Nathan Ansell

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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What is fairer? Asking for time or money from consumers? 🤯 Often, brands will ask consumers to either spend time to save money (like Tesco's off-peak food delivery options which give you a four-hour window, instead of a specific timeslot) or spend money to save time (like Tesco's Whoosh delivery which can get you things in as little as 20 mins!). Recent research has shown that asking consumers to spend time to save money is perceived as fairer then asking them to spend money to save time. This is because spend time to save money offers reduce concerns that consumers have about brands profit-seeking and this becomes more salient, especially when consumers are questioning this about a brand. However, we often see that spend money to save time offers are more prevelant within the marketplace, despite consumers feeling that these are unfair. This means there needs to be a trade-off between finding the right solution which yields for the business, whilst also feeling fair to the consumer. Tesco offer both in their delivery options - so is that the sweet spot for brands? 🤓 #consumerbehaviour #behaviouralscience

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This is why I shied away from mainstream media journalism in my career choices. The only way traditional press can garner the clicks to pay the bills is with divisive, sensationalist press. For a start the undertone of racism here is grossly apparent. Beyond that, these are young people on the verge of a massive tournament with huge pressure. If any of these 'writers' can tell me how tearing them down, ramping up the strain and brutalising them is going to help them win, I'd be delighted to hear it? I loved the Beckham doc for so many reasons, not least the absolute two fingers up he gave when booed and hated but it's clear all these years it still affects him. This attitude filters to the terraces, then the leagues, then grass roots and then to kids. The FA is desperately trying to stamp out racism, homophobia and pressure from parents ruining kids experiences of sport. And then it reaches locker rooms, then classrooms and then offices and then we wonder why we have a male mental health crisis. I have a 14 year old son who has played football his whole life. Loves training, hates competing because of this sort of attitude. The things those boys call each other on the pitch. With the justification 'well, that's football, you can't change it'. It's mens mental health month. If you really want to improve the appallingly high death rate from suicide in this country start here. We really need to hold our press to higher account. If you want to see our national teams win, support them, wholeheartedly and condemn this type of lazy, reductive reporting.

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This is worrying on so many levels. Gamifying loyalty programmes to encourage consumers to spend more, during a cost of living crisis. Barely covering up your own cash flow and profitability agenda in the very thin shroud of ‘great value for our customers’. Unregulated in the way that say the gaming industry is regulated. The argument that it is a choice rather than a mandate doesn’t hold water - activity like this is cynically based on consumer psychology and known to adversely affect those least able to make the right decisions Multiple supermarkets copying each other’s approach so as not to miss out. Activity like this gives marketers a bad name. Don’t be that marketer.

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🛒Tesco Retail Media: 'Bigger than TV' by 2025?!📺 Tesco used the recent IGD conference to announce their intentions in Retail Media. They stated that Retail Media ad spending would reach nearly $100bn worldwide making it larger than television as an addressable market by the end of 2025. Headline grabbing numbers, but I don't think this is a meaningful comparison. We were surprised by the thrust of their speech focusing on in store screens and other offline activations rather than using online channels. They said that they would use the screens on handheld scanners to deliver personalised messages. Given that adoption of Scan and Go is very low, there is a lot of work to do for it to reach scale and deliver impact. That approach might work well for monthly shops, but I can't see how it would be effective for convenience buys.   Tesco seem to be playing down the omnichannel advantage, which is surprising given that it has been so successfully exploited by Walmart in the US to compete with Amazon. I also think they are ignoring the potential of their Clubcard data to effectively target shoppers outside of store via online and mobile. Perhaps they still intend to do this, but it seemed odd they decided to focus their speech entirely on store media.   This announcement leaves me to question what is happening with their online retail media strategy, maybe its coming but they weren't ready to share the details? Do you have any ideas or thoughts? I would love to know in the comments below👇

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There is an increasing need for brands to find ways of engaging their trade customers - particularly when their sales to them is via channel distributors. Having attended a few trade shows already this year, that is obviously one route to achieving this….. but an arguably better way is via a B2B loyalty programme. We are finding ever increasing interest in this and have created our loyalty software solution to speak to exactly this challenge.

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Consumer behaviour is changing, but we can also change consumer behaviour. This is what I worked on with Worldpay and their PR agency MHP Group for the launch of their Global Payments Report. I was asked to provide insights on the changing consumer behaviour globally and in the UK, how these changes impact adoption of various payments methods, but also how we can impact customer adoption ourselves by applying behaviour change tactics. It such a great campaign not only providing insights to retailers and other brands, but also empowering customers with a little self-knowledge. Thank you Katie Villiers-Smith, Siobhan Acha Derrington, Pete Wickes, James Fry for inviting me to work with you on this campaign. Here is just one of the articles from the campaign: https://lnkd.in/eDYbRwMJ #pr #press #insight #research #consumerbehaviour #behaviourchange #payments #retail #customerexperience #innovation #future #spokesperson #work #project #psychology

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I must be watching a lot of British television, because my first thought was, "This is absolutely brilliant!" I just stumbled upon this #TikTok account so I'm not exactly sure what's happening (see comments to watch video). It appears to juxtapose one type of web designer with another. One web designer seems to be effortlessly going through his workflow, singing, having a blast, while the other, perhaps more traditional programmer, seems to be stuck in misery. This one video has over 9M views, 800K likes... and is highly engaging for a number of reasons. 👉 Bad singing 👉 Good design 👉 Fast-paced 👉 Juxtaposition 👉 Linear narrative (we want to see how it turns out) I've watched a few of these and they seem to follow the same format - different designer each time, singing badly, while cruising through their workflow. Might this be an idea worth exploring for your business? I'm sure your solution is better, faster, more efficient than the alternative - what if you show a similar juxtaposition in a hilarious way? You don't need to copy this account, but with my creative mind and your wallet, I'm sure we could come up with some executable ideas like this. #socialmediamarketing #digitalmarketing

Yikes… what a waste This front of store display has impact. As soon as you walk into Weybridge Tesco you can’t miss this foyer display featuring Mars @Bensoriginal rice 🌾. Shame the sales opportunity is diminished by the lack of stock replenishment and poor shopper journey positioning. Sure it is; Eye catching and disruptive ✅ Has clear messaging ✅ Visual v wordy (as we know shopper don’t read) ✅ Large enough to display a portfolio of SKUs ✅ Provides secondary merchandising instore ✅ BUT It’s losing sales as it’s poorly replenished ❌ Brands need to consider store level engagement/initiatives so their retail POS media is continuously shoppable. Ensure the store support the activity. Is misaligned ❌ This is a stand alone unit, right at the front of the store, with an arch leading to nowhere. It’s not aligned to an event. It’s not the natural position for the brand along the shopper journey. Is microwave rice an impulse purchase or the first item a shopper considers adding to their basket? Isn’t inspirational ❌ Add some recipe suggestions, show parents how microwave rice can be part of a quick meal for the kids. Show young professionals how microwave rice can be the base for a quick on the go meal between work, gym and evening drinks with friends. If you are going to invest in these elaborate displays, for goodness sake make sure you maximise the sales opportunity and drive the ROI. #retailmedia #shoppermarketing #fmcg #marketingROI

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When we go to Italy we have omelette sandwiches on the plane. Aunty Fedora makes them. We flew to Italy on Saturday and Louise who I’ve worked with for years - messaged to say she hoped I got here ok and enjoyed my omelette sarnies. They are legendary. The odd time, we’ve had a different plane snack; chicken schnitzel, a pizza slice. Very nice. But it’s not the same. Because when we go to Italy we have omelette sandwiches. We’ve been to Italy countless times. In years to come we won’t remember specific journeys but we will remember that we had omelette sandwiches Rituals are important. Like little anchors. We’re together - they say. * There’s a time to mix things up and a time to keep things exactly as they are. Don’t ask me how you know when to do which. Have an omelette sandwich when you travel - is as far as I go. ✌️ I said I’d write for 30 days on #startups and #smallbusiness so here are some rituals from the teapigs days for day 23: - Lunch around the kitchen table after month-end review - Celebration bubbles when someone got a new customer (actual bubbles you blow, not champagne) - Awkward birthday singing in procession behind someone carrying cake - Bringing back something weird to eat when you go on holiday What anchors keep you together? #culture #team #people

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Really interesting read looking at the rise and fall of Prime (an energy drink build off of social media hype and influencer backing of KSI and Logan Paul). Predictions are that we will see a trend of increases in these types of social media hype driven product launches, but established brands with solid strategy need not worry. Data shows that solid fundamental brand building strategy will win in the long run. “Marketers taking a lesson from this should look to double-down on “the fundamentals” of “availability, building brand awareness, being priced right and having a good proposition”.

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Watching the tragedy of Co-op's declining market share and below average sales performance is doubly painful knowing how close they came to signing up for the Uncrowd platform. Every loss of share of wallet to Aldi UK, every customer choosing Lidl GB instead, each failure to respond to changes in relative attractiveness versus Sainsbury's, Asda, Morrisons and Tesco is a reason to be disappointed. The core Co-op proposition is rock solid, the values driving the business are to be applauded and celebrated. It's hard to argue though that the major tech investments made in the business have come through to the bottom line. Back when we were close to a deal, uncrowd could have been bought for a couple of hundred thousand. Our average ticket today is way beyond that. Arguably Co-op couldn't afford Uncrowd now, but given Uncrowd scores are proven to correlate against sales performance in grocery, given that we put percentages onto revenue, how could they afford not to? It's a shame to see the superb work of the likes of Matt Atkinson, Ali Jones, Matthew Speight, Charlotte Lock and Jo Whitfield, brilliant retailers all, fading away. #retail #grocery #experienceanalytics

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As we see more and more people return to the office, we’ve taken a deep dive into what this surge in office-based working could mean for retailers in our Q3 Movers Index. Have a read of the Index here: https://lnkd.in/eWMSnPwt

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Why is Carlsberg chasing UK soft-drinks maker Britvic? Whilst we understand the urge to diversify (both category wise & geography wise), this move is not straightforward for many financial analysts considering: - the potential synergies (GTM scale to improve Carlsberg Group distant challenger position in UK & overall accessing a total beverage platform in UK), - the growth profile of Britvic plc over the recent years, - the difficulty to scale this asset internationally - the price tag (esp. considering Carlsberg EV & current debt ratio) Carlsberg stock price lost 8% since the announcement This deal is a testimony of the increasing appetite of the world largest FMCG companies to invest into mid-size M&A deals ($0.5-5bn) with the objective to increase their growth footprint. More will come Time will tell if this transaction ends up being a success Exciting times for M&A in the FMCG industry To read our latest publication on M&A in the FMCG industry: https://lnkd.in/dinWEqDn 𝗧𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀, 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝘂𝘀 & 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗙𝗠𝗖𝗚 𝗖𝗘𝗢 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿: https://lnkd.in/ea4gy65y #fmcg #cpg The Coca-Cola Company PepsiCo Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. The HEINEKEN Company AB InBev Diageo Pernod Ricard William Grant & Sons Campari Group https://lnkd.in/dzTWJVva

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12 new statistics about UK influencer marketing and audience engagement in 2024 Brands should prioritise working with influencers that have audiences of 100K to 500K, according to CORQ’s widescale data review of influencer content in Q1 2024. Analysing adverts and organic content across lifestyle categories, our journalists found this segment was prolific in delivering high engagement. However, there are standout talents with smaller followings on Instagram who are creating content which has repeated significant reach beyond their direct audiences. These include Lexie Harris, Moses Duckrell, Abbey Sadleir and Elise Morgan. Here’s a quick rundown of findings across the lifestyle category. To access CORQ’s big data analysis – which pinpoints audience engagement trends with influencer content and details strategic advice based on evidence – start your free trial here. Makeup Gen Z creators produced 72% of Q1’s most engaging makeup adverts and 76% of the most engaging organic makeup content. Brands should jump on eye makeup with blue tones for Q2 – 36% of the most engaging creator makeup posts in Q1 2024 featured statement blue eye looks as part of a wider trend for bright eyeshadow. Skincare Content about cleansing regimes and education would be a canny investment for brands; 28% of top organic skincare posts were in the “get unready with me” format. Authoritative millennials sharing knowledge and experience dominated top content in Q1; 16% of the most engaging skincare adverts were by doctors. Fashion 44% of the top influencer fashion adverts were by trend-driven fast fashion brands, with Fashion Nova and ASOS driving most audience engagement. 60% of the top organic posts about fashion were by influencers with less than 100K followers who combined streetwear, sport brands and luxury labels to create smart casual looks. Food Food and beverage brands are currently working most with creators who have audiences of less than 100K, but those with followings of between 100k and 500K are driving most audience engagement. Supermarkets produced more of the top ads that any other sector of the food and beverage industry, with Lidl’s influencer partnerships performing particularly well. Interiors and home Content positioned as renovation rather than interiors drove more audience engagement on average (12.7% vs 8.7%). Interiors was the only vertical of Q1 where the majority of top ads and organic content was produced outside of London by creator who are aged 35+. Travel 28% of the top travel adverts promoted specific experiences created by travel brands, taking their followers along to a unique event or day out through video content. The UK was the most covered destination in organic creator travel content followed by mainland Europe.

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Want to hear my take on Marketing in the boardroom and how blooming important it is? Sign up 👇🏻 This is ideal for growing or scaling business who are considering how to structure their c-suite. Come listen to me explain why it’s crucial marketing has a seat at the big table, and actually how it should be a core consideration for every business decision! (Yes I’m a bit passionate about it!)

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Loyalty/Membership/Benefits Schemes: Rethinking Customer Engagement Retailers are currently in a dynamic phase, either launching, promoting, or reimagining their loyalty programs in a bid to strengthen their first-party data strategies. As the BBC notes, with the cost of living challenges, shoppers are visiting supermarkets less frequently, opting for more own-label products, and increasingly turning to loyalty schemes to secure discounts now. But it raises an interesting question: How much "loyalty" is really being cultivated? I recently signed up for a supermarket 'loyalty scheme' just to get a one-time discount, even though it's not a store I typically shop at. This got me thinking—is "loyalty" the right term? Are we setting the wrong expectation when what we’re really offering is a quick customer benefit rather than long-term loyalty? It’s worth considering whether these programs should be reframed to better align with the value they actually deliver.

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