Strategy Sessions

Leitcia is the entrepreneur behind Paz.Ai, a start-up that is unlocking refugee tech talent across Europe.

We recorded this episode just before Christmas and it brought joy to my heart. I knew it had to launch as the first episode of 2021 as it’s a story of hope, vision, determination and, yes, marketing.

In this episode we discuss:

· What it really means to be an entrepreneur – and it’s not what you think

· Conducting real market research and understanding your target market

· Asking the right questions

· Giving people hope

· Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and how it was essential in framing Paz’s approach to the refugee crisis

· Design thinking

· Running a kickstarter fundraising programme and the challenges of that

· Understanding your ‘why’ and how to use it properly

· Regaining hope and building a circular project

Leti is a social entrepreneur determined to build a bridge between the high tech industry and refugee professionals.

She is an advocate of technology for good and believes in enhancing the diversity of the tech workforce.

She is co-founder and CEO of PAZ a social impact startup whose mission is to unlock the refugee tech talent in Europe by upskilling them in tech and connecting them with work opportunities.

PAZ brings together professionals, companies, and organizations to unfold the potential and untapped talent of refugees in order to create Europe’s most diverse and ethical tech workforce.

In her spare time, she likes to get involved in projects around education, social impact, and tech, where she supports leadership teams around innovation and team culture. She is currently collaborating with Amplio Ventures on the Refugee Starforce book project. She has also collaborated with General Assembly, Samsung, The International Committee of the Red Cross, and Unicef.

Find Leti here:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leticiagaldon/

Email: [email protected]

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.

Katie Jackson is the Managing Director of TBWA\London. She’s also been described as Mary Poppins on steroids and is great fun to interview.

On publishing day, I realised I hadn’t given this episode a great / cheesy name, so it became The Episode With No Name – creative, right?

In TEWNN, we talk about

· Being Mary Poppins on steroids

· Disruption and TBWA’s approach to it

· Why ‘brand’ isn’t a fluffy term

· T shaped v I shaped marketers

· How the government has communicated it’s COVID messaging

· Why creative is essential

· Media and messaging being best mates

· Formal education v learning on the job

· Hun wines

· The power of oops (or when things go wrong)

· The power of being yourself

· A T.O.P.T.I.P for everyone

Katie was brilliant to interview and shares some fantastic insights into marketing, campaigns and brands which will resonate with everyone.

Hun Wines launch campaign

https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/were-ok-hun-wine-brand-shifts-festivals-outdoor-ads-during-lockdown/1682051

All the different COVID comms from the government 

https://www.thedrum.com/news/2020/09/14/how-the-uk-government-s-coronavirus-messaging-has-developed-over-the-summer

Sound the excuse 

https://www.tbwalondon.com/work-soundtheexcuse

Why Did the Policeman Cross the Road?: How to solve problems before they arise by Stevyn Colgan https://amzn.to/38A08RF

Eleven Rings by Phil Jackson https://amzn.to/3eZPN2H

Benedict Evans’ newsletter https://www.ben-evans.com/newsletter

Find Katie here:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/K_Jackson_01

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katiejackson2/

And Finally

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.

The Strategy Sessions… A marketing podcast. 

Episode 12 ‐ Black Friday A Discussion With Luke Carthy

You know the drill. 

It’s November, the pumpkins are in the compost heap and if you’ve got kids, you’ve started to wheel out the threat of “Santa’s watching” to improve behaviour. 

Yes, Christmas is coming. 

Which means, from a business perspective, it’s almost BLACK FRIDAY. 

That means we get all steamed up about a concept we imported from the States (I’ll get over it soon) and focus on selling piles of products to our customers. If you want to know how to win in ecommerce, have a listen to the discussion with Luke Carthy. 

Highlights of the discussions include: 

Links We Discuss 

Eugene Wei’s Invisible Asymptotes 

Discontinued products blog 

Blue Array’s Mastering in-house SEO book 

Luke X

When Luke comes together to work with Eximo Marketing, we go under the brand of Luke X. We both still run our own companies, we just buddy up for some clients who need both our skills. Why us? You get Luke’s impeccable ecommerce skills and Andi’s strategic marketing approach. 

We know the companies that win online are those who have their whole game working. Just having a great product isn’t enough. Just investing in performance marketing won’t work in the long term. We can help you navigate the complex world of ecommerce and find the right course for sustainable growth.  Get in touch.

Luke Carthy 

Luke is a well-seasoned eCommerce consultant and international speaker delivering double/triple-digit growth for eCommerce brands. Luke parks himself right in the centre of conversion, growth and SEO disciplines. Having worked with brands spanning both D2C and B2B verticals including CAT, Renault and Mayflex, Luke knows a thing or two when it comes to getting C-suite buy-in and delivering smart, scalable eCommerce growth. 

Find Luke here… 

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

Influencer Season continues the run of terrible names for podcasts with amazing guests.

This week, Sedge Beswick, joins Andi to discuss influencer marketing. Sedge is Founder and MD of SEEN Connects an Influencer Marketing agency that works with clients like Nike, eBay and Panasonic.

We discuss:

Show Notes

Sedge Beswick

Just some of the brands on Connects’ client list are Nike, Bumble, Panasonic and eBay. Connects’ influencer relationships include household names, such as musician Lewis Capaldi and television presenter Laura Whitmore.

Sedge’s expertise is regularly called upon by global news networks, such as BBC News and Sky News, as well as print publications like the Financial Times.

As a habitual contributor to The Drum magazine, Sedge offers invaluable insight into the influencer industry. She is a visiting university lecturer and an accomplished public speaker, having hosted workshops for No.10 Downing Street and Google.

Passionate about education, Sedge also set up a mentor programme to support young people going into the marketing industry, and is now responsible for having placed over 50 young people into jobs in the UK.

Sedge’s two books are:

140 Ultimate Twitter Lols

Seen Connects website

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.

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.

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. 

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

Find Laura on Twitter or LinkedIn.

Andi Jarvis

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.

Mike Winnet

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”

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:

Modern Wisdom podcast

T.O.P.T.I.P from Ineke Houtenbos

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 [email protected].

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.

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

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

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 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

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

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:

Also worth checking out Brad’s tweet about kangaroos roaming the streets of Australia.

T.O.P.T.I.P from Sam Taylor

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

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

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

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.