Abigail Dixon FCIM/ICF

Download this plain speaking brief, written for MDs, Directors and Owners of mid-cap SMEs who don't have a Marketing Director but need marketing to drive growth in new markets or sectors. It'll help you consider the state of your marketing now, where you need to take it, and evaluate anyone you hire to help you. To download, click the full-screen square at the bottom of the preview, then click the download arrow at the top-right of the screen.

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Marketers face a paradox: the more they know about their consumers, the less they seem to truly understand them. Great read from my business partner, and work husband Gareth Brock who has explored why brands must go beyond raw data and cultivate authentic intimacy by engaging consumers as people, not just numbers. Link in the comments to the piece. Thanks for the write up Mediaweek Australia #brandactivation #data #PR #thoughtleadership #digtialactivation

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“The IPA Effectiveness Awards winner is a case study in the marketing fundamentals that most brands ignore or forget – and it’s brilliant because of it” Mark Ritson Fundamentals are fundamentals for a reason. Don’t let new brand messages delivery toys forget it. Over two decades, McCain Foods has talked about the number one message to tap into safety, connection and belonging needs: FAMILIY. We are tribal animals. From music, to flags, to sports teams, to IG challenges, to languages… you name it! … it’s all about belonging to a tribe, in my opinion. Have you found your tribe? #marketing #ipaawards https://lnkd.in/gP96ZTsJ

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There was so much to digest at the BeautyMatter x British Beauty Council event yesterday, but one standout for me was the value of localised segmentation within communities, something Colette Laxton, Co-Founder of The INKEY List shared so openly. It was inspiring to hear the value being placed on this approach. By refining your community engagement and tailoring strategies, you can significantly boost your retention efforts and strengthen the bond between your brand and its audience. Here's the why: 1) Personalisation Enhancing customer experiences by tailoring offerings fosters a sense of personal connection. 2) Trust and Loyalty Understanding community needs builds trust and fosters loyalty. 3) Feedback and Adaptation Direct insights from community interactions enable precise adjustments. 4) Advocacy and Word-of-mouth Prioritising a 'surprise and delight' strategy fuels powerful word-of-mouth promotions. 5) Sustainable Growth Retaining valued customers over chasing new acquisitions creates a sustainable business model that benefits your brand AND community. A big thank you also to Annabelle Baker (she/her), Global Brand Director, LUSH, for sharing their focus on bottom-of-the-funnel activity and existing customers without reliance on paid social, and to Carrie Gross, Co-Founder + Chief Creative Officer, Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare, for emphasising the importance of staying true to your brand's DNA for building trust with your customers. ⚡⚡ #communityengagement #customerloyalty #retentionstrategies #growthmarketing #retentionmarketing #customerfirst #zeropartydata

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Rediscovering Profit: The Marketing Mistake Everyone Makes From my talk with Seb Mackay on Brand, in a world obsessed with volume, marketers often neglect the core principle of profit. Join us as we explore the UK marketing landscape and discuss why being a true profit center is crucial for brands' success. Let’s shift the focus back to what truly matters! #Marketing #Brand #BusinessGrowth

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Know Thy Keystone in the arch of Business Empire👇 Nowadays, the consumer expects or even demands a relationship which makes them feel understood, recognised and appreciated. By brands showing their commitment to the relationship via signalling of shared values and an overt desire to forge deeper emotional connections with consumers, they can forge ‘brand commitment’, where the brand feels like the right choice every time and the relationship is symbiotic and mutually beneficial. This, for us, is the new face of marketing & loyalty. #branding #brandmarketing #brandstrategy #brandcommitment #branddevelopment #marketing #entreprenuers

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Bring in the Carlsberg… I loved these clever, feast-for-the-eyes ads back in the day! So much so that I designed a whole Carlsberg exercise for our brand discovery workshops. So how does it work? The idea is to trigger limitless, blue-sky thinking, asking… if Carlsberg was running your business how would ‘they’ do things? We brainstorm all kinds of exciting and whacky ‘no limit’ solutions to surprise and delight your clients. Then we categorise these into a) doing already, b) possible in the near future, c) needs a long runway, and d) pie in the sky, always. The ‘A’s probably shouldn’t have made it onto the board, but we need to start somewhere. ‘B’s and ‘C’s have buckets of potential – especially if they fit with your vision and values and help to strengthen your unique value. Even ‘D’s are worth more investigation – ‘Okay in its current form this idea may defy the laws of physics, but what could we achieve that’s close?’ And, then when you have a final cut of powerful contenders, you need to speak to Dr Chris Endersby about the RICE model. So you can assess each idea on its Reach, Impact, Confidence, and Effort before making any business-changing decisions. ‘Surprise and differentiation have much more impact than noise.’ said Seth Godin. I couldn’t agree more. In fact, it's probably the best business tip in the world! 😉 https://lnkd.in/ernsEpSa #BrandDiscovery #BlueSkyThinking #BrandWorkshops #LimitlessIdeas #BrandDifferentiation #Firestarter

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I have had the privilege of being part of the Marketing Leadership Masterclass over the course of the last 12 weeks, run brilliantly by Thomas Barta and Syl Saller CBE. For those that aren’t familiar, the virtual course covers a huge array of topics, spanning all aspects of marketing leadership from behaviours, skills, strategy with a number of hugely inspiring outside speakers from the world of FMCG and service marketing. I thought I would share my top insights below. I would love to hear your reflections on reading. 1.     Be sure of the value you are creating – either for the consumer, your customer or your company. Consider why you are working on something, what are value are you creating, how will you extract the value, is it worth your time, the investment you are making. Always be clear on the ‘value creation zone’. 2.     Zooming out, Zooming in – always be clear on the big picture problem you are trying to solve and present your case using the right level of detail / data to support. 3.     Know your audience – what type of a leader are they? Know what motivates them and adjust your style and the way you present your case accordingly. Are they more detail focused, or more emotional? What will they need to see to go with you on your journey and be convinced? 4.     Zero based Budgeting – this breeds creativity, do less with more. Prove what you need and why. 5.     Know your brand objective  - go back to the funnel – are you needing to raise awareness, considering, preference or conversion? Be focused on the objective. 6.     Bitesizing – consider your journey as smaller, bitesize steps. Consider your audience and reframe the challenge in palatable chunks that will work for them. This approach often helps mobilise energy and support internally. 7.     Start a movement internally – put yourself out there and gather support, build belief. Test and learn and prove the case enabling you to go further, unlocking the support you need. 8.     Don’t let the elephant in the room get in the way – be brave, recognise it, lean into it. 9.     A Team – be demanding on talent, hire for distinctiveness either internally and also with the partners you are working with. Face into where there is a weak link and address it. It’s only fair on them and the rest of the team too. 10.  Build trust – connect with your team, show vulnerability, and build confidence. There is no room for ego. 11.  Ruthlessly prioritise – invest your time and resources in what will build equity and deliver results. Keep doing this, reassessing. Keep focused on the value creation zone. 12.  Be clear on how you inspire others – know yourself and what your purpose is as a leader. 13.  Be Brave, aim high and be your authentic self It was hugely valuable and really thought provoking. Thankyou Thomas Barta and Syl Saller CBE, thoroughly recommend to others.

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Thrilled to again achieve #CharteredMarketer status from the CIM | The Chartered Institute of Marketing. Chartered Marketer is a status recognising those marketers achieving the highest level in our profession. It demonstrates commitment to keeping up-to-date and is awarded on a combination of experience and qualifications. #Marketing #Excellence #Personal Development

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Ready for Autumn season? Read on 👇 Q4 is often the key selling season so it's time to get your planning started and marketing calendar in place. Here's a few key moments to consider in your marketing planning - September - Macmillan Coffee Morning (27 Sept) - October - Halloween / School Half Term - November - Bonfire Night / Movember / Black Friday (29th) / Thanksgiving - December - Christmas Jumper Day (7th) / Christmas Eve & Day Top Tips 1. Review what worked (and not worked) last year 2. Identify key products for focus by season or key moment 3. Create a calendar by platform and space 4. Develop your promotional plan eg loyalty, gifts, multi buy activity 5. Plan content creation 6. Test ads or emails for best visibility 7. Schedule and activate plan If you are struggling putting your plans together then give me a shout and we book a call to see how I can best help you ✅ Was this useful and trigger your thinking? - give this post a like and share with others 👏

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Great day yesterday at the B2B Leaders Forum with Propolis and B2B Marketing. A feast of B2B chat from which I’d pick out four ‘provocations’: 🙋‍♂️ The favourite in the room. Inbox Insight shared some research into buyer behaviour that reinforces much of what we’re hearing. The headline was that being the “favourite" in the metaphorical room containing the buying committee was the key to success. And that means engaging early and widely with the whole committee. To my previous posts, it’s also about being ‘culturally relevant’ as well as a known brand. 💱 Revenue quality matters as much as quantity. Great session on speaking the language of the CFO with an actual CFO. A good jumping off point for collective strategizing is to ask about what makes good, disproportionately valuable revenue. 👂 Spend time with customers! More important than ever to be voice of the customer but very few marketers and their teams have regular direct access to customers. Speaking to them is where you learn the all-important tacit insights about what matters (you can't hear the tension in their voice in a survey!). 📉 Marketing strategy is about resilience as well as growth, easy to lose that in the clamour. The venue (Royal Society of Arts House) was also extraordinary with wall paintings by Thomas Gainsborough and Joshua Reynolds among others! Thanks to Joel Harrison, Richard O'Connor, Sarah Casswell (née Biggins), Ahmed Elkady and the team for hosting!

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If you're in marketing and DON'T know your numbers then you risk being labelled in the 'colouring in department' with good justification. Sure there are 'numbers' when it comes to digital performance campaigns, and promotions but are they the REAL numbers that are discussed around the boardroom table????? Even at the most hardcore agencies, I'd hazard there's more discussion around profitability, pricing and the hard costs of running a business. The proof of success for any marketer is in the pudding (or rather, in the bank 💰💰💰 ) You can't bank a 2% change brand equity in the short-term so stop trying to pretend its a currency, or something your COO should care about. What you CAN (and should) do is talk about how strong brand equity delivers better promo efficiency, protects against margin erosion and enables lower price elasticity as your consumers are willing to stick with the brand over time. Tracksuit Mikayla Hopkins have ALL the goods on this... 👉👉👉👉 LEARN THE LANGUAGE OF THE BOARDROOM (hint... its not what you think it is). “You need to understand the language of P&L, cash flow, balance sheet, you need to understand what NPV (net present value) does,” said (CMO turned consultant) Burggraeve. “And, last but not least, they need to understand the concept of pricing power. You’re not taken seriously at the board unless you’re sitting at the pricing table.” This means you need to: - Know your margins. - Know the levers that you can pull within marketing to impact the wider business... - Know the opererational impact of your fancy new product concept that is likely going to get push back from op's due to (perceived) negative impact on factory overheads. - Know the profit impact of changing product mix - and how your focus on a particular segment of consumers will deliver incremental sales (and ideally profit),. Keep the marketing talk to your team and your agencies. ✅ Your CFO will be thrilled to have a marketer that talks THEIR language, and understands the cashflow impact of your front-loaded campaign for NPD. ✅ Your COO will be stoked to feel listened to when it comes to manufacturing & supply chain. ✅ Your Sales Director will recognise the link between retailer impact and driving category growth. Maybe Duolingo should consider adding this to their line up... Shoutout to Paz Vlahodimos Will Baldock Bridget Ensor James Hickson Sarah Sherriff https://lnkd.in/gY_xyiR3

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Worried your brand isn’t making big bucks yet? Chill bro! Spill the Beans, UK’s only event for Black/ethnic FMCG producers to get their products in front of supermarket buyers  isn’t about how much revenue you’re generating—it’s about your potential. Whether you’re pre-revenue or still scaling, you’re welcome. We help producers make connections with likeminded producers, supermarket buyers and investors. WHAT TO EXPECT →2+ hours of innovative, industry content full of gems →Live pitching to Ocado Retail, Sainsbury's’, Macknade , Nisa Retail, Crowdcube →Meet industry experts and networking with exciting new brands →Event offers support + access for underserved entrepreneurs Secure your spot here →https://lnkd.in/ekcQVfPe USE DISCOUNT CODE:STBMATES 📸 Jeffrey Oyinlola, Toyin Said, Natalie Rogers 🥘 Dawn Burton Natasha Orumbie ♻️ 👊 Alie Sesay 📌P.S. Secure your supermarket listing….what are you waiting for? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 👋I’m Colin- the food scene’s Kanya King, London-based food and drink Content Creator🧙‍ 📚Helping foodie brands promote themselves via storytelling. 🎤Founder, Spill the Beans - UK's sole event for Black/ethnic minority food producers to meet supermarket buyers 💻Connecting foodie brands with their target audiences via social media 🗣 Wanna chat? 📲Connect with me, and we can talk about your projects😁

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Today, Keen as Mustard Marketing Ltd joined forces with our friends over at Insight Platforms to launch the first Insight Awareness Index 🏆. 📣As a specialist marketing agency we tell our supply-side clients that focusing solely on lead generation is risky, when 95% of customers aren't ready to buy (Ehrenberg Bass). Awareness is recognised as one of the top marketing challenges in data and insights. However, we've lacked a way to measure the success of long-term growth activities—until now.   Introducing the Insight Awareness Index - the first-ever awareness ranking for data, research and insight companies. Our combined databases of 20,000 industry professionals around the world will help us review the market and identify rising stars - and find out how they got there. Plus, we're going to do it every year.   Want to help determine the most famous data, research or insight company? Complete our short survey via the link below. You’ll be the first to receive our report which will be published in Q4 2024. Mike Stevens Iosetta Santini Norbert Sari Simon Chadwick Dan Quirk Stewart Tippler https://lnkd.in/gakzFKEh

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My top 7 things from #B2BIgnite2024 1. Brand guidelines or brand ingredients – the choice is yours Rachel Fairley & Sarah Robb suggest ditching the guidelines, and going with some ‘ingredients and recipes’ instead? TBH, I like the idea, but from experience, the ingredients would end being put together in wild, random and badly flavoured ways, and the ‘recipes’ would potentially be just what’s in (good) brand guidelines in any case. 2. There is an amazing B2B brand called Virtiv who cool down the internet Honestly, so cool. Paul Russell, showcased a nice ABM targeted campaign with lots of useful takeouts, but the comment ‘we cool down the internet’ just eclipsed that to be honest. One of the many reasons I love B2B. 3. Being a commercially astute marketer is not really an option today The best session of the day I think – great to hear John Watton Nimmi Bhalla and Graham Wylie talk from real experience about senior leadership teams and how to better engage. 4. Keano Reeves is into B2B marketing OK, apologies for the clickbait subtitle, not cool. Basically, Palo Alto Networks managed to get John Wick himself to star in their latest commercial with a humungous budget no doubt. To be fair, the UK campaign they showcased yesterday and (props to The Marketing Practice) was good and arguably more interesting. 5. Channel marketing is massive, but still suffers from lack of investment A great workshop session with 💡Georgina Gilmore, hearing some interesting stories an examples of how to better manage MDF and other such channel challenges. Given that some 75% of IT marketing spend is channel-based (great stat), feels like this needs more airtime! 6. AI is not the panacea to absolutely everything everywhere Compared to last year, when almost every presentation banged on theoretically about AI. Was nice to get to practical realities this year! 7. Leadership in a crisis is about character, values, and action Chaired by Shane Redding, a great session on Leadership in a Crisis (let’s face it, we live in a ongoing crisis merry-go-round these days). Fantastic stories, examples and anecdotes from Neil Dowling Sarah Thomas Ph.D. Neha Kathuria – ‘a bias on action’ and 'know yourself' are some of my fav comments. 8. Getting together is nice, and valuable And of course – the biggest ‘thing’ is meeting so many amazing members of the B2B marketing community! Joel Harrison Richard O'Connor Maria McDonagh David van Schaick James Deagan Richard Lane Dave Stevens Catherine Dutton Ashley Robertson Lesley Brewster Ilvija Skerskane Scott Stockwell Steve Kemish Anna Hutton Adam Harper Matt Garisch Robert Norum Bobby Ngai Andrea Clatworthy Nick Eades David Burnand Dom Hawes Fiona McKenzie Jarmila Yu, CMktr DipM FCIM FIDM MCIPR Matt Neal Jon Buckthorp (and apols to anyone that I missed...) And thanks of course to all at B2B Marketing for making it happen. Especially you James Farmer (!).

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"More than 1/5 of non-food purchases made online in the UK are now returned to the retailer." <---seems important...have these essentially become marketing costs? How is it accounted for? Anyone got insight? Also - 'GenZ behavior' that might persist / spread? Which changes the economics broadly? or nah? "There are also generational divides in behaviour, with younger shoppers more likely to over-order with the intention of returning a high proportion of the items. More than two-thirds (69%) of gen Z consumers said they had bought online in this way, compared with about a sixth (16%) of over-60s. The rise of serial returners was “likely to cause alarm for retailers”, said Al Gerrie, the chief executive of ZigZag, which manages returns for companies including Selfridges, Boden and New Look. Serial returners are quietly eroding retail profitability in ways many retailers are only just beginning to understand. The rise of opportunistic shopping behaviours, where many people intentionally buy large quantities of goods with the intention of returning most of them, is placing an unprecedented strain on retailers.”

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£800 million is being missed out on the on-trade by consumers asking for tap water than a paid-for alternative. An incredible stat from a recent report from KAM Insight developed in conjunction with Lucky Saint. - 2.6m fewer UK adults are drinking weekly in 2024 v 2021 - 1 in 3 pub visits are now alcohol-free - 31% of customers have left a venue early and/or disappointed because of poor low & no options - 40% will research low & no options ahead of time if they're visiting a pub, bar or restaurant and not drinking alcohol. Offering high quality alcohol-free alternatives is an easy win for venues looking to increase revenue. We've seen strong growth in the on-trade this year, and it's great to see more bars and restaurants embracing the trend. https://lnkd.in/ea7NNQGg

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Why are Drinks Sampling campaigns such an effective tool to market your brand? It’s simple… Sampling captures the attention of potential customers and gives the brand an edge over competitors. In fact the data on sampling makes it a no brainer - A Eventeem articles mentions that 65% of consumers who sampled a product bought it in the same shopping trip. If you look at the opportunity to recruit new brand fans & the grow the LTV, it does make you wonder why drinks brands don’t have this front and centre of their brand plan. Here's why sampling campaigns are so effective: 1. Liquid On Lips: Fundamentally, sampling allows consumers to experience your product. It taps into their senses, making the experience hugely impactful and emotional. 2. Trust: People are more likely to buy when they’ve tasted and enjoyed the product. It removes doubts and builds confidence in your brand. It can even turn sceptics into loyal customers! 3. Feedback: Sampling campaigns offer invaluable opportunities for real time feedback from your target audience. This helps you fine tune your product and marketing approach. 4. Word of Mouth Buzz: A great sampling experience is likely to be shared. People love talking about the products they’ve tried (verbally or on socials), and your brand benefits from organic positive word of mouth promotion (the most cost-effective marketing tool!). 5. Boosts Brand Awareness: Whether activity takes place at festivals, in the on/off trade, or during a live event, sampling puts your product in front of potential customers in an engaging and direct way 6. Sales & LTV: The most important aspect of all.... Sampling means sales and LTV. Drink sampling isn’t just about offering a taster, it’s about building lifelong brand fans. The key to a successful sampling campaign are the personalities on the ground delivering the campaigns– what we call the last mile. That final interaction before the consumer sample is a critical moment. Here at Wilde Toast, we have over 2,000 drinks experts, from bars across the UK, who ignite sampling campaigns with their passion and knowledge for drinks. Drop me a DM to see how we can help you! #Drinks #DrinkSampling #BrandAwareness #ConsumerEngagement

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