When I grow up, I want to be…

Source: Daily Mail

Don’t worry I’m not going to add a Pussycat Dolls video.

What career did you want to have when you grew up? Have you realised your dreams? My first memory of a chosen job was that I wanted to be a hairdresser. I loved the idea of making people feel better about themselves and its also a very sociable job. If you’ve not gathered by now, I love to chat! But it was during a trip to Granada Studios (remember when they used to be based just off Deansgate?) where my eyes where opened to the wonderful world of media. I don’t know why but out of the group of children and parents I was picked to ‘read the news’. It was an amazing experience and definitely lit the fire for a career in communications. The other thing I liked about the media was their desire to be the first to do stuff we shouldn’t be shocked by, but it was a big moment when the first black kiss occurred in 1968 or seeing a gay couple on TV. It’s saddening to hear that the creative/arts industry has taken such a knock due to coronavirus.

RSC Artists speak up. #BlackLivesMatter

But what is marketing communications really all about?

“Marketing communications includes advertising, promotions, sales, branding and online promotion.[3] The process allows the public to know or understand a brand. Successful branding involves targeting audiences who appreciate the organisation's marketing program.”

(Wikipedia)

To me quite simply it’s all about being where your customer is, with the technology we now have at our fingertips this can be done in many different ways. There’s no denying that digital has overtaken many other media formats and you can see the attraction due to its accountability which is difficult to achieve from more traditional media. But a multi-media approach is still important that’s why I pride myself on being media neutral. The right plan for a client is dictated by many factors budget/objectives the list is endless.

I’ve said many times that media consumption is so much more fragmented now than it was in the halcyon days (for media planners) of the 80s I talk about it in more detail here. The plethora of outlets available now not to mention ad avoidance on subscription channels such as Netflix has made a marketeers job much trickier. But when it’s done well, it can be amazing.

I’m really enjoying Just Eat’s campaign at the moment with Snoop Dogg; an excellent execution which works well across different media. I’d love to know how much it cost to get Snoop to be involved (I may need to Google that later).

Paradoxically, I was saddened to hear the news that Bauer has made the decision to close down nearly 50 of their local radio stations and rebrand them to Greatest Hits Radio. I still feel there is a place for truly local radio in our ever changing media climate. Capital Manchester’s drive time show is testament to that with a significant increase in listeners according to the latest RAJAR. During the coronavirus outbreak I think radio has more than proven its worth. Keeping our spirits up during a particularly difficult time and providing an instant source of information.

With all that has happened in the world of late we’ve had an opportunity to self-reflect. There are many negatives and I think its going to be sometime before we get back to ‘normal’ both economically and emotionally. But I feel this is a great opportunity for us to reset, change our priorities and follow our dreams. I am genuinely passionate about what I do and helping businesses realise their true potential. We’re not out the woods yet but drop me an email if you want to chat I’d love to hear from you kiesha@iconmarketingcommunications.co.uk

Mum’s the Word for Business Success

It may only be in its first trimester, but 2019 is already a boom year for ex-radio presenter and mum-of-two, Kiesha Humphreys who is celebrating her fourth year at the helm of Icon Marketing Communications Ltd. In that time, Icon, a specialist marketing consultancy based in Wilmslow, has been responsible for a number of SME business success stories across Cheshire and Manchester.

Kiesha Humphreys

Photo credit: Senem Peace Photography

Kiesha explains; “I set up the business after the birth of my first son, and Icon is an anagram of his name, Nico. I’d been working at a senior level at a large advertising agency in Manchester, and while I was on maternity leave it struck me that there is a gap in the market for a reasonably priced and flexible marketing resource, in the area.”

Kiesha has first-hand experience of smaller businesses approaching large agencies and being put off by the cost. She says, “Bigger organisations can be a bit intimidating to smaller businesses – especially when they only need a one-off marketing facility or a bespoke marketing service.”

While larger organisations often don’t see the immediate potential in helping businesses when they’re starting out or are at the ‘expansion phase’, Kiesha seizes the opportunity to put her big agency knowledge and international marketing expertise to the test.

“For the past 15 years I’ve worked in the UK and South East Asia. In this time, I’ve seen the communications climate change dramatically – and it still is changing, year on year”.

In tandem with her ‘day’ job as a Business Development Manager for upmarket restaurant chain, Gusto, Kiesha honed her communications skills as a regular Radio Presenter for Cheshire’s Silk 106.9, BBC Radio Manchester and Capital (formerly Galaxy 102). It meant she had her finger on the pulse of all kinds of media. “I’m a natural-born communicator,” she says, “I was increasingly drawn to digital channels and I could see that the major draw of digital is its level of accountability and significant ROI”.

Photo credit: Jonathan Farber

As well as running Icon, Kiesha has spent the last year completing her Google Ads certifications and working on SEO projects with a number of clients.

Kiesha continues; “There is still a need for an integrated marketing communications strategy to support and strengthen the digital aspect, including PR, events and traditional print and radio advertising”.

Kiesha says; “While we’re based in Wilmslow, we often work from The Workspace in Handforth, a beautiful co-worker environment that has flexible terms – it’s great for businesses who want to collaborate. We work with businesses of all sizes to provide one-off support or ongoing marketing management (across the mix) in and around Manchester and Cheshire. We create tailor made packages in line with our clients’ budgets or we can offer bespoke solutions to suit their needs.”

The Workspace Handforth Meeting Room

Photo credit: Compton Harry Photography

It’s not every day a company can benefit from marketing experience of the kind Icon can deliver, without the international agency price tag. With so many success stories under her belt – and plenty more waiting to happen, Kiesha is more than happy to spread the good news.

For more information visit www.iconmarketingcommunications.co.uk .

To celebrate its fourth year. Icon Marketing Communications Ltd is offering all readers a 1 hour complimentary marketing consultation. For more details, please contact Kiesha on kiesha@iconmarketingcommunications.co.uk or call 07979940526.

The Workspace can be contacted on 01625 522209 or via email info@theworkspace.uk

For more information visit www.theworkspace.uk.

Perception is deception…

What’s in a name?

“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet “said Shakespeare in Romeo and Juliet. But what really is in a name? Well in Wilmslow the difference between an apartment and a flat could start at £100k.

That’s the thing as I was once told “perception is deception” it was on the first proper date with my now husband. This always sounded peculiar to me but as I’ve got older this saying really has gained huge significance.

You can gain a lot of wisdom from speaking to people young, old, black, white any creed or religion, footballers, hairdressers etc. everyone has a piece of wisdom which is useful. That was why I loved working at Gusto in Alderley Edge and Knutsford.

Meeting and mixing with people from lots of different backgrounds gave me a significant insight into life. This was a time pre-recession (and before the smoking ban) where people were much happier and relaxed. I’m yet to find any significant data on the effects of e-cigarettes but anecdotally I was told that doctors are saying they’re 95% less damaging to your health than a cigarette.

When you walk the streets many people do smoke them but I suspect there is some reluctance to smoking them until the full facts are presented. We don’t want to be told that things are safe and further down the line find out that they’re not, we’ve been there before.

The government’s policy of raising taxes on cigarettes has worked as people have started to look for cheaper alternatives.  So back to Gusto;

When I worked as a Business Development Manager for Living Ventures I once turned George Osbourne away for a table. There was a massive queue of people waiting and there was physically no tables free anywhere. The way he approached me suggested that he was in a rush so I thought there was no point lying as he’d get more agitated than he already was.  It was just before the General Election and I’ll never forget a customer approached me afterwards and asked me;

“Do you know who that is? It’s the future Chancellor of the Exchequer!”

I knew exactly who he was, that was my job to be well informed but that didn’t mean I could magic up a table. That’s the thing even though I was only on the face of it a host there was a lot of work going on behind the scenes to make things happen as Tim Bacon (former Living Ventures Managing Director) always used to say it’s the ‘swan theory’.  Tim was great at making celebrities feel special and he built his empire up from exactly that. I’ll never forget the time that the 50% sale was on and Wayne Rooney came in for a meal. He used a 50% voucher and people didn’t stop talking about it there was even an article in a national paper (we got sent some fan-mail from his biggest fan!) But why should he pay more when everyone else is paying half price?

Many restaurants have cottoned on to the same idea and in January everyone expects to eat half price. It used to be busier than Christmas which is insane when you think about it.

Nowadays, lots of restaurants allow dogs in but at this time Tim always said “no dogs allowed”. Funny really one day Roberto Mancini former Man City manager came in with his whole family including his family dog. I spoke to them and apologised that they wouldn’t be able to have a table but they refused to leave the dog outside and so I set up a giant table outside for them and put the outside heaters on. It was a cold evening in fact I think it was winter if I remember rightly.

 The whole family ate happily outside including the dog, who I did some lamb chops for. Hilarious really when you think about it. As Orange once said in their marketing campaign “It’s good to talk”. “A problem shared is a problem halved”.  I could rattle out hundreds of other clichés but they are true. It was nice to make people feel they could talk sometimes that's all we need to feel better.

When did we stop being so caring? The pressure we put ourselves under now to succeed is unbearable. You want to do better than the generation previous but there is a whole generation of young people that this country has failed. It’s time we got back to basics. Walking our children to school rather than rushing around in expensive cars congesting the roads. Tim always used to say if you’re running late pull over make a phone call and carry on your journey. That’s the thing there’s nothing wrong with being late sometimes, safety should always come first.

I read in the Guardian on Friday that “The NHS prescribed a record number of antidepressants last year, fuelling an upward trend that has seen the number of pills given to patients more than double over the past decade” (Guardian, Friday 30 June 2017). The headline was “Antidepressant prescriptions on NHS at a record high” the whole country is stressed out and looking for someone to blame. Minimum wage staff having to deal with an irate customer who forgot to bring a carrier bag. I was told by a member of staff at a national supermarket that a woman left her entire weekly shop because she was so annoyed she had to pay for her carrier bags. It feels as though the whole country is angry and agitated but who do you blame?

This is when pack mentality kicks in and you pick someone different to yourself of course. It’s no good blaming one of your own kind that would be far too difficult. By blaming someone else we have failed to embrace our multi-culturalism in this country. People always thought I was the host “the hostess with the most-ess" but what they called me didn’t matter so long as I got the job done.

If you want to talk about your Business Development opportunities feel free to get in touch 01625 533102.

Media Neutrality and Ad Avoidance – ‘A local shop for local people’

I started working in advertising in the early noughties. Back then the world of media was a very different landscape. There were a plethora of local papers covering every inch of the UK the same could be said for radio and TV did not have the technology to pause and invariably fast forward through adverts not to mention the advent of subscription services such as Netflix which are totally ad free. Back in those halcyon days reaching the right audience for your client was like shooting fish in a barrel. Of course our recommendations were always supported by research but we almost always instinctively knew which media would achieve the best results for our client’s.

The effects of the recession have had irreparable damage on the world of media. The ad to content ratio in most media is so far out of kilter that consumers are switching off their local radio station and where there is still one prevalent barely reading their ‘local’ newspaper. Where I live we used to receive a free weekly local newspaper which reported on local news. This reminds me of the League of Gentlemen

We still receive a ‘local’ newspaper but unfortunately this only carries a handful of truly local news stories the rest is from further a-field. I don’t envy the job of local newspaper journalists now. Less than 20 years ago we had an office in our town for our local newspaper journalists lived in the area and were passionate about reporting local news. So where do you turn to find out what is really happening in your local area?

For me personally it’s the internet, there are several local online outlets within my local area. But in the main these new media offerings are not run by professional journalists but anyone who has bought a URL specific to the area in question. I’ve had many a heated conversation with the ‘editors’ of these publications who will not accept a press release because they ‘don’t work for free’. Whilst I have sympathy for these local entrepreneur’s news should be treated as just that. Not news for the highest bidder. These local websites and to a certain extent magazines are not regulated in the same way that traditional media is so anyone can create their own outlet. I sometimes question the motivation of such publications do they really want to deliver the best news for our area?

The problem with our now fragmented media is the lack of sense of community. With our inability to unite people through media comes the lack of ability to support the local community. A new business opening, charitable cause or local event is increasingly difficult to promote. Advertisers and PR consultants need to work extra hard to reach their audience and in many cases are operating on smaller budgets. Is it any wonder so many local businesses struggle to thrive? Once again I look to Singapore they still have one main English language paper the Straits Times/Sunday Times with a daily average circulation of 393,000 you can ensure that your advert is reaching 8% of the population. This is all the more impressive when you take into account that “English is the native language of 32% of Singaporeans…” (Source). 

I was delighted when Jazz FM returned to the airwaves last year the ad to content ratio is spot on and I’ve found the adverts to be informative like the recent campaign by the FSA something I’m genuinely interested in. That’s the beauty of well-planned media selections. If you take the time to investigate the correct media outlet for your audience, you can still achieve sensational results.

At Icon Marketing Communications we offer media neutral, tailored solutions to help our client’s realise their objectives. Yes, the task is much harder but not impossible. Recommendations are developed based on clients’ goals, research and of cause budgets. Although the media landscape can at times seem bleak there are still many ways to reach out to your target audience. If you would like to talk about realising your objectives feel free to get in touch. kiesha@iconmarketingcommunications.co.uk or 01625 533102.