Gareth Turner

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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Excellent summation from Les Binet here on maximising effectiveness, efficiency, ROI and enhancing margins by doing some simple things with media spend distribution but also the core of the effectiveness is creativity. I find creative is often observed as an overhead of advertising rather than an investment but the research doesn't lie - amazing creative is as big an ROI multiplier than other factors combined, so the payback of these combinations in the short, medium and long term is absolutely worth it.

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Great post below from Mark Whalley... and written before we both wondered around the Food & Drink Expo yesterday, in amongst a sea of small / fledgling exhibiting brands... many of whom will likely (and sadly) struggle to "make it big" for many of the reasons he touches on below. And as he says... "anything that [does] work is quickly and cynically replicated by the big boys (or bought by them)" Two things struck me in the conversations I had whilst wondering around yesterday: 1. there was a remarkable amount of self belief amongst smaller brand owners despite the fact that they were exhibiting alongside several other "me too's" - especially in the functional / wellness drinks 'category' (of which there were several examples). I absolutely admired this, but I was left wondering how much room there is in the market for all of them... ... but what IS the market? Well... 2. Several conversations hinted at the fact that many of these brand owners had no intention of throwing their hats into the mainstream grocery market! These guys preferred, instead, to limit their trade to the more artisanal specialist / farm shop / deli (independent) channel which aligns better with their own brand's DNA, and which limits the chances of being eaten alive by the 'big boys'. For some of these entrepreneurs I spoke to, maintaining a semblance of differentiation comes at the known cost of swimming in a smaller pool with fewer competitors, thereby limiting the volume sales they might one day have dreamt of. But this, they believed, is a price worth paying for survival (as well as pride). These guys have recognized that what Mark says below is true i.e. the big grocer's seeming aspirations to focus on 'pile it high - sell it cheap' vs. the brand owners' aspirations of 'pick me - I'm special' are not easy bedfellows - so they've opted for a different bed. Does this mean that we face a future when we won't see anything truly different and exciting in our supermarkets because it simply isn't there - not just because we can't see the wood for the trees? Does this mean that the current focus on 'pile it high, sell it cheap' will result in a sea of increasing sameness, and on which the only battle is for the cheapest prices? It would be very sad if that is the case... #icshoppers #retail

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Packaging should be designed to work on the shelf, for shoppers. Yet too often it doesn't. Does anyone have any great examples of shopper-centric packaging - ideally a before and after photo? I'm compiling a 'top 10' and would love to share a few. Thanks in advance to my wonderful network! #packaging #packagingdesign #shoppermarketing

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I love BRANDS which go that extra mile with their CUSTOMERS 😍 This is super-easy, showcasing new products via in-store sampling 👍 I mean you have your team there anyway, stood behind the counter, serving customers. Why not use them in the spare moments to ENGAGE with your customers, to SHARE NEW products and NEW NEWS, generate some INSIGHTS from customers which might help your business, and maybe even UP-SELL a few things! 👏 Never forgetting (of course) that YOUR TEAM ARE YOUR BRAND, and their personality and warmth reflects on your business (so choosing the right people to do this is a consideration! 😉 ) If I ca help with your marketing thinking and execution, drop me a DM and get in touch 👍 #customerexperience #insights #marketing #marketingexecution #team #staff #people #customerengagement #brandpersonality #sampling 👏 Starbucks #instore #instoresampling #experiential #experientialmarketing

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We’ve scaled 22 brands to £10 million (and counting!) and 3 to over £100 million. We’re all about turning big spends into even bigger wins. 💰 Our 360° Growth Matrix allows us to achieve maximum results consistently. We consult across these key areas to maximise results: 🏆 Market Leader Positioning Brands often lack clear market leader positioning. It’s a BIG part of the reason that most e-commerce brands don’t scale and it’s massively overlooked by founders. Positioning is everything, especially for success in saturated niches 🚀 💰 Financial Forecasting You need to know your figures inside and out. Cashflow management in e-commerce is hard, so planning and forecasting is everything. We get to know your operating economics using our tools, then our team is able to forecast all the important figures: NCPA, monthly ad spend, ROAS, MER - the lot. 🌱 Organic Marketing So many brands are too reliant on paid ads. We constantly see brands come to us with engagement rates on the floor, barely any organic revenue and full reliance on paid ads as a result. Our team consult across core platforms to drive conversions, with 20m followers on TikTok across our agency clients, we have a trick or two up our sleeve 👀 🔍 CRO (Conversion Rate Optimisation) Massively overlooked by 9/10 agencies and in-house teams, yet one of the most important aspects of e-com. We have an in-house CRO expert constantly auditing our brands websites to maximise conversion rate, you’d normally expect to pay $1000 per audit - but it’s completely FREE with our services. 👩‍💼 Influencer Marketing Our formula for influencer marketing drives sales like no tomorrow. Our brands have had deals with Alix Earle, Vanessa Hudgins and SO many more using the strategies our team developed. This is really just the tip of the iceberg. There’s so much we cover in order to provide maximum value to our clients - we’re so far from being ‘just an ads agency’ it’s insane. Make sure to follow me, Jack Oldham, to learn more 📈

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