In my initial 10 years as a client marketer, I learnt the ‘gold standard’ way of doing things whilst developing strategies for brands in large complex organisations. I spent my next 10 years in agencies which by nature are SMEs that require adaptation of behaviour and process to deliver a constant stream of ideas for a mix of clients within a quicker turnaround time and tighter budget constraints – opportunities to deliver a linear ‘gold standard’ process for an end-to-end project became almost non-existent, even moreso during the GFC in London.
If you’re an entrepreneur reading this, you’re probably thinking this sounds like your business. If you’re a mid-sized company in today’s environment – rapidly changing technology; expectations of more personalised customer experiences fragmented across ever-expanding number of touch-points; expectations of sustainability, people and purpose practices – you probably think the same, although are torn between this and process requirements of a larger business. And if you’re a corporate you’re probably trying to work out how you can react more quickly to the rapid rate of change in the market.
Ideas can come from anywhere and entrepreneurial behaviour is part of doing business in today’s world. A streamlined approach that is adapted to your business needs should be designed to encourage entrepreneurial behaviour and channel ideas and bring them to life across all parts of the business.
Ultimately branding is a people business. We work to understand the needs and desires of you, your people and your customers (consumers, purchasers, clients, employees, shareholders, suppliers, key influencers) and identify the best way to build a relationship and communicate with them, to change their perceptions and encourage action – creating a brand and marketing plan for the business.
Having been fortunate to work with a number of entrepreneurial spirits over the years building brands for personal and small business, medium business and large corporates, it’s this spirit I’d like to encourage 2014.
In celebration, we’ve developed a module specifically for personal and small business brand and marketing. Our cost effective approach is tailored to your business needs, designed to get to the ideas efficiently and help you activate them.
And of course, we invite entrepreneurial spirits from businesses of all sizes to join in.
Big or Small. Make 2014 The Year of the Entrepreneurial Spirit.
Here’s to a Happy & Healthy New Year!
