KPC’s guided approach to marketing differently - delivering focus and a clear plan of action.
I’d highly recommend the in-depth marketing day – it’s based in the reality of your business and focuses your mind on how to reach the customers you really want.
Phil Cody, Managing Director, Phoenix Footwear
Phil Cody is the Managing Director of Phoenix Footwear, a men’s footwear design and manufacturer that supplies some of the biggest retailers on the UK high street. Chances are that you’ve seen the company’s footwear in window displays and even bought their footwear yourself.
It’s very hard. Taking on a new supplier is a risky proposition for any retailer, and particularly for the big brands. Today’s buyers need to make sure that they are 100% confident about any new supplier, and will usually need to take a thorough proposal to a buying manager or director to get the new supplier signed off. Cost is a huge factor, there are lots of competitors in the market, and retailers are increasingly – and rightly – demanding evidence of ethical production, both in terms of workers and the environment.
So, for a growing company that wants to expand operations into new retailers, a lot of time and investment is required into awareness, information, pitching and staying a step ahead of the competition.
For Phoenix, this is tricky – the company has a small number of employees and works on necessarily tight margins, so Phil knew that in order to move to the next stage he would need some expert support.
So, on the basis of feedback from other businesses who had been to our marketing focus day, Phil booked with us.
Phil’s expectations for the day were based on the experience of others and also hearing our own MD, Deborah Kingsley, talk about the importance of understanding your audience before you spend any money on tactical marketing.
"I was ready to assess the business and our customers and brainstorm how we might present ourselves in a better way to gain more business," says Phil. "What I got was a really sharp focus on the real decision makers in our market. It was revealing to talk about who we really needed to impress – not just the buyer, but all the people the buyer works with and particularly the people who sign off the buyer’s recommendations. We hadn’t spent enough time thinking beyond the buyer, and it became clear that we really needed to."
"We also did a lot of work on what your customer says they need – which should be relatively easy to meet – and what they don’t say, but still expect. It was really interesting to have to think about that – the knowledge is there, we have just never thought about using it for marketing before."
Once the day is finished, we compile a full report that gives details on all the discussions, puts all the outcomes from the day into a structured fashion and gives clear recommendations for the next steps in the short, medium and long term.
"It’s a good report – very valuable and well-structured, reflecting the topics we discussed in the workshop and with a really methodical approach to what can happen next," adds Phil. "Our business is currently dealing with the fall-out from the Covid-19 pandemic and that is taking all our time and energy at the moment, but it’s fantastic to know that, when we are ready, we have a clear plan of action that we can start to work on."
I really enjoyed the day – it was great to work with such positive and passionate people and I learned a lot about how we could do things better to help us grow in the future. I would strongly recommend the day to any business that feels its marketing has gone a bit wayward – or doesn’t exist at all – it’s absolutely based in the reality of your business and it certainly focuses the mind.
Phil Cody, Managing Director, Phoenix Footwear
Looking for focus in your own marketing? If you feel like you are investing in your marketing but achieving no real results or are lacking focus, why not find out more about our workshop? Our workshop helps businesses get the clarity they need to achieve overall business success.
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