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Ebun Onagoruwa focuses on changing customer emotions into action to drive her marketing strategy at innovative leading real estate company Zillow.

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There’s nothing more powerful than home. It’s our refuge: the place where we’re nurtured and where we nurture. It’s our retreat when we need to recharge. Home provides physical and emotional security for today, and financial opportunity for tomorrow. As Vice President and head of B2B Marketing at Zillow, my role is to help more people get home.

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I was born in Nigeria, went to school in England and Wales, where I got my Bachelor of Law from Cardiff University, and worked as a lawyer in London. I moved to Chicago, and got an MBA from the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business. I’ve lived in many cities across the world, but call Seattle home now. Each address I lived in became much more than just a house, it became home. Because I’ve moved quite a few times throughout my life, I know the definition of ‘home’ doesn’t always refer to a physical place; rather, it represents more, like security, protection, access to opportunity.

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I began my career as an attorney at the European law firm, Linklaters, then spent time as a Management Consultant at McKinsey & Company. My last stop before joining Zillow was as Director of Marketing Strategy and Business Planning for Microsoft 365. Each step along the way sharpened skills I still use in my role today. Ultimately, I’m happy to have settled into the tech industry, where there’s no playbook for marketing. I feel that here, my strategic, creative and problem-solving skills shine. One thing all these roles have all had in common: that lasting success is driven by customer obsession.

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As a marketer, I’m so lucky to work in a category that is a core part of the human experience and for such an innovative brand like Zillow. Our mission is to help customers unlock life’s next chapter and on a daily basis, I get to translate emotions into actions. Consider the complexity of feelings around the places we’ve previously lived, the memories we take with us, and our dreams for the future. Understanding what drives decision-making in our industry is imperative to building marketing strategy. I have such a broad canvas to think about new ways to improve on a multifaceted customer journey. Buying or renting a home encompasses so many different digital and human elements, making for a challenge that I am energized to work on every single day. We have over 230 million people that come to Zillow every month to dream, shop, buy, sell, rent, finance. The opportunity is huge.

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Here’s how I see it: ultimately, home is everything. We build our brand and marketing campaigns around this simple, yet incredibly powerful truth. Home is where you can be yourself. Home is security, it’s protection, it’s opportunity. Zillow’s products, services and partners help more people get home.

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For me, it’s all about impacting better outcomes for people. That’s the why. Luckily, I’m not daunted by a challenge. I’m inspired. Magic happens when you love what you do.