November 2013

Why choose a Virtual Marketing Agency like SEED Communications?

Finding the right marketing agency partner is harder than ever.

With the exponential rise of companies claiming to offer marketing solutions and with the ever increasing complexity of channel selection, many less marketing savvy clients find themselves in serial short term relationships with an array of different suppliers each with a set of prejudices and each offering a fair share of inconsistent advice – and finding that they have spent a considerable sum of money along the way!

Not to mention the lack of consistency that the clients’ brands suffer as a result of this inconsistency.

Having worked agency-side, client-side and more recently as an in-house brand marketing consultant for less experienced marketing teams, my views on this subject are clear cut – when it comes to marketing agency partners – less is more.

One client / agency relationship managing one team without agendas is far more productive, cost efficient and effective than managing an array of different suppliers – allowing strategy and key propositions to be exploited more consistently across the media mix.

This is where a virtual marketing agency partner like SEED comes in.

First we discuss the client brief and we assemble a virtual team based on its requirement. Rather than rely on the general experience within a traditional bricks and mortar agency – a targeted team approach allows us to create a team with expertise specifically relevant to the needs of each and every brief. And we work on a project by project basis so our clients pay for what they need – no more, no less.

Our talent pool is an eclectic mix of senior marketing specialists and entrepreneurs – mostly freelancers with vast experience in their specialist fields. From an ex CEO of a Saatchi & Saatchi company to ex London Creative Directors, Illustrators, Art Directors, Web Developers, Journalists and Project Managers – we can cast the skills and experience to fit the requirements of the individual brief.

With no formal offices and low overheads, cost savings are reflected in the fees we charge.

Whilst a virtual Marketing Agency is not for everyone, hiring one can often prove highly beneficial.

The agency is able to secure significant accounts by tapping into a diverse and wide range of sector / channel experience whilst the client is able to secure senior and experienced people to work with them and their teams at a fraction of the cost of a more traditional full-service agency.

Martin Thurley is an independent brand marketing consultant operating at director level in the UK, Europe and South East Asia. He is founder of SEED Marketing Communications – a full-service virtual marketing consultancy based near Birmingham in the West Midlands providing marketing solutions for business growth. SEED Marketing Communications helps ambitious SME’s with marketing guidance, support and marketing implementation with specialist sector experience in Food Retail, B2B and Not for Profit. A member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing – he has worked for Saatchi & Saatchi as well as for leading UK retailers including Lloydspharmacy and Homebase. His brand growth marketing experience includes work with – British Airways, RAC, Prudential, Capital Radio, Cunard, Stena Line, Amstrad, Selfridges, Imperial Tobacco, CP Foods, West Mercia Police, Poundland and many SME’s.

October 2013

How to get your product into retailers

Working in the food retail sector and with extensive retail marketing experience with the UK’s leading retailers, SEED Marketing Communications is often asked how to get your product into retailers and what does a good retail pitch look like?

We believe it’s all about

1. Attention to detail and seeing the opportunity from the retailer’s point of view
2. Demonstrating a full understanding of the retailer’s end customer
3. Demonstrating a deep understanding of the retailer’s category

Retail buyers are busy and are looking for clear logical arguments that not only show there’s a gap in their market but that there’s a commercial market in the gap! – This combined with a clear commitment to promote the brand with some marketing investment are the key components for success.

Here are SEED Communications’ top ten tips for how to get your product into retailers and what a good retail pitch looks like …

1. Keep it simple

Present your case in fewer than fifteen slides. Less than ten if possible. And bear in mind the recipient will often want to take your argument and present it on internally. They will need to feel confident in the logic, thinking and numbers.

2. Tailor your argument to the retailer’s specific objectives and category growth targets

Attending retailer conferences (see www.IGD.com ) will give you a good understanding of category objectives and the likely fit of your new product / brand.

3. Highlight your point of difference from the onset

Wherever possible, position your product in a way that reinforces its newness and uniqueness and use this language throughout. Complete a full category gap analysis and know your competition.

 4. Show the retailer their own customers talking about your product

Ideally through some focus groups but, if budget doesn’t allow, a quick vox pops exercise edited together forming a very short film can really help. At SEED Communications, we have always used vox pops  successfully as they make for powerful presentation aids.

5. Drive home the customer insight with robust data and clear commercials

Data is expensive but is fast becoming a ‘need to have’ component for any serious retail pitch. Whilst you can sometimes get by with general published data through desk research – we are finding that the purchase of basic category data is becoming more and more important.

6. Make it fun

Despite the need for quick delivery, finding an angle or adding a little theatre to proceedings will make the message more memorable and distinctive.

7. Consider sending a creative and interesting mail piece

Something that stands out from the crowd and gets the buyer’s interest in the first place. SEED Communications  has had success with a number of unexpected but relevant pieces in the past.

8. Make sure you have a pipeline

The retailer will want to know that you have a pipeline of products in your range that will be available when sales take off – also important if you have a poor performer in your range and an attractive replacement is required quickly.

9. Suggest where your product will fit on shelf and which product / brand it should replace and why

It helps if you can visualise your product on shelf showing suggested placement and adjacencies. And a mock-up photo of the product in-situ. Be prepared to talk about the brand you think it should replace and why!

Finally, show the shopper customer journey from a visual point of view – highlighting where you suggest promotional material would work in store remembering to follow the retailer POS themes and language. And show any overarching creative campaign concepts being developed to build awareness and to drive customers to the store and the category.

If you are a smaller brand seeking listings with the leading UK retailers and need some help in doing so, give me – Martin Thurley a call  on +44(0)1386 792 700

September 2013

As we launch our new website to the World …

I am delighted to read Shaun Varga’s blog post in The Wall entitled – Why Advertising Agencies no longer exist, and why it doesn’t matter. (Shaun is Creative Director & Chairman of Ingenuity – London)

He argues that, in their attempts to position themselves differently, marketing specialists from each and every discipline are increasingly keen to be seen as something else!

“Production companies don’t want to be production companies anymore; they want to be specialists in branded content.

 PR agencies want to be social media experts and Social Media agencies are pitching their work as PR.

Digital agencies are, meanwhile, busy trying to eat the lunch of the advertising industry.

 Direct marketing agencies have taken to talking about their ‘integrated capabilities’ and experiential agencies now do ‘brand activation’.”

Varga goes on to argue that advertising agencies themselves are seemingly reluctant to use advertising as a description at all – preferring to describe themselves as multi-discipline ideas companies and alike.

Positioning – as the great marketing classic by Ries and Trout explains – is all about how to be seen in an overcrowded marketplace and this is a great example of the advertising industry trying to do just that.

At SEED, we have spent many hours contemplating the best way to position ourselves in an overcrowded marketplace where this massive convergence is taking place.

Our view, as Varga’s – is simply this …

Clients come to agencies with problems and all they really want is an effective way to solve them. Rather than responding to a particular agency positioning, they are focused on the people they will get to work with and the relevant experience the team will bring to solve the problem.

That’s why we choose to position ourselves around people, the bespoke teams we can build for our clients, their talent and their experience to deliver. Everything else is down to Chemistry!

Thank you Shaun for a great article.

Martin Thurley is an independent brand marketing consultant operating at director level in the UK, Europe and South East Asia. He is founder of SEED Marketing Communications – a full-service marketing consultancy based near Birmingham in the West Midlands providing marketing solutions for business growth. SEED Marketing Communications helps ambitious SME’s with marketing guidance, support and marketing implementation with specialist sector experience in Food Retail, B2B and Not for Profit. A member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing – he has worked for Saatchi & Saatchi as well as for leading UK retailers including Lloydspharmacy and Homebase. His brand growth marketing experience includes work with – British Airways, RAC, Prudential, Capital Radio, Cunard, Stena Line, Amstrad, Selfridges, Imperial Tobacco, CP Foods, West Mercia Police, Poundland and many SME’s.