Beyond the buzzwords: Bernard Meyer and WordPress’ marketing approach

Bernard Meyer’s life revolves a lot around messages – he loves to spend his free time reading, works as the Senior Director of Communications & Creative at Omnisend, and contributes to the WordPress Marketing team.

Now serving as the Marketing Team Representative at the WordPress open-source project, Bernard brings a wealth of experience to the table. Recently, the team shifted their focus from traditional news amplification to Media Corps, an initiative that fosters a more informed community and audience that will eventually contribute to WordPress’ growth.

Let’s explore how Bernard channels his marketing expertise to make a significant impact on the WordPress ecosystem.

Behind the screen

Born in Cape Town, South Africa, Bernard grew up in Miami, Florida, and went on to live in Vilnius, Lithuania for the past 12 years. This multi-continental upbringing shapes the way he comfortably connects with people from different backgrounds – a very beneficial trait for someone who works in the marketing field.

Interacting with Bernard, you can see how his upbringing shapes the way he comfortably connects with people from different backgrounds.

He started his career as a copywriter and content creator. As his skills and experience grew, he took on more variety of communication tasks. Today, he oversees a team responsible for PR, video, content, design, and reputation management at Omnisend.

“Much of my daily work is related to strategic integration and execution of various campaign or content assets,” Bernard explains, “It’s a very dynamic, exciting job.”

When asked about his interests outside of WordPress, Bernard answers, “Most of my life revolves around reading.” He prefers Stephen King to Shakespeare, and he holds a deep appreciation for the works of James Baldwin and James Joyce. He also enjoys watching movies. “Although, my two young daughters actually take up most of my free time,” he says endearingly.

Entering the realm of WordPress

Bernard’s foray into the world of WordPress began organically during his early days as a freelance copywriter and content creator back in 2014. “The websites I worked on were built on WordPress,” he explains, “so I wasn’t just crafting the content, but also uploading it directly to their blogs.”

From there, his WordPress journey went beyond just creating content. Omnisend has had a WooCommerce plugin for a few years, but they realized they haven’t fully explored WordPress’ potential yet. This all changed when its CEO and VP of Marketing attended WordCamp US. They immediately fell in love with the vibrant and welcoming WordPress community.

Inspired, they tasked Bernard and his team to delve deeper into WordPress, exploring ways to contribute and support the community. This marked the beginning of Bernard’s WordPress contribution, with WordCamp Germany 2023 as his first major event.

At WordCamp Germany’s Contributor Day, Bernard initially sat at the Meta table. “It was a great experience. But I’m not a very technical person, so I began to explore other areas where I could have a greater impact immediately,” he says. So, he joined the WordPress Marketing team.

His initial contribution? The monthly newsletter. It served as a comprehensive summary of all significant updates within the WordPress community, from Core developments to initiatives from various contribution teams. “I found it extremely useful to help onboard me to the breadth and depth of the WordPress community,” Bernard reflects.

The newsletter is now on hold due to a lack of contributors who can consistently work on it. Thankfully, you can still find past newsletters on WordPress.org, such as this February 2024 edition.

Shaping the narrative: contributing to the Marketing team

The Marketing Team’s role in the WordPress open-source project involves supporting the communication needs of various Make WordPress teams. “For the most part, we get amplification requests to distribute news, but we also handle other fundamental initiatives, including Showcase and People of WordPress,” Bernard says.

The team worked on many projects, and many contributors came up with many ideas to improve WordPress’s marketing. However, since open-source projects mostly rely on volunteers, the team needs to work efficiently with the resources at hand. Therefore, since the rollout of the Media Corps project, the Marketing team has been on an indefinite pause.

That said, the fundamental aspects of marketing still continue, such as the amplification requests for social media content.

“Marketing and Media Corps are, in a way, separate teams. So anyone can contribute to Media Corps, whether they were contributing to Marketing or not,” he says.

One big challenge Bernard faced was the inherent differences between the marketing approaches of the open-source community and traditional companies. Expectations and limitations within open-source projects often clash with conventional marketing practices.

This has made it difficult to retain contributors, with different opinions as to where to take the Marketing team. The solution to these issues is still a work in progress. But that’s just a typical day in the tech world, where everything is a work in progress, and the next iteration is always right around the corner.

The shift to Media Corps presents a promising opportunity to consolidate all WordPress information into a central hub, similar to Anne McCarthy’s Source of Truth. “It’s still in its very early stage. At this point, we’ve only had one briefing, but we already got some great feedback,” he asserts.

The team is now actively planning briefings on various topics, including in-depth discussions on specific releases like WordPress 6.6, as well as general WordPress news and Showcase highlights.

Unplugging and reconnecting

We live in a content-saturated and ever-connected world, so it’s important to respect the boundaries between our professional and personal lives.

Bernard’s ability to maintain a healthy balance between his professional and personal life stems from a combination of personal discipline and intentional habits.

“After I leave work and head home, I naturally find it hard to remember or think about the work I did an hour ago,” he says. However, Bernard also cultivates this ability to ‘switch off” through conscious effort.

“As I drive home, I listen to music or podcasts to distance my mind from work,” Bernard continues. “And part of that is realizing that no matter how many fires there are going on, or whatever tasks are due, constant overtime isn’t beneficial to my team, organization, family, or myself.”

From that, Bernard developed a habit of being present. “I force myself to be present, in the moment, in the physical location where I find myself, whether at home, with friends, or other family. And when I’m at work, I’m present and fully there,” he elaborates.

This might be more challenging if you work from home, as your workspace is intertwined with your living space. However, having hobbies or side projects like Bernard’s can help.

“My weekends usually involve a bit of cooking, but I’ve also started some basic woodworking or DIY projects, such as building chairs or other small furniture. It’s exhausting but pleasant, since I tend to sit down at work a lot. I feel better when I’m doing something physical on the weekends for balance,” Bernard admits.

By prioritizing his well-being and adding a refreshing change to his daily routine, Bernard does a great job juggling the demands of his career and keeping his personal life fulfilling.

Beyond the screen with the WordPress community

Bernard has many cherished memories with the WordPress community, many of which involve its social aspect.

“Certainly, some of the best parts for me are the two times I’ve led the Marketing Table for Contributor Day,” he reminisces. “There, I helped new contributors – as I once was – onboard into Marketing and WordPress in general, and seeing their excitement. It’s really great to see such a vibrant community, and knowing that you’re a little part of helping that community grow.”

For those aspiring to contribute to the Marketing or Media Corps teams, Bernard recommends attending a WordCamp event and participating in Contributor Day. 

“But, if you’re unable to do that, at least not any time soon, then I’d recommend getting on the Make WordPress Slack channel and joining the Make Marketing Slack channel. Then, simply ask how you can help contribute. After all, that’s exactly how I got started.”