Strategy Sessions

Episode 10 ‐ Obviously Awesome Featuring April Dunford, Luke Carthy and Andi Jarvis. Obviously Awesome is a such an obviously awesome name for a book, we had to rob it for the podcast. April is a world leading authority on positioning, the misunderstood marketing concept that can be the difference between winning and losing for your company. Developing a systematic way of positioning technology products and companies has become her life’s work and she has had the privilege of working with more than 100 companies, allowing me to go even deeper and broaden my positioning expertise. We talk about the concept of positioning, how to spot when it’s going wrong, understand how to do it right and throw in a few questions from social media in an enjoyable and insightful chat. Episode 10 also features a T.O.P.T.I.P from Luke Carthy, an ecommerce consultant who has some great last minute tips for sorting out Black Friday and Christmas for your business. As always, a big thanks to our sponsor, Moyee Coffee. I’m a big fan of the coffee and the work they’re doing to help farmers in Ethiopia and Kenya achieve a living income. Please check them out. April Dunford April lives in Toronto, Canada - one of my favourite places - and has kids, a small dog, and a cabin in the woods. I get the feeling the cabin in the woods is her favourite place in the world! The bulk of April’s work is with early and growth-stage startups. Companies where the stakes are high - and weak positioning can mean the difference between success or failure. She also work with large global companies, helping them develop deeper positioning expertise in their product and marketing teams. Her book, Obviously Awesome, came highly recommended by Rand Fishkin on this podcast and captures my ideas about positioning and a methodology for doing it that any startup can follow. It’s become a best-seller and popular among entrepreneurs, product, and marketing folk. April studied Engineering in University, and wasn’t meant to be in marketing or writing books, but it turns out she’s great at both of those. April’s book recommendations were: The Challenger Sale: How To Take Control of the Customer Conversation by Matthew Dixon Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind by Al Reis and Jack Trout https://www.aprildunford.com/ https://twitter.com/aprildunford T.O.P.T.I.P from Luke Carthy Luke is an ecommerce specialist who gets results. He’s a speaker, podcaster and dad and an all round great guy. https://lukecarthy.com/ https://twitter.com/MrLukeCarthy https://www.linkedin.com/in/lukecarthy/ Andi Jarvis If you have any questions or want to talk about anything that was discussed in the show, the best place to get me is on Twitter or LinkedIn. If you don’t get the podcast emailed to you (and a monthly newsletter) you can sign up for it on the Eximo Marketing website. Make sure you subscribe to get the podcast every fortnight and if you enjoyed the show, please give it a 5* rating. Andi Jarvis, Eximo Marketing.

This week we talk to Zaid Al-Qassab, the Chief Marketing Officer of Channel 4. Zaid leads the marketing and digital teams, and 4creative, Channel 4’s award-winning in-house creative agency.  Channel 4 is a publicly-owned and commercially-funded UK public service broadcaster, with a statutory remit to deliver high-quality, innovative, alternative content that challenges the status quo. We talk brand management, building teams, education the P&G way, being authentic with diversity and inclusion and discuss the bight future that Channel 4 has - even in a world where streaming dominates the discussion. We’ve got a T.O.P.T.I.P from Laura Hogan aimed at account managers and people in client facing roles. As always, a big thanks to our sponsor, Moyee Coffee. I’m a big fan of the coffee and the work they’re doing to help farmers in Ethiopia and Kenya achieve a living income.  Show Notes Zaid Al-Qassab Zaid is also a Director and Council member of the Advertising Standards Authority, and a Board Trustee of WaterAid. He was previously the Chief Brand & Marketing Officer of BT plc, where he led the BT, EE, Plusnet & Openreach brands. Zaid was educated at Oxford University, where he read PPE (Philosophy, Politics & Economics), and has also completed the Financial Times Non-Executive Director Diploma. He spent 20 years at Procter & Gamble, in marketing & commercial roles, including as Managing Director of the Health & Beauty division for the UK & Ireland. Following that, he was Chief Marketing Officer of HouseTrip, a digital start-up which was bought by TripAdvisor in 2016. He is committed to diversity and inclusion. Zaid’s book recommendations were: Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About The World - And Why Things Are Better Than You Think by Hans Rosling The Perils of Perception: Why We’re Wrong About Nearly Everything by Bobby Duffy The Long and the Short of it: Balancing Short and Long-Term Marketing Strategies by Les Binet and Peter Field you can find the best charts from the research here: https://effworks.co.uk/ten-best-charts-binet-field/ The award winning C4 Complaints Welcome campaign is worth 90 seconds of your time. T.O.P.T.I.P from Laura Hogan Laura is a dog fanatic who runs Jelly Bean, an agency based in Birmingham delivering sweet results (geddid?!) Find Laura on Twitter or LinkedIn. Andi Jarvis I’m hosting another live podcast for agency owners and directors on Monday 7 September. Following on from the great discussion with Carrie Rose (Rise At Seven) and Tom Etherington (Evolved Search), I’ll be chatting to Stacey MacNaught (MacNaught Digital) and Paddy Moogan (Aira). We’re discussing how to grow an agency, what its like leading an organisation through a global pandemic and what the secret is to a great agency/client relationship. This live podcasts takes place from  12.00 - 1.00pm on Monday 7th September. It’s free but you do need to sign up for a ticket. Register for your ticket today. If you enjoyed the show, please give it a 5⭐️ rating!

The Con Is On… I catch up with Mike Winnet, THE self-appointed, uninspirational, backwards thinking “leader” currently dimfluencing thousands of, below average, people on LinkedIn and YouTube. With a bio like that, you know it’s going to be a great interview. Mike is known for his series of videos exposing Contrepreneurs- business people using dodgy, unethical tactics to fleece people. We’ve got a T.O.P.T.I.P about diversity and inclusion from Ineke Houtenbos of IH Training. I’ve been talking about equality and #BLM for a while now and Ineke provides training that could be useful to your organisation. You get a short segment from me this week about creating great content. Just avoid the hacks and get rich quick scams and you’ll do alright. As always, a big thanks to our sponsor, Moyee Coffee. I’m a big fan of the coffee and the work they’re doing to help farmers in Ethiopia and Kenya achieve a living income. Please check them out. Show Notes Mike Winnet “When it comes to business, Mike has forgotten more than your favourite guru will ever know…” said one, six star, review. Despite a busy schedule, Mike still finds time to shoot his counterintuitive business bollocks all over your LinkedIn newsfeed, each and every day. “The Contrepreneur Series” Can you get-rich-quick? Of course you can! You’ve seen the ads. A guru sat on a lime-green Lambo, screaming about their book, course, mentoring and bootcamp. Just follow their formula (sign up to the inevitable upsell) and you’ll be financially free! Well, Mike clicked the ads, went to the events and invested his money, so you don’t have to. Did he lose all his money or get rich quick? Find out the real results AND reveal what tricks they use to get YOUR hard earned cash on his YouTube channel. Mike’s book recommendations were: The Rules of Wealth:A personal code for prosperity and plenty: A personal code for prosperity and plenty by Richard Templar Modern Wisdom podcast T.O.P.T.I.P from Ineke Houtenbos Ineke has over 10 years experience in training both volunteers and staff and regularly provides Consultancy services around diversity and inclusion issues. She holds a certification from Perdue University in Diversity and Inclusion and has co-facilitared courses for commercial businesses. She has experience in sourcing, delivering and designing material on unconscious bias and strategically planning implementation of culture change Contact Ineke at inekehoutenbos@gmail.com. Andi Jarvis If you have any questions or want to talk about anything that was discussed in the show, the best place to get me is on Twitter or LinkedIn. If you don’t get the podcast emailed to you (and a monthly newsletter) you can sign up for it on the Eximo Marketing website. Make sure you subscribe to get the podcast every fortnight and if you enjoyed the show, please give it a 5* rating. Andi Jarvis, Eximo Marketing.

Episode 7 is all about the return of rugby! With both codes (league and union for the uneducated) returning in August, we invited Mick Hogan on to the show. Mick has been involved in Rugby League & Rugby Union for his entire 27-year career, in marketing, as CEO, Chair and consultant to major events. Mick talks about the differences between marketing domestic games and international events, the benefits of community marketing, the challenges ahead for the game and tells a great story about Russ Abbott (ask your granny about him). We’ve got a T.O.P.T.I.P from Helen Pollitt, MD of Arrows Up. Helen has a brilliant way of looking at reporting and you get a great insight into her thought process in just 90 seconds. Check it out. You also get 10 minutes from me, talking again about asking the right questions. This dives into the benefits of asking better questions, and builds on the discussion from Episode 6 (which you should check out - it’s great, honest!). As always, a big thanks to our sponsor, Moyee Coffee. I’m a big fan of the coffee and the work they’re doing to help farmers in Ethiopia and Kenya achieve a living income. Please check them out. Mick Hogan – MMG Sports Ltd Mick has worked for both English domestic rugby governing bodies (RFL & RFU) as well as CEO for top level rugby clubs Wigan Warriors, Sale Sharks and Newcastle Falcons. All three clubs experienced significant commercial growth across attendances, corporate hospitality sales, sponsorship, new events and community engagement. He worked as General Manager (City Operations) for England 2015, the organising body of the 2015 Rugby World Cup and led the process for the selection of host cities and venues. The tournament attracted 2.4m people who attended the 48 games held at 13 venues in 11 host cities. Mick was the Event Director for Newcastle 2019 leading the bid and then successful delivery of the European club rugby finals staged at St James Park, the home of Newcastle United. The Heineken Champions Cup Final was the fastest selling in the event’s 24-year history and the Challenge Cup Final broke UK attendance records. Mick has set up three charitable rugby foundations and served on the board of Premiership Rugby. Currently he is managing director of sports consultancy business MMG Sports Ltd. He is executive director at Newcastle Falcons, chairman at Newcastle Thunder RL Club, a member of the English Cricket Board’s Host Venue Panel and consults for the Rugby League World Cup 2021. You can connect with Mick on Twitter @MickHogan2 or on LinkedIn. No book recommendations from Mick this week. His advice - talk to people in your industry. T.O.P.T.I.P from Helen Pollitt Helen is MD of Arrows Up, an agency that empowers businesses and marketers through SEO training, consultancy and digital team growth management. Helen is a brilliant conference speaker, trainer and writer even if she has issues with my shoe / sock combos. Find Helen on Twitter @HelenPollitt1 or on LinkedIn. Andi Jarvis It’s still worth checking out the 7 Questions framework blog I wrote and read it while you’re listening to me talk about asking better questions. Make sure to give the show a 5 Star rating wherever you can, it really helps! Eximo Marketing.

Splitit is the new kid on the block in the Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) industry. It recently had an IPO, is listed on the Australian Exchange and is going through a period of incredible growth. The CEO, Brad Paterson, is the main guest on Episode 6 of the Strategy Sessions and talks about his journey from marketing to the top job. Before joining Splitit, Brad accumulated a wealth of knowledge over nearly two decades working with some of the world’s most successful payment companies, including Intuit, PayPal, and Visa. He also ran a successful sports blog, Round Eight and we discuss all of this and more in the show. We’ve got a T.O.P.T.I.P from Sam Taylor, Technical SEO Consultant with Evolved Search in Newcastle. Evolved have a stack of clients in the financial services sector and are a seriously impressive agency. You also get 10 minutes from me, talking about the 7 Questionsframework I use with clients. As always, a big thanks to our sponsor, Moyee Coffee. I’m a big fan of the coffee and the work they’re doing to help farmers in Ethiopia and Kenya achieve a living income. Please check them out. Brad Paterson – CEO, Splitit Brad is an Aussie living in Northern California, running BNPL provider Splitit. Prior to this role, he was Intuit’s VP of Marketing, leading the go-to-market team responsible for the US QuickBooks Online revenue and customer outcomes. His responsibilities included the strategy, sales, marketing, and general business operations for the QuickBooks Online portfolio. Before moving Stateside, Brad served as Intuit’s VP of Asia-Pacific and Global Operations, driving business growth in critical international markets. He also served as PayPal’s Head of Merchant Services, Asia-Pacific and Visa’s Director of Consumer and Emerging Products for Australia and New Zealand, among other roles at the two companies. You can connect with Brad on Twitter @OzDane where he talks work and Aussie sport or LinkedIn where it’s all work. His book recommendations are: Trillion Dollar Coach: The Leadership Handbook of Silicon Valley’s Bill Campbell by Eric Schmidt Originals: How Non-conformists Change the World by Adam Grant The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers by Ben Horowitz Also worth checking out Brad’s tweet about kangaroos roaming the streets of Australia. T.O.P.T.I.P from Sam Taylor Sam has worked in SEO for 8 years and is Technical SEO Consultant at Evolved Search, where she provides technical and onsite consultancy to a range of large ecommerce and finance clients, including household names such as Ocean Finance, thinkmoney, and River Island. She organises the Newcastle Search meet-ups and was shortlisted for Young Search Professional of the Year at the 2019 UK Search Awards. Find Sam on Twitter @_spamtaylor or LinkedIn. Andi Jarvis The blog I wrote about the 7 Questions framework is available at EximoMarketingStrategy.com/7questions. If you have any questions about the 7 Questions or anything that was discussed in the show, the best place to get me is on Twitteror LinkedIn.

Mailchimp isn’t just an email marketing platform. It’s the go-to business partner for millions and millions of small and medium businesses around the world. Episode 5 focuses on Mailchimp from a number of angles. We’re joined by Michael Mitchell, the Director of Global Brand Marketing from NYC. We talk about brand marketing in a performance marketing world, his career and training plus dive in depth to his views on Black Lives Matter. I’m certain that I could do 1000 podcasts and I won’t get another set of book recommendations quite like Michael’s - he’s a writer at heart and the books he’s suggested reflect that. There are links below to go and buy them… so do it! We’ve got a T.O.P.T.I.P from Simon Harper from SRH Design. Simon is the 1st Mailchimp partner and certified expert in Ireland and Northern Ireland. So he really knows his onions - and Mailchimp. I don’t talk about Mailchimp too much. Instead I talk about an email I recently sent out via Mailchimp (it’s not that much of a leap, honest!) - it’s about some of the biggest mistakes I’ve made in my career, how they’ve helped me and how they all have something in common… not asking enough questions. As always, a big thanks to our sponsor, Moyee Coffee. I’m a big fan of the coffee and the work they’re doing to help farmers in Ethiopia and Kenya achieve a living income. Please check them out. SHOW NOTES Michael Mitchell – Director of Global Brand Marketing at Mailchimp. From New York to Tokyo, Sydney to London, Bangkok to Auckland, Michael has helped brands like GE, Toyota, AT&T, Unilever, Heineken and Opera Australia use insights strategically — helping them stand out and tell their stories to the world. Previously, he led Brand & Experience Strategy at Publicis Sapient, POSSIBLE, and Interbrand. You can connect with Michael on Twitter @alwaysbeheardor LinkedIn and you can view his work at msmfolio.com His book recommendations are: Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates We Were Eight Years in Power by Ta-Nehisi Coates Brand Thinking and Other Noble Pursuits by Debbie Millman “Sonny’s Blues” is a short story featured in his collection Going to Meet the Man by James Baldwin White Teeth by Zadie Smith T.O.P.T.I.P from Simon Harper Simon is a Solopreneur, Freelance WordPress Ninja, Graphic Guru & owner of SRH Design, based in Bangor. He’s been designing & building websites since 1999 and freelancing since 2009, working with clients throughout the UK & Ireland. He helps businesses & individuals get online, market their product or service to a wide audience & grow their brand. Find Simon on Twitter @srhdesign or LinkedIn. Andi Jarvis If you don’t get the podcast emailed to you (and a monthly newsletter) you can sign up for it on the Eximo Marketing website. Best place to get me is on Twitter or LinkedIn. Make sure you subscribe to get the podcast every fortnight and if you enjoyed the show, please give it a 5* rating. Andi Jarvis, Eximo Marketing.

Luxury goods is an attractive sector. High end, non essential consumer products that are household names for most people, even though you may never own any of them. Ashley McDonnell has spent the last 6 years working in Paris at the crossroads of digital and retail within the fashion and beauty industries. She began her career with a luxury e-retailer, and then joined LVMH Group as a digital analyst, working with luxury houses such as Louis Vuitton and Fendi to drive digital transformation. If you don't know who LVMH are, you'll know their brands. The initials LVMH stands for "Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy" and holds brands like Moet, Krug, Dom Perignon, Kenzo, Marc Jacobs, Bulgari, TAG, Tiffany & Co... you get the picture.  Ashley also led digital strategy for Dior's Travel Retail division within LVMH, focusing on capturing the opportunity of Global Chinese Travellers. She's now at Google, managing full-funnel digital projects for the world’s leading luxury brands - helping brands achieve excellence through technology. We talk about sustainability, advertising, how marketing works in luxury and how you end up in Paris from Galway.  We've got two T.O.P.T.I.P.S in this episode, with Emma Burdett and Danielle Phillips sharing their knowledge. Emma talks about reviews on Google My Business and Danielle talks about internal comms as staff come back from COVID furlough.  I pick up the baton from Dan and keep talking COVID, but from a marketing perspective. My plea: focus. There's so much noise to DO MORE STUFF, but focus your marketing and magic will happen.  Big thanks as always to our sponsor, Moyee Coffee. I'm a big fan of the coffee and the work they're doing to help farmers in Ethiopia and Kenya achieve a living income.  Please check them out.  You can find Ash on LinkedIn and Instagram. Some of the people and projects that were mentioned on the show were: Georgi Dan making fashion from recycled inner tubes Northern Irish designer JW Anderson Loewe Spanish designer Ash’s book recommendations are: The Luxury Strategy: Break the Rules of Marketing to Build Luxury Brands by J N Kapferer and Vincent Bastien Alibaba: The House That Jack Ma Built by Duncan Clark T.O.P.T.I.P from Emma Burdett Emma is Web & Digital Marketing Manager for Visit Belfast in, well, Belfast. She’s talking about Google My Business, more here. Emma is on Twitter and LinkedIn and is always great fun to talk to. T.O.P.T.I.P from Danielle Phillips Danielle is the Founder at Inside Out Communications Consulting. Danielle is on LinkedIn you should look her up. Andi Jarvis Best place to get me is on Twitter or LinkedIn. Make sure you subscribe to get the podcast every fortnight and if you enjoyed the show, please give it a 5* rating.

This episode was supposed to celebrate some of the great stuff in the US marketing world. Then George Floyd was murdered. I nearly binned the whole episode but thought it would be more useful to use the platform to say something about his murder, and also discuss what it's like being black in the UK. Along with that discussion, we also feature Rand Fishkin and Greg Gifford. Rand Fishkin is the cofounder and CEO of SparkToro, a new tool for audience intelligence and market research. Rand talks about what it's like in the US during COVID, the launch of SparkToro and the marketing lessons he picked up along the way at Moz. He also talks about his future predictions for Google and what that might mean for the rest of us. He previously cofounded and led Moz, the SEO software company. You can find Rand on Twitter and please do check out his new venture SparkToro, a seriously impressive tool. Rand’s book recommendations are: Obviously Awesome: How to Nail Product Positioning so Customers Get It, Buy It, Love It by April Dunford No Hard Feelings: Emotions at Work and How They Help Us Succeed by Liz Fosslien and Mollie West Duffy Great By Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos and Luck - Why Some Thrive Despite Them All by Jim Collins And Rand’s own book, which I’m recommending not him! Lost and Founder A Painfully Honest Field Guide to the Startup World Greg Gifford is the Vice President of Search at SearchLab and has over 17 years of online marketing and web design experience. He's an in-demand (and hilarious) conference speaker who lives for an obscure movie quote. Watch his T.O.P.T.I.P if you want to know how you can use Google My Business to help your local rankings. Greg is on Twitter and LinkedIn and his Local Search Tuesdays is well worth checking out. Andi Jarvis Best place to get me is on Twitter or LinkedIn - I’d love to hear what you think of the show and if you’d like to discuss any of the issues raised today. Want to see examples of the different approach the media takes with the Royals. See Noel Clarke’s tweet about his movie and read my post about being black in Northern Ireland and my experience of being cropped out of a press photo. Not sounding white on your CV / resume - press report covering all the studies. “The Windrush scandal was not an accident” read more here. The stats for Black and Ethnic Minorities being fined more for COVID related violations. Make sure you subscribe to get the podcast every fortnight and if you enjoyed the show, please give it a 5* rating. Andi Jarvis, Eximo Marketing.

The Strategy Sessions… A marketing podcast. Episode 2 ‐ P&G Tips Marketing lessons from a career in consumer marketing. Featuring Dan Rubel and Facebook ads advice from Gil David Dan Rubel has worked at Procter and Gamble (which is where the rubbish P&G Tips episode name came from), Shop Direct (Very and Littlewoods) and is currently Customer Communications and Brand Director for Dixons Carphone, owner of Currys PC World and Carphone Warehouse. They’re the biggest electrical retailer in the UK (our equivalent of Best Buy) and Dan is responsible for all the brand communications. In this episode he talks about what really matters to customers, how to make great advertising, the importance of recruiting the right people and the things he learned in his years at P&G - still the gold standard for a graduate marketing role. Andi follows Dan by talking to agency owners about what they need to do as they bounce back from the impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19) and we round up with Gil David (Run DMG) sharing a T.O.P.T.I.P for making your Facebook ads deliver improved returns. Show Notes You can find Dan on Twitter and LinkedIn. Dan mentions the following books and campaigns: Jim Collins – Good to Great Jim Collins – Built to Last Campaigns Mentioned by Dan Mylene Klass for Pantene Currys PC World’s new lockdown ad Walmart’s drive through campaign Hun’s campaign for wine in a can and Hun’s Instagram is worth looking at T.O.P.T.I.P from Gil David GIl runs Run DMG, a Facebook Ads agency / consultancy based in Belfast and working with clients around the world. Gil is on Twitter and LinkedIn or you can find him at the Run DMG Andi Jarvis Best place to get me is on Twitter or LinkedIn - I’d love to hear what you think of the show. Make sure you subscribe to get the podcast every fortnight and if you enjoyed the show, please give it a 5* rating. Andi Jarvis, Eximo Marketing.

The Strategy Sessions… A marketing podcast. Episode 1 ‐ How to make your marketing SasS-y Andi Jarvis - Best place to get me is on Twitter or LinkedIn - I'd love to hear what you think of the show. This Week's Guest - Jen Hoffman Jen Hoffman can be found on Twitter @_JHoff You can find her writing on Medium and you should definitely check out the Scarlet Letter post and her thoughts on Leadership & Team Building Want to dig into the books Jen recommends? Here they are: Pour Your Heart Into It by Howard Schultz Setting the Table by Danny Meyer What You Do is Who You Are by Ben Horowitz   Nevertheless She Persisted by Pratima Rao Gluckman   Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg Jen and I talked about someone who did a presentation at a conference talking about treating reports as marketing material. With a million apologies to Helen Pollitt, it was her! Her 10 minute presentation at Learn Inbound, Dublin, in August 2019 is worth a watch. Further Reading I've written more details about how to use ARM to select a social channel for your organisation which you can find on the Eximo Marketing blog. And there are full details of the Strategy Sprint product that I talk about towards on the end of the show on this page on the site. This Week's T.O.P.T.I.P - Arpun Bhuhi You can find Arpun on Twitter @ArpunBhuhi and the Distilled site is a goldmine of useful SEO information. Dive in. Hope to see you back here in a fortnight. Andi - Eximo Marketing