Combining chemistry and marketing

Women in plastics arrive from all different directions, with the career story of Alena Muravchenko, director of marketing (Ukraine & Russia) for global plastic packaging producer RETAL, showing how varied the careers in the plastic industry can be for those with equally varied skills. 

Alena shares her early career influences. “My first degree was in Chemistry. I came to university in the big city in Ukraine from a small city, so to earn while studying I worked in a marketing company; I was assisting in advertising...I didn’t realise it would lead to my career! After my chemical degree, I started working in marketing rather than chemistry and I gained a lot of marketing experience but felt that I wanted to have a proper education in marketing too, so I joined an MBA programme in strategic marketing.” 

Alena’s impressive career development and warm character shows why she is so ideally suited to the key role of director of marketing, as her knowledge of the plastic packaging industry comes from two opposite directions – chemicals and marketing. This unusual skillset, coupled with her approachability, is why Alena continues to flourish at RETAL, having joined in 2014 as head of marketing.  

Her marketing MBA coupled with her chemistry degree and considerable B2C marketing experience gained in advertising led Alena to apply for a role at RETAL, as it offered an opportunity to combine her skills. She says, “I was excited by the challenge as RETAL represents everything I’ve worked for; I had to learn the B2B approach from scratch and understand new market trends, as well as being in a large multinational company, but I also knew I’d bring my own unique ability of connecting chemistry with marketing.” 

This unique combination allows Alena to incorporate her technical knowledge with her understanding of marketing, seeing her make valuable contributions to sales forecasting as well as bringing professional insight to customers. She says, “I think I am good at understanding how customers are buying their packaging; of course, the products must be of the right quality and the right price, but they need to be right emotionally too. Who customers buy from is their choice, so by knowing about the chemical aspects of the products as well as the marketing, I can support our sales teams in explaining how best to communicate with our different customers. No customer is the same as another; everyone has different demands and different requirements and I enjoy working that out and delivering it.” 

Two steps faster! 

When Alena joined RETAL in 2014, she was one of only two people in the marketing function across the whole company, so she has been integral to the rapid growth of the department in Ukraine and now Russia too. She explains, “At my first interview I thought B2B marketing was slower than the FMCG I was used to, but actually it’s two steps faster! I’ve learned so much and continue to enjoy the pace of the role. Marketing impacts on the whole of our business because you only get once chance to make a good first impression with customers, so we have to be great!” 

It is this proactive vision of the role of marketing that ensures Alena’s career continues to go from strength to strength. She adds, “RETAL is always developing and I’m very happy that our marketing function is developing too. Marketing is more clearly understood and is valued for having a vital role. For example, during the pandemic the importance of virtual events was clear for keeping us in contact with our customers, and that maintaining clear dialogue when we can’t see customers face to face. People appreciate the emotions behind customers making a buying decision now more than ever, and the role that marketing plays in making that decision.” 

Bilingual Alena takes her work/life balance seriously and is keen to ensure ‘everything should be done in harmony’, so she takes regularly exercise and enjoys spending time with friends and family. She concludes by saying, “I want to thank the people that I collaborate with and to share that appreciate the promotion that I have been given. Working in the plastic packaging industry is an interesting and exciting opportunity to be part of positive change.”