Karol Holdynski, Head of Marketing and Inside Sales, Fleet Management Solutions International at Webfleet Solutions, shares his leadership approach shaped by two decades in marketing and a truly global remit. He reflects on how the role of marketing has evolved from pure creativity to disciplined focus, and why selecting the right priorities, proving real business impact, and aligning teams end to end are now central to marketing leadership.
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Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
- Focus Matters More Than Ideas. Marketing today is not short of creativity or tools. The real challenge lies in choosing the right priorities, making clear decisions, and ensuring that effort is spent on what truly moves the business forward.
- Data Informs Decisions, People Drive Results. While marketing has become increasingly data-driven, success still depends on human judgement, collaboration, and trust. Strong teams, open feedback loops, and shared learning consistently outperform individual brilliance.
- Sustainable Growth Comes from Small, Continuous Improvements. Rather than chasing big one-off wins, long-term success is built quarter by quarter. Small optimisations, end-to-end thinking, and knowledge sharing across markets compound into meaningful results over time.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your role at Webfleet Solutions?
“I’m marketing and inside sales director responsible for international markets, which in our world means outside of Europe. What is Webfleet Solutions? We are in the telematics industry. We are a fleet management solution number one in Europe. Thanks to our solutions, we reduce costs of fleets, boost productivity, increase safety, and ensure compliance with regulations. We are part of a global enterprise, and my responsibility is mainly marketing and insights.”
How did you get into marketing, and how did you end up becoming a marketing leader?
“I always liked marketing from the beginning, when I was studying, because there is always something new, so you never get bored. Looking from today’s perspective, marketing allows you to shape what your scope really should be.
Twenty years ago, when people searched for marketing professionals, they were searching for creative people. Now, this is not the real issue. There are so many ideas. The challenge is to select what you focus on and what you leave out. It is much more important to make things happen, and to make the right things happen, rather than just being creative.”
Would you say marketing today is more data-oriented?
“Of course. When I started, data was there, but it was not so accessible. Now we know much, much more. The challenge is finding a way through the jungle of all this data and understanding which data is meaningful and what it really means.”
What opportunities do marketers have today that did not exist in the past?
“Now there are so many tools. Life in marketing without tools and without data is not good marketing. However, I still believe in mixing digital presence with traditional presence. You can do a lot through digital, but not everything.
The virtual world and the real one coexist. To be really effective, you need to be present in both.”
How important is the human element in marketing today?
“Our customers are human, taking decisions more and more based on data, but also with emotion. Our teams are human as well, and that is even more important. A team will always beat a single person, in the same way the cloud will always beat one computer.”
What defines your team’s focus, and why is it important?
“What I try to incentivise is being a better version of ourselves quarter over quarter. I am not so much looking at full-year targets. I focus on what we can improve in the next quarter.
Small corrections, small improvements, these help us overachieve targets over the year.
Another focus is thinking end to end. No matter how many leads we produce, if they are not the right leads, it does not matter. No matter how good the follow-up is, if the product does not meet customer needs, it does not matter. Feedback at every stage is absolutely crucial.”
What do you see as the biggest challenge for marketers today?
“The biggest challenge is selecting the right focus. It is not about coming up with new ideas. It is about finding the right balance and taking the right decisions.
You need to understand your impact on the business. You cannot be closed in your silo. You need to understand how your activity impacts other teams and how, together, you achieve the ultimate goal.”
How do you decide what to focus on across different markets?
“Markets are very different. Australia is different from South Africa, Latin America, the US, and Europe. The power lies in having the right people to trust.
It is easy to sit behind the desk and forget who the real customer is. That is why listening to the regions is important, while also giving them frameworks, budgets, and priorities.”
Can you share a marketing initiative you are particularly proud of?
“It was not one big game changer, but many small improvements. After COVID, webinar adoption increased. Regions were doing their own webinars and sharing ideas.
Then we asked, why not create something global? Something covering Australia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas.
We created a global conference with multiple countries, speakers, and languages. We had thousands of participants, conversions, and strong coverage.
But the most important part was the team. People who normally do not meet in person built stronger bonds. These stronger bonds allow teams to build new activities and exchange ideas. My role was to push the topic forward, secure the budget, remove other priorities, and let the team work.”
As 2025 comes to a close, what stands out, and what are your priorities moving into 2026?
“I see the growing importance of Account-Based Marketing targeting enterprise customers. It brings effect, but you need to be very patient. Big transactions take time, preparation, implementation, and support.
Moving into 2026, the challenge is how to beat the previous year quarter over quarter. Small improvements add up. One per cent improvement here, one per cent there, eventually creates a big result.
KPIs need to allow teams to step outside daily routines and search for new alternatives. When something works, share it. When it does not work, also share it.”
What advice would you give to someone looking to grow professionally?“You need to understand the ultimate outcome expected from your work. Do not look only at your own table. Look where the process starts and where it ends, and understand how you contribute.
It is important to speak with your manager and understand the full flow of the business.
I also strongly recommend having a mentor, preferably from outside your company. Someone who understands your ambitions and difficulties and continues with you even when you change companies.”
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