. The company’s award-winning e-STUDIO quality performance with the security businesses require. copiers and printers provide TABS provides content creation and management, display, integration, installation, and project management services, as well as financing for solutions ranging from single-screen to the largest arenas and stadiums. For additional information, visit business.toshiba.com. Follow TABS on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube.