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We’re most excited to announce on our blog that our first Under the Spotlight is hosted by marketing author Alan Mitchell who will be grilling entrepreneur Luke Johnson. Until then here’s five things you should know about Luke:
Luke Johnson calls himself a “projector”, a 17th century term for a man involved in many different businesses
Luke Johnson expanded Pizza Express from 12 restaurants to over 250
Luke Johnson as Chairman of Channel 4 Television saw the organisation enjoy record ratings and revenues.
Luke Johnson founded Integrated Dental Holdings with partners in 1996. Sold in 2006 for over £100 million.
Luke Johnson also started Strada restaurants from scratch and took the chain to 30 restaurants.
Learn more about Luke Johnson at our Under The Spotlight evening on 9 February, book your Under the Spotlight ticket online today or call our marketing team on 020 8973 1360.
Posted: January 21st, 2011 | Author: will.armstrong | Filed under: Growth Drivers, Nice to Know, Q+A, leadership | Tags: alan mitchell, Entrepreneur, Events, leadership, luke Johnson, The Marketing Society Blog, Under the Spotlight | Leave a Comment »
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All you’ve got, all your brand has got, all any of us have are the memories and expectations and changes we’ve left with others.
It’s so easy to get hung up on the itinerary, the features and the specs, but that’s not real, it’s actually pretty fuzzy stuff. The concrete impact of our lives and our work is the mark you make on other people. It might be a product you make or the way you look someone in the eye. It might be a powerful experience you have on a trip with your dad, or the way you keep a promise.
The experiences you create are the moments that define you. We’ll miss you when you’re gone, because we will always remember the mark you made on us.
There’s a sign on most squash courts encouraging players to wear only sneakers with non-marking soles. I’m not sure there’s such a thing. If you’re going to do anything worthy, you’re going to leave a mark.
This article is taken from Seth Godin’s blog
Posted: January 12th, 2011 | Author: elen.lewis | Filed under: Growth Drivers, Uncategorized, leadership | Tags: seth godin | Leave a Comment »
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The Marketing Society Annual Conference – part 3
The next post in the series from David Taylor’s blog on the Marketing Society Annual Conference is one of the most inspiring stories at The Marketing Society Annual Conference told by Vernon Hill, founder of Metro Bank. This is the first new high street bank to open in the UK for over 100 years. They have 4 branches in London so far, with a target of 200.
Vernon’s talk was about how to create a high growth business in a low growth category. He’s seeking to repeat the success he achieved in the USA, where he grew his bank from 27 locations and $24 million cap in 1990 to $1.5 billion market cap and 500 locations in 2007. He made $400million when he sold his shares. That got us all listening ;-)
Here’s some of the learning from Metro Bank.
1. There are no commodity categories. Only commodity thinking
Service from banks in the UK is poor. A whopping 42% are dissatisfied with their bank, rising to 67% for Santander. The dominant logic is that all customers care about is getting a good rate, with service not important.
Vernon refuses to accept that banking is in effect commoditized. He believes people will trade slightly lower savings rates for a better experience. He has his US experience to prove this can work. His bank was rated number 1 on service out of 8000 banks by JD Power. And he achieved an eye-popping 67% net promoter score, a measure of how much positive word of mouth a brand generates. He calls this having fans not consumers.
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Posted: December 14th, 2010 | Author: stuart.treasure | Filed under: Growth Drivers, Uncategorized, leadership | Tags: Annual Conference, brand leadership, david taylor, Day of Leaders, leadership, Metro bank, Society of Leaders, the brand gym, the marketing society, vernon hill | Leave a Comment »
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The Marketing Society Annual Conference – part 2
The next post in the series from David Taylor’s blog on the Marketing Society Annual Conference is on the talk by Camillo Pane, UK General Manager of Reckitt Benkiser (RB). This is a company who have achieved impressive and sustained growth, with the market value quadrupling in the last 20 years to £20billion. And my take-out from Camillo’s talk is that at the heart of RB’s success is a distinctive and effective culture and way of working.
Here are some highlights.
1. Speed to market
RB seem to be quick and relatively agile for what is a big company. Camillo talked of the company’s flat structure and streamlined processes. He used the example of Airwick Freshmatic. This air freshener is automated to give a little spray every now and then. RB managed to take this from testing to launch in just 8 months, including building a factory in China. A year later the product was in 60 markets. And this is now a £600million business.
2. A culture of “follow the money”
RB looks like a company that shares our mantra of “follow the money”. People are rewarded for driving growth, with what Camillo described as “disproportionate pay for disproportionate results”. This focus on growth means local markets will be quick to search and re-apply successful ideas, even if they didn’t invent them. I also liked the description of “constructive conflict”. Issues and concerns are aired up-front, rather than festering on for weeks and months, as still seems to happen in some companies. And once a decision is made, the plan is executed. Its a case of “80% agreement, 100% commitment”.
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Posted: December 13th, 2010 | Author: stuart.treasure | Filed under: Growth Drivers, Uncategorized, leadership | Tags: brand leadership, Camillo Pane, david taylor, Day of Leaders, Growth Drivers, leadership, marketing leadership, reckitt benckiser, Society of Leaders | Leave a Comment »
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The Marketing Society Conference – part 1.
This is the first of four posts on brand leadership stories at last week’s Marketing Society Annual Conference from David Taylor’s, The Brand Gym blog
The first post is on “Learning from Private Equity”, based on an interview with Martin Glenn, CEO of Birds Eye, and Damon Buffini, Head of Permira, the private equity owners of Birds Eye.
1. “Growth is about forcing the organisation to do what they don’t want to do.”
This was a great quote from Martin. His point was that companies get comfortable and do things in a certain way because… that’s the way they have always done things. Achieving growth normally means forcing and cajoling people to change. As he said, “This needs insight, creativity and courage.” And I think the last of these, courage, is the one that sets apart the really successful people.
As one of my INSEAD professors said, “There is only one person who likes change. A wet baby.”
2. “Marketing is not about giving consumers what they want, but rather what they value”
Another Glenn gem that rightfully kicks into touch the idea that marketing is about understanding and satisfying consumer needs. As consumers, we all want the best possible product at the lowest price. Marketing is figuring out what people really value, and what they don’t. And then creating a business model to deliver this.
A good example is the work Tom Allchurch is leading at Bigham’s, a food brand I posted on here. He is working on re-engineering the packaging of some of his products to cut costs, but in a way that won’t make the offer less appealing. For example, by changing suppliers, or using lighter enamel ramekins for the pies.
3. “Today its not the big eating the small. Its the fast eating the slow”.
This was Damon’s point. I’ve heard it a lot in the internet world. But interesting to hear him say its also important in the consumer goods world. The rate of innovation has increased, both from branded competitors and retailer own label. And the time it takes many big companies to get anything out the door is still scary. More on this in the next post on Reckitt Benkiser, one company who do recognize the need for speed.
4. “Turning spending from general to specific”
This was Damon’s response when asked the old favourite about private equity firms raping the companies they buy by cutting marketing spend. And its spot on. What he forces companies to do is to stop general marketing spending, and re-focus it on the things that, as we say, “SMS” – sell more stuff.
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Posted: December 9th, 2010 | Author: stuart.treasure | Filed under: Growth Drivers, Uncategorized, leadership | Tags: Annual Conference, birds eye iglo, brand leadership, Damon Buffini, Day of Leaders, growth, leadership, marketing leadership, marketing society annual conference, martin glenn, Permira, Society of Leaders, the marketing society | Leave a Comment »
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Our Annual Conference and Dinner chairman, Global Radio’s CEO, Stephen Miron took some time to talk about his personal highlights and insights from the day.
1/ What was your biggest leadership moment during the day?
Alexandra Burke’s management nearly didn’t let her perform at our Annual Dinner as we were running over. So I had a challenge on my hands to persuade them not to leave the building! Fortunately, I persuaded them and she performed an outstanding set for us.
What was the most inspirational piece of advice that you personally took home that day?
The day kicked off on a high with Olympiad rower Matt Pinsent. His speech about teamwork and the importance of the four rowers communicating with one another in the boat made an important point – all this communication, often involving split second decisions, did not involve one email – a good lesson for business. At the end of the day, as General Sir Mike Jackson took questions from Nick Ferrari on his leadership over thousands of people in combat situations, the atmosphere in The Royal Opera House was electric. It was great to witness so many different characters during the day from entrepreneurs Laura Tenison and James Averdieck to RB’s Camillo Pane. It brought home to me that there is no one DNA, no formula, no templates for great leadership. Leadership is not about one size fit for all.
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Posted: November 30th, 2010 | Author: elen.lewis | Filed under: leadership | Tags: Day of Leaders, marketing society annual conference, Stephen Miron, the marketing society annual dinner | Leave a Comment »
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Steve Radcliffe, partner, Steve Radcliffe Associates
Finally, Steve Radcliffe, a leadership coach and Marketing Society advocate, summed up the day by describing his simple model of leadership, which was illustrated in one way or another by all of the day’s presentations.
• Future: always be driven by and be able to articulate a vision of the future
• Engage: bring everyone who works for you along with and work hard at this
• Deliver: Execute with precision but avoid the temptation to do it yourself. Delegation is an essential leadership skill.
Judie Lannon, editor of The Marketing Society’s quarterly journal, Market Leader, was reporting on our Annual Conference for Warc.
Marketing Society members can now download presentations in full from our Annual Conference, the Day of Leaders
Posted: November 26th, 2010 | Author: Glen Dower | Filed under: Leadership Central, leadership | Tags: Judie Lannon, Leadership Central, marketing society annual conference, Society of Leaders, Steve Radcliffe | Leave a Comment »
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Lessons from the armed forces: General Sir Mike Jackson, former chief of the general staff and Head of the Army
In conversation with Nick Ferrari, Sir Mike offered a sobering concept of leadership.
Unlike leaders in the business world – for whom risk is essential – a military man’s prime duty is to do everything humanly possible to minimize risk, in order to protect his personnel.
The features Sir Mike looks for in a military leader are integrity, physical and moral courage, good judgement and the ability to learn from others. Getting staff to say what they really think is difficult in a hierarchical organisation, but relations between military ranks are more informal today than they have been in the past, he added.
More generally, developing more open and trusting relationships is part of leadership.
Judie Lannon, editor of The Marketing Society’s quarterly journal, Market Leader, was reporting on our Annual Conference for Warc.
Marketing Society members can now download presentations in full from our Annual Conference, the Day of Leaders.
Posted: November 26th, 2010 | Author: Glen Dower | Filed under: leadership | Tags: General Sir Mike Jackson, Judie Lannon, marketing society annual conference, Society of Leaders | Leave a Comment »
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Driving growth through leadership, not management: Mark Price, ceo, Waitrose
Another recession success story against the odds, Waitrose is a sterling example of the partnership model that continues to drive the fortunes of the of the John Lewis group. Waitrose’s profit-sharing plan – where employees, rather than shareholders, benefit from the company’s good financial performance – stands as a tangible commitment to the recognition that the staffs owns the company.
A strong corporate culture helps to explain Waitrose’s strength in the recession. As a quality supermarket providing relatively high-priced goods, the firm stands to suffer in tough economic times. But Waitrose recalibrated its brand around a new, low-cost, private label essentials range, which has sold strongly.
Moreover, with a bold vision that aims to be first in quality, first in customer service, first in ethics and the environment, Waitrose is currently growing faster than its competitors.
Judie Lannon, editor of The Marketing Society’s quarterly journal, Market Leader, was reporting on our Annual Conference for Warc.
Marketing Society members can now download presentations in full from our Annual Conference, the Day of Leaders.
Posted: November 26th, 2010 | Author: Glen Dower | Filed under: leadership | Tags: Day of Leaders, Judie Lannon, Mark Price, marketing society annual conference, waitrose | Leave a Comment »
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You don’t need money to lead: Martha Lane Fox, UK government’s digital champion
Another driven entrepreneur, Lane Fox emphasised the importance of partnership in good leadership, pointing out that she collaborated closely with Brent Hoberman in the founding of her successful website lastminute.com. Attention to detail is also important.
The UK government has now briefed Lane Fox with improving the nation’s web access: she is working towards getting 10 million new people online by 2012. Lane Fox highlighted the value of such big, hard-to-achieve, bold goals “that have genius and magic” in them as driving business performance.
Judie Lannon, editor of The Marketing Society’s quarterly journal, Market Leader, was reporting on the Annual Conference for Warc.
Marketing Society members can now download presentations in full from our Annual Conference, the Day of Leaders.
Posted: November 26th, 2010 | Author: Glen Dower | Filed under: Digital, leadership | Tags: Day of Leaders, Digital Champoion, Judie Lannon, marketing society annual conference, martha lane fox, Race online 2012 | Leave a Comment »
We’re most excited to announce on our blog that our first Under the Spotlight is hosted by marketing author Alan Mitchell who will be grilling entrepreneur Luke Johnson. Until then here’s five things you should know about Luke:
