Meet Alison Meadows, a specialist in Brand Development, business growth and engaging sales & marketing that makes a business flourish:
1. Who are you?
I am Alison Meadows. I have over 25 years' marketing and management experience . I have been running my own marketing and branding consultancy for the last 3 years, and prior to that I managed a creative agency, following the MBO which I led, working with a variety of b2b, consumer and not for profit clients.
2. What do you specialise in?
I focus on brand development and helping companies create, refine and refocus their brand propositions which, after all, is at the heart of the success of any company. If you’re clear about who you are and what you represent, then sales and marketing plans fall in to line pretty quickly.
3. Tell us about a "typical day" in the office
There’s no such thing! Every client is different: some require heavy lifting branding work, and others require getting stuck in with the day to day business of developing and executing marketing plans. Many days involve getting out to meet the clients’ customers which I always love because you really get close to how well the company is performing with its marketing.
4. What do you like most about your job?
I really love the variety of businesses we get to work with. Essentially I love business and helping businesses to grow through successful branding and marketing. So it’s great to get to know businesses really well and see them flourish.
5. What approach do you take to help your clients?
Collaboration. It can’t be stressed highly enough. Achieving real team work is the only way to operate.
6. Are there any common marketing pitfalls that you see?
Yes, I think the most common is not learning from either your own mistakes or not looking outside widely enough to see where others have been successful or could have done things differently. The other pitfall is not doing enough research with customers or potential customers. A gut-feeling should never be ruled out because some of that comes with experience but you do need to understand what customers are thinking and feeling (and not just the once, on a regular basis).
7. What exciting shifts in marketing did you witness in 2015?
Content Marketing became less new wave and more mainstream. However, many companies know they need to get better and even employing content marketing managers, but not many are grasping how rich and distinctive content needs to be in line with the channel, platform or audience. Still some way to go there but it’s great that content marketing is better understood and more brands are embracing it.
8. What excites you most about 2016?
Seeing social media apps such as WhatsApp and SnapChat being embraced by brands and being used authentically to engage with consumers. In other words, it's easier and easier to engage with your customers in ways that suit them as long as you don’t preach, or hard-sell and that takes us back to content marketing. If you’re smart and use the many channels available to have conversations with your customers that will naturally lead to success for your business.
9. Are there any brands or organisations that you think are marketing particularly well?
I think the food sector is very exciting at the moment. Many organisations are successfully tapping into consumer’s concern about health, wellbeing and in particular the ‘sugar debate’ and responding to customer needs. Many are using social media to great affect and building their brands from the street up with minimal marketing investment. Great examples are Deliciously Ella, but Lakeland and Itsu stand out for me. And of course John Lewis and Waitrose continue to excel with their marketing as they consistently demonstrate a close understanding of their customers needs and wants.
10. Are there any websites, books, or training sessions you'd recommend that have been helpful to you and why?
I’m a member of The Marketing Society and I can thoroughly recommend their events and training courses. As a professional marketer I wouldn’t be without them.
Feel free to get in touch with Alison about Brand Development or any other topic. Or discover the full team of marketing experts on Our Team Page.
