The Marketing Minds series share real-world stories from marketers showing how digital marketing has helped them develop their careers or businesses.
Marketing Mind:
Marketing Mind: Lesley Bambridge
I’m Lesley, founder of We Mean Business London, we make big brand marketing accessible for startup budgets
What is your background in Marketing, and how did you come to be in the position you are in now?
15 years in FMCG brand building, heading up brands such as Lucozade, Aquafresh, Ferrero Rocher, Kinder Surprise. I set up my own consultancy business 2 years ago to help pass on the skills and techniques of brand building to startups with an emphasis on supporting women & entrepreneurs – the ‘We’ in We Mean Business.
Which technical skills do you believe are most important in your role?
Listening and using my experience to understand where a brand is in their business and how best to support them in their ambitions.
Which soft skills prove most useful in your role?
Communications, listening, honesty and transparency.
Which markets does your organization operate in?
Startups ranging from food and drink to fitness.
Which Marketing or Business related book would you recommend to a colleague, and why?
All Marketers are Liars by Seth Godin, -he’s the master of marketing.
What can be one of the biggest challenges Marketers face in the industry you operate in?
Having the budget and belief to enable them to cut through the tart up industry noise and stand out.
How do you and your team overcome the aforementioned industry challenges?
Provide rationale for the spend but also to provide shortcuts and tactics to build cost-effective growth into your marketing.
Describe what a typical day at work looks like for you?
Calls and emails, face to face consultations or workshops are the mainstay, along with panel talks some evenings.
Please share two digital marketing tools that help you and your team accomplish your goals every day.
RecurPost
Hootsuite
In your opinion, what are the most valuable skills a marketer in your role can have?
Experience and bravery
What is your biggest career goal?
Heading up Lucozade & setting up my own business.
What are your most important KPIs (Key Performance Indicator)?
Happy clients and successful results.
What is unique about the organization you work for?
My experience is our USP.
What are the most important attributes you look for in a Manager?
Experience, capability, smart thinking, and proactivity.
Across the marketing mix, what medium has brought your organisation the best results?
It’s always a mix of things, but talks and workshops are a great way of demonstrating your strengths and building awareness of your expertise.
Describe one of the most successful projects or campaigns you’ve worked on. Why was it successful?
Google ads for a client, boring I know but the response rate has delivered tenfold and the ROI is insane.
Have you worked on a project or campaign that didn’t go as planned? Please describe what went wrong, and the key takeaways from the experience?
Most campaigns have an element of not going to plan, the key is to be flexible, know what you want to achieve and adapt if you’re not getting the results you expect
What is the best piece of work-related advice you have ever received?
It’s never the outside obstacles that stop you, it’s the inside ones.
What do you see as the most exciting future opportunities in digital marketing that you are working on?
Influencers and how a brand can become an influencer in its own right.