How confused.com challenged the meerkats on smaller budgets - Sam Day
Jan 3, 2024
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Sam Day, former CMO of confused.com, shares the secret behind their successful campaigns on limited budgets. Topics include management advice, brand vs price in insurance comparison, and how to compete in a highly competitive market. The chapter also discusses selecting advertising agencies and pitching to CMOs.
Marketing and advertising are crucial for success in the highly competitive insurance comparison market.
Passion and interest are important in marketing; aspiring marketers should stay informed and demonstrate deep enthusiasm for their craft.
Balancing long-term strategic goals with short-term performance targets is essential for a CMO.
Deep dives
The importance of marketing in the insurance comparison market
In this podcast episode, the speaker discusses the intense competition in the insurance comparison market and the crucial role of marketing. They explore how marketing and advertising can make all the difference to the success of a company in this highly competitive industry. The guest, Sam Day, the former CMO of Confused.com, shares his experience and insights on successfully challenging his competitors and taking his company from fourth place to second place on limited budgets. He emphasizes the importance of efficient and effective marketing strategies in achieving success.
Early passion for advertising and entering the marketing industry
Sam Day shares his early passion for advertising, describing how it inspired him to pursue a career in marketing. He recounts his obsession with 80s advertisements and the desire to work in an industry that he found glamorous and captivating. He emphasizes the importance of passion and interest in marketing, encouraging others to let their enthusiasm shine through their work and conversations. Sam also advises aspiring marketers to stay informed about the industry and demonstrate a deep passion for their craft.
Lessons from early people management experiences
Sam discusses one of his early challenges as a marketing professional, which involved transitioning from managing only a few direct reports to managing a larger team. He reflects on the mistakes he made in trying to be popular and excessively involved in everyone's work. He learned the importance of giving clear direction, earning respect, and understanding that not everyone aspires to be a leader. Sam offers advice to others facing similar challenges, emphasizing the need to be respected as a leader and to focus on empowering and guiding the team.
Dealing with setbacks and learning from failures
Sam shares a personal failure he experienced in his career, highlighting the difficulties he faced when transitioning to managing a larger team. He reflects on the mistakes he made and the impact it had on his team and overall performance. However, he also discusses the importance of seeking feedback, learning from the experience, and making necessary changes to overcome the setbacks. Sam's story emphasizes the resilience and growth mindset required to overcome failures and continually improve as a marketing professional.
Balancing the long and short term as a CMO
Sam explains the importance of balancing the long-term strategic goals with the short-term performance targets as a CMO. He shares the challenges he faced in competitive markets and the pressure to deliver short-term results while also working towards long-term success. Sam emphasizes the need for continuous learning, optimization, and aligning business objectives with marketing strategies. He believes in the power of marginal gains and the iterative process of refining and improving marketing efforts over time.
Selecting and working with agencies in a pitch process
Sam discusses the process of selecting and working with agencies in a pitch process. He highlights the value of agencies that understand the client's challenges, provide innovative strategies, and have a collaborative mindset. Sam stresses the importance of agencies challenging and pushing the client's thinking, as well as demonstrating a deep commitment to the client's objectives. He also emphasizes the role of research and testing in refining concepts and ensuring alignment with the target audience.
Now in this episode, we're talking about one of the most competitive markets in the world - insurance comparison. Anyone who's followed this market will know just how intense it is. And how do you build a brand when you don't have a product yourself, but you're selling someone else's product? Well, it's one of those situations where marketing is all important and advertising can make all the difference to your success.
I'm catching up with Sam Day, who's been the CMO of confused.com, for the past 6 years, who successfully challenged this market and taken it from 4th to 2nd place on very limited budgets. So I want to find out from Sam the secret behind the success of the campaigns that he's run over the last few years, how he's transformed their business and what his plans are for the future.
00:00 - Intro 03:53 - Sam’s advice to a young marketer 06:27 - Sam’s greatest failure 08:44 - Management and leadership advice 12:27 - The secret to an extended CMO tenure 19:41 - Getting c-suite buy in with data 22:50 - Consistency 24:26 - Marketing when you don’t have a product 26:01 - Brand vs price 28:43 - Why name the brand after the problem (confused.com) 31:24 - Branding against one of the best branded characters of all time 34:02 - Why there’s no silver bullet for success 37:02 - Spontaneous awareness - how to win an effie 39:50 - Selecting an agency 42:01 - Great examples of populous advertising 44:14 - How agencies should pitch to CMOs 49:39 - What’s next for Sam Day
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