A specialist in intralogistics solutions, Boa Concept develops modular and intelligent systems (conveyors, packing machines, business software) to automate warehouse logistics. Founded in 2012, the company employs 140 people, including 90 at its headquarters, and generated €13 million in revenue in 2024. Listed on Euronext since 2021, the company is experiencing strong growth and aims to become a mid-sized enterprise.

Since February 2024, Pauline Jurado Barroso has led the company’s marketing and communications, bringing her dual background in art and science. In this interview, she shares her approach to industrial marketing, her levers for strategic alignment, and the ongoing transformation of the CMO role.

What marketing challenges are you currently facing ?

Pauline Jurado Barroso: The first is alignment. Boa is growing fast. We’ve gone from a startup to an SME, and now to a structured group with several subsidiaries. We now aspire to become a mid-sized company. That requires a clear vision and the means to match. We have to avoid rushing things.

What I’ve noticed is that it can be difficult to align the strategic vision, market expectations, and our internal ability to meet those ambitions. My role as Marketing and Communications Director is precisely to help ensure that alignment by building the right bridges—between subsidiaries, departments, and between external client messaging and internal communication.

That’s also why we’re currently working on a customer relations hub. Today, we have many client touchpoints, but they’re fragmented. The challenge is to consolidate data, listen more effectively, and deliver value throughout the project lifecycle.

What makes industrial marketing so unique, in your view ?

P.J.B.: Industrial marketing is still in its early stages. At Boa, like in many B2B companies, marketing came late. Teams are small, very versatile, and must deal with complex, technical products. It takes time to truly understand what we sell, between software and hardware.

For example, we’re preparing to launch new software. That means working hand-in-hand with engineers to translate their expertise into clear, compelling messages.

There’s also a real internal education component. When I arrived a year ago, I spent a lot of time explaining to teams, especially those far removed from marketing, what our day-to-day work looks like. Why do I go down to the shop floor to take photos? Why do we rephrase certain selling points ? Why emphasize a specific wording ? By showing what we do, we bring the teams along with us.

The website project, for instance, became a real source of internal pride : it was co-developed with different departments, launched in just five months, and now reflects the company’s DNA. It may take more time to generate large-scale leads, but it already achieved a major goal in terms of image and alignment.

How is your team structured today ?

P.J.B.: We’re a small but well-connected team. I oversee two communications officers. One is based in France, the other in Belgium, plus a part-time resource in one of our subsidiaries. We also work with a local network of freelancers: printers, videographers, booth builders, merchandise suppliers… We try to operate locally whenever possible, which builds closer relationships.

And of course, we collaborate with more strategic partners. For example, with Spaag, we’ve built a strong and inspiring partnership. What I look for in a partner isn’t just execution, but someone who understands our industrial challenges, draws inspiration from other industries, and can adapt best practices to our context.

That’s exactly what happened with our website redesign. They challenged us on the tools, brought a proven and effective methodology, and it was truly beneficial.

How are you building skills in digital and AI ?

P.J.B.: We still have a long way to go on the growth marketing front. There are many topics to tackle, and we can’t do everything at once, but we’re making progress. What I appreciate about working with Spaag is the learning-by-doing approach. Co-creation allows us to absorb new skills as we go, stay up to date on tools, methods, and benchmarks.

As for AI, we’re experimenting. I use tools for SEO, text optimization, and image retouching. I remain cautious: with generative AI, I find that some outputs have gotten worse in recent months. We also tested a smart AI-powered digital assistant, but I was disappointed : it lacked memory and didn’t do deep learning.

On Photoshop, though, AI is great for partial retouching. I have a list of tools to explore, but that takes time and organization.

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