Aaron M.

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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Britain's Innovators Need A Creative Boost Ask most people in the US or China, if they considered Britain to be a top 5 global innovator and they would likely say "no". Britain is certainly well respected for its creativity- think music, TV and film, but innovation probably not. However, according to the 2024 Global Innovation Index- Britain is ranked no 5- just behind the US, Singapore and a couple of countries who punch way above their weight class, in the form of Sweden and Switzerland. But, with Britain- uneasy and unsure of its place in the world in 2024 (long post-Brexit), surely the innovation ranking is not only a surprise, but an incredible story that needs to be told? It seems like Britain's innovators need to tap into the country's creative industry to get their story out into the world. John V Willshire

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'The customer experience is the new battleground - it's not about price' - Paul Matthews, CCXP insight6 Sussex & Surrey Watch the full interview with Paul here: https://lnkd.in/dCeExDRK #Brilliantbusinesses

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Today see's the launch of the Clear Channel UK Insight Store 💡 We've put all our brilliant research and insight into one place to make it super easy to access, whenever you need it. So, whether your looking for the latest consumer behavior, category case studies, or effectiveness studies, you'll find them all there on the Clear Channel website. Link in the comments below 👇 #outofhome #marketing #ooh

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Impact is our output. We talk about modern marketing being able to deliver two types of impact - cultural and commercial. How do we move beyond the brand purpose debate and into a more grown up and nuanced conversation about the different types of impact we all create as marketers every day? Come and join us to find out.

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N. 1 Marketing Hazard.    A couple of years ago, I took a small team  through a very involved brand planning process for a small (2% of market) brand.   Very different to what we’d done before. We did it alongside different brands for the first time.   Loads of people on Teams. Multiple agencies. Lots of market data. Lots of dissecting. Breakouts with people that didn’t know each other and not enough time to finish tasks we didn’t understand.   New words - ones you would NEVER use if a customer walked into your shop —> Leverage —> Anchor space —> Demand space —> Consumer recruitment   “In what particular part of the morning  was a particular type of consumer  who cares about one particular thing at a particular time in their life  going to drink one particular type of drink?”   Over Engineered.    I didn’t think that saying “I don’t know, they can drink it when they bloody want!” was allowed. So I tried to work it out.    You see, I’d been sucked in.  Maybe this was the grown-up way to do things. The ‘right’ way.   I questioned everything I thought I knew.  Moved all the thinking we’d done around  until I had some words on slides  that the people running the show started to nod at.   But when I presented the new strategy to the board  I had to keep looking at my slides to keep track. Because the words - were not mine.   And when I presented it back to my team, I felt myself sinking because I realised… and then a trusted peer confirmed it:   “You sound like you’ve disappeared up your own arse” 🎤 Words people don’t really say on a page in a format “everyone” puts it in does not a strategy make. The following year, we kept it simple.  Started from what we knew.  Reminded ourselves where we wanted to get to. Decided the most important things to do to get there. Wrote that down. Reviewed it monthly. 🚤 🚤 🚤 Small businesses are like speed boats, not ocean liners, or container ships, like the big ones. Do not look at them. You don’t need the kind of engineering that makes them move. I am not convinced they do but that's another story. Look at your boat. And what it needs to go faster. You know. It’s your boat.   * Do you have someone who will grab you if you start to disappear? * Day 11 of 30 days on #smallbusiness and #startups #challenger #founders #brandstrategy #freelance

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How to win a pitch. I loved hearing Scott Morrison FRSA talk about a pitch an agency did for British Rail when they invited the client to a somewhat disgusting meeting room for the presentation and upon seeing their reaction as they walked in simply said "and this is how your customers feel' Absolute genius. In a single moment they made their customer feel the scale of the problem and demonstrated how much they understand the scale of the challenge. I love pitching. Having spent most of my career client side I have sat through an enormous amount of pitches. More recently I "switched sides" and now work for a company leading our pitches. Here are some of the principles Scott and I discussed about how to win pitches 💥 Your customer has a customer. Most people completely forget this but consider how you can make your customer a hero in front of their customers. A great question to ask is how you could get your customer promoted. 💥 The brief is never the brief. The key is to understand the business problem that led to the brief, the "brief behind the brief". Also call the customer in advance to discuss what led to the brief, how the decision will be made, who will make the decision etc 💥 The customer doesn't give a s**t about your agency or awards. Every agency spends much too long talking about themselves rather than showing they have listened. Demonstrating good listening skills is as important as selling the idea. 💥 Sell yourself as a Hollywood blockbuster. Use all the communication skills you have as an agency on telling the story of how you will overcome the major obstacles in the brief and deliver a dramatic ending 💥 Make it easy to buy. Everyone is busy and a pitch process is a very high stakes process. Putting effort into making the solution easy to buy is essential. I once presented an agency pitch deck at our company conference the day after it was presented because it perfectly demonstrated a vision of the brand. 💥 People buy people. Perhaps the most important element of the pitch is the 'chemistry session' which basically boils down to how much the teams like each other and the level of trust that can be created. In my experience you won't be on the pitch list if you cant do the job so chemistry might separate the winners and losers 💥 Prove it. Lastly one way to guarantee a win is provide the proof your idea will work. There are many ways to do this but one is using System1 Test Your Ad to show that the idea works. This creates the confidence the new direction will work and gives data to use selling the new agency internally. I could probably go on but instead check out the latest edition of Uncensored CMO - see comments for links Kerry Collinge

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Clarity - Lots of chat going on around this at the moment in marketing. When it comes to marketing being clear makes all the difference. Just like the classic Ronseal ad, your marketing message should "do exactly what it says on the tin". I know, showing my age now 😂 It's ads like this that stick in your mind forever. Small businesses want to build trust quickly. To do that, you need a clear and simple marketing message that your target audience understands instantly. 🛎️Simple messages = instant attention 🫛Instant attention = engagement 💫More engagement = more conversions Result! Here's how to get clear on your message... 🔎Know your audience, their needs and their words ☝🏼Get to the point with those words quickly 🔤Use simple language, no jargon Test it out to see what works, then review every so often to keep it relevant. Now, go and get clear, and keep it simple!

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Who's your fave British business that is thrillingly profitable AND so adorable you could weep?? Today there's a feature in The Telegraph (link in the comments) about Jellycat, maker of the softest, cutest #toys. Customers in an expanding range of markets love Jellycat so much, they are buying their favourite toys twice: one to cuddle, one to preserve in pristine condition, for fear of spoiling their fur (more on this below). Here's the #money part. "Jellycat’s latest accounts filed at Companies House show that revenues rose 37 per cent to £200 million in the 12 months to 31 December. Pre-tax profits increased 24 per cent to £67 million." Apart from being a model of soaring success, look at all that tax they are paying. Many congratulations to Arnaud Meysselle on your fabulous leadership. Here's the #socialmedia part. Jellycat joined Instagram only 2 years ago. Its Insta content is now pulling at the heartstrings of 1.2m followers. There's a link to their Instagram in the comments too. Here's the #cuddly part. "... super-soft fur. [Jellycat toys] are engineered to be almost addictively touchable. [...] The high-density, low-denier fibres are incredibly fine, even finer than a human hair." Science bit by Tom Lovelace. Here's the #cute part. The #semiotics of Jellycat is layers deep. Imaginative #design goes places that cuddly toys have never gone before, rendering all kinds of food, plants, sports equipment, a campfire, a cassette tape, a huge diamond ring and even a roll of toilet paper in the softest plush. Everything has little dots for eyes and a tiny, shy smile (there's that blank-faced beauty that I wrote about here on LinkedIn a few weeks ago). Here's the #scarcity part. Jellycat constantly refreshes its range with innovative new toys and at the same time they are constantly retiring old favourites. This drives up FOMO and craving among consumers to sometimes insane heights. Picture: SOME of the items that live on my desk. Clockwise from upper left: A green macaron that's also a bunny; a religieuse, which is a French patisserie item that is like a small profiterole sitting atop a larger one; a pink bunny; two pastries, a dome framboise and a lemon tart. My desk also features a different raspberry tart, a millefeuille pastry, a coffee bean, a clementine and a gold star with tiny gold boots. And what's more, I turned up to the #mrsawards with a quite large, furry sun attached to my handbag. Which is perfectly adult and on-trend because they were doing it at London Fashion Week. Atting a few people. Royce Yakuppur Yahya, let's go shopping. Louise Twycross-Lewis, squee!!! Ben Younie, Sarah Burkett, sharing my kidulting credentials here. Shazia Ali, this is what all the fuss is about. Elizabeth Lawes, thank you for the lovely birthday present. Denny Marcus thank you too for the birthday present and for not complaining when I keep coming home with random stuff. Happy holidays! If you're shopping, buy now, it sells fast.

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HFSS guidance update from the Committee of Advertising Practice this morning. 🗨️ "So, for advertisers, our revised guidance is likely to clarify that – even if your ad does not explicitly refer to or feature an LHF product – it may still be restricted under law, where persons in the UK could reasonably be expected to be able to identify your ad as being for an LHF product or LHF products." Thoughts? https://lnkd.in/dhPmbvRX #LHF #HFSS #Advertising #CAP

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“Alex and Chris really brought the commercial topic to life, empowering the marketing team to feel more confident in the brand financials and how we can play an important part in driving the business forwards.” Many marketers lack confidence in their commercial skills. So we run a course to build their confidence. And this latest version for PZ Cussons went down a storm with an NPS of 95! We cover why commercial skills matter, how businesses and retailers make money, the P&L, pricing, how to write a business case, calculating ROI and how to analyse commercial data. And we have fun doing it. Lots of discussion, practice, games and examples. Plus a safe space for asking all the questions that are on the delegate’s minds. Commercial acumen is a fundamental skill for every marketer. So, if you’re team needs a conference boost in this area, give us a call. #marketing #commercialskills #learninganddevelopment

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When creativity grabs attention in the Real World 🔥 From attention-grabbing special builds to fully immersive brand experiences, we’ve seen a phenomenal level of brands using Out of Home to deliver exciting, stand-out campaigns across the UK and Europe. Love Clear Channel Europe & Clear Channel UK's latest show reel and see how brands are continuing to push the boundaries of creativity in OOH! #OOH #PlatformForBrands #Creativity Talon, RapportWW, Posterscope, Kinetic GroupM OOH, Publicis OOH, Evolve OOH, billups, Mediabridge Global & so many more

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“You don’t buy a smart fridge to only use the ice maker. Yet for a while, many brands were leaning into enterprise #martech and doing exactly that, paying exorbitant licensing costs to only scratch the surface of what the technology could do." - Mikaela Crimmins of advertising company Orchard. The dip in martech budgets is no secret, but Nadia Cameron and Andrew Birmingham's writeup on Gartner's annual CMO survey contains some invaluable insights into what's driving the trends. The whole thing is worth a read but there are a bunch of useful quotes from Ewan Mcintyre, who points out that some of this perceived change may actually a redefining of what constitutes 'marketing' budget, with IT teams now owning a lot of buying decisions. And, of course, there is the seemingly unstopppable rise of media budget. As martech and #ecommerce tools get smarter and more affordable, one would rationally expect costs to come down, and help brands achieve more with less. If that drives greater optimization of the stack, in the long run, that can only be a good thing for consumers - which should ultimately pay off for brands and technology companies.

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The #EveningStandard's recent move to a weekly print edition was prompted by its daily circulation dropping from 850,000 readers to 275,000 in the last five years. That decline mirrored what's happening to all traditional UK newspapers, whose readership suffered a year-on-year drop in circulation of 10% between 2022 and 2023. So what are all these lost readers reading? Well digital newsletters for one thing and the growth of these has been truly astonishing. Consider these three stats (although there are hundreds of others that tell the same story). One newsletter, called Milk Road and covering 'crypto news', started life as a Google document and yet achieved an eight figure sale within just 10 months. Amazingly, it still only had 250,000 email subscribers at the time.  Another US daily newsletter called The Hustle (so a media company) sold to HubSpot (a software company) for $27 million after just five years. Another one called Morning Brew sold for a whopping $75 million. Its former owner was 28 at the time. Dammit. Not surprisingly, one industry commentator has termed these 'digital gold mines'. Interestingly, the success of all these newsletters is based on the same factors as those old print titles; a deep understanding of the audience's interests and delivering highly tailored content that fully matches their preferences. To (badly) misquote Ray Kinsella in the 1989 classic film 'Field of Dreams', 'if you build it, he will come', and the same is true for these newsletter publishers. If they can build a sufficiently large circulation figure then they can attract advertisers who will want to reach those same audiences.  That 'monetisation process' will come from things like offering sponsored content, affiliate marketing and adopting different subscription models. That all sounds both time consuming and 'fiddly' and so not something that traditional media buying agencies would consider - but as most of these digital newsletters are startups, they can't afford their fees anyway. But if they could find someone to do it, then they could accelerate their growth and maybe even hasten their exit. What they would need is someone who could offer 'ad sales as a service' - and that is precisely what my latest client, Dan Barry, is doing. His agency, aptly called Ad Sales as a Service, is going from strength to strength and I'm delighted that he's appointed me to advise on his growth strategy. It's been a major learning experience for me too. This market is growing at warp speed with traditional timelines being compressed from years into months. That means a new mindset and a new approach to strategy that takes agility and nimbleness to a whole new level. For anyone interested in this burgeoning sector, Dan's own newsletter is a must read. You can subscribe to it below. Perhaps Evgeny Lebedev should've met Dan; he might not have lost the £84m that he spent on the Evening Standard.

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Hiring strategists isn’t just about filling a seat. It’s about finding the minds that will shape, challenge, and future-proof your agency. Too often, strategy teams are treated like a checklist. Need a comms expert? Tick. A data whizz? Tick. But real strategy—the kind that drives culture, creativity, and commercial success—requires more than skillsets. It needs mindsets. So what makes a strategist future-proof? Here’s my take: 💭 The Hybrid Thinker They don’t just “stay in their lane.” These strategists thrive at intersections—of ideas, industries, and audiences. They’re as comfortable briefing creatives as they are pitching to clients. They’re the ones who un-silo your agency. 🌍 Cultural Readers Algorithms don’t predict culture. People do. Look for strategists who can decode societal shifts and translate them into brand movements. These are the people who spot opportunities where others see noise. 🏛️ Architects of Action A good strategy looks good on paper. A great strategy gets made. High-impact hires are closer to the creative process, shaping work that’s not just smart but unignorable. 🧭 Leaders Without Titles Future-proof strategists lead by influence, not hierarchy. They build relationships, nurture talent, and challenge the status quo—because tomorrow’s challenges demand new kinds of leadership. 👁️ Resilient Visionaries The best strategists are both optimists and realists. They’re not shaken by change; they’re energized by it. They’re the ones who spot possibilities others might miss and chart a way forward. Your agency’s relevance depends on the people shaping its ideas. Building a future-proof strategy team means hiring not just for today’s needs but for tomorrow’s opportunities. And the truth is, it’s not just about spotting talent—it’s about recognizing impact. What are you doing to future-proof your strategy team?

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