Unicorny

In part two of Rachel Fairley's discussion with Duncan Daines, Head of Engagement at Gama Aviation, she explores the intricacies of growing market share and connecting marketing to business outcomes. Duncan shares his unique approach to achieving commercial success through strategic thinking and adaptable marketing strategies. 

• The importance of blending organic growth and M&A strategies. 
• How to stay agile and avoid complacency in long-term contracts. 
• The evolving role of marketing and its connection to commercial outcomes. 
• Leveraging diverse teams and expertise to achieve business goals. 

Join us to learn how to align marketing efforts with overarching business objectives for sustained growth.

Duncan Daines is a proven, competent professional with 27 years of experience working with Chief Executives and Business Leaders in various roles to deliver change initiatives and growth in key segments. 

Key achievements to date within Duncan's current role include: 

• Working with the CEO & COO to develop and deliver a post-COVID-19 growth strategy, leading to a 33% ($55.1M) increase in GP for FY22. 
• Leading an organisational change programme supporting the focus strategy, resulting in three SBUs. 
• Leading and winning a £65M 7-year contract in a key growth sector for Gama Aviation's Special Mission SBU. 
• Leading the company’s approach to GHG reduction, including devising Project Element Six, the pathway to net Zero. 

To achieve this, and by his nature, Duncan likes to form teams, binding complementary skills around him to deliver complex programmes. His leadership style has been described as ‘quietly driven,’ reflecting a tendency to actively listen, ask pertinent questions to cross-check his understanding, and then formulate a view with his team on a particular problem or challenge. Working with Executive teams, Duncan recognizes the need for managing upwards and continual communication during change programmes. 

Full show notes: Unicorny.co.uk  

LinkedIn: Duncan Daines | Rachel Fairley  

Website: Gama Aviation 

Sponsor: Selbey Anderson  

In this episode, Duncan Daines, Group Head of Engagement at Gama Aviation, shares his perspectives on aligning marketing strategies with commercial outcomes, the evolving role of agencies, and the importance of segmentation.

From his unique career spanning product design to high-stakes mergers and acquisitions, Duncan and guest host, Rachel Fairley, discuss what marketers need to drive true business growth. 

• The shifting roles of agencies and their impact on businesses;
• The importance of curiosity and new perspectives in marketing; 
• Effective strategies for segmentation and targeting;
• Lessons learned from high-stakes marketing decisions. 

Duncan Daines is a proven, competent professional with 27 years of experience working with Chief Executives and Business Leaders in various roles to deliver change initiatives and growth in key segments. 

Key achievements to date within Duncan's current role include: 

• Working with the CEO & COO to develop and deliver a post-COVID-19 growth strategy, leading to a 33% ($55.1M) increase in GP for FY22. 
• Leading an organisational change programme supporting the focus strategy, resulting in three SBUs. 
• Leading and winning a £65M 7-year contract in a key growth sector for Gama Aviation's Special Mission SBU. 
• Leading the company’s approach to GHG reduction, including devising Project Element Six, the pathway to net Zero. 

To achieve this, and by his nature, Duncan likes to form teams, binding complementary skills around him to deliver complex programmes. His leadership style has been described as ‘quietly driven,’ reflecting a tendency to actively listen, ask pertinent questions to cross-check his understanding, and then formulate a view with his team on a particular problem or challenge. Working with Executive teams, Duncan recognizes the need for managing upwards and continual communication during change programmes. 

Full show notes: Unicorny.co.uk  

LinkedIn: Duncan Daines | Rachel Fairley  

Website: Gama Aviation 

Sponsor: Selbey Anderson  

In this episode of Unicorny, guest host Rachel Fairley and brand strategist Sarah Robb tackle the challenges of imposter syndrome in marketing and the confusion caused by jargon. They discuss practical ways to simplify language, improve cross-departmental communication, and build confidence among marketers. What’s the connection between jargon and imposter syndrome, and how can marketers regain control of their brand strategy?

• Understand the link between jargon and imposter syndrome
• Strategies for challenging and simplifying jargon
• Core questions for brand clarity
• Importance of clear cross-departmental communication
• Effective approaches to brand refresh and rebranding

Discover how simplifying your brand strategy can boost confidence and effectiveness by listening now.

Sarah is a brand strategist with a decade in the world's best branding agencies and another working independently with CEOs and CMOs to help reinvigorate their brands.

She's worked on over 70 brand strategy projects across the A to Z of industries - from accountancy firms to zoos.

She's also the creator of Brand Strategy Academy, an online course that equips people with everything they need to do brand strategy with clarity and confidence.

Full show notes: Unicorny.co.uk 

LinkedIn: Sarah Robb | Rachel Fairley

Websites: Sarah Robb

Sponsor: Selbey Anderson

In this episode of Unicorny, Rachel Fairley kicks Dom out of the studio to meet brand expert, Sarah Robb. Together, they discuss the essential elements of creating a brand that genuinely reflects its purpose.

Discover how aligning your brand’s purpose with business activities enhances authenticity and learn about the crucial role leadership plays in this process.

Are you struggling with marketing jargon and agency challenges? Sarah offers practical solutions to simplify your brand’s message and maintain clarity.

• Align brand purpose with business activities
• Leadership’s role in fostering brand values
• Simplifying marketing language
• Engaging employees with brand values
• Ensuring differentiation is relevant to customers
• Crafting effective mission statements

Curious about how to make your brand stand out while staying true to its core values? Listen to this episode to find out.

Sarah is a brand strategist with a decade in the world's best branding agencies and another working independently with CEOs and CMOs to help reinvigorate their brands.

She's worked on over 70 brand strategy projects across the A to Z of industries - from accountancy firms to zoos.

She's also the creator of Brand Strategy Academy, an online course that equips people with everything they need to do brand strategy with clarity and confidence.

Full show notes: Unicorny.co.uk 

LinkedIn: Sarah Robb | Rachel Fairley

Websites: Sarah Robb

Sponsor: Selbey Anderson

In this episode of Unicorny, Dom Hawes and marketing strategist Paul Worthington continue their examination of marketing's modern challenges. They tackle how to turn the overwhelming flood of data into a strategic advantage and discuss what it really takes to make an impact in the C-suite. Are you leveraging your data to its full potential? Let’s find out how you can sharpen your approach. 

• Critique of dashboard metrics and the biases they introduce 
• The importance of hypothesis-driven strategies over purely data-driven tactics 
• Mastering the language of business and finance to elevate your role in the C-suite 
• Re-evaluating the integration of marketing and sales to enhance strategic focus 

Curious about transforming these challenges into opportunities for growth? Listen to this episode for actionable strategies that could redefine your approach to marketing leadership. 

Paul Worthington is an entrepreneurial, creative, and strategic brand leader, coach, and senior adviser to executive leadership teams, with a deep competence in building brands for the digital era. 

He has led combined strategy, design, and experience teams through major brand and innovation engagements, from initial pitches to transformed customer experiences across four continents, has lived on two, and tackled high-impact projects along the way. His accomplishments include helping what was then the world's largest corporation rationalize hundreds of brands into one, codifying the ideals of one of sport's most-watched tournaments, aiding an iconic technology company through two consecutive business transformations, and reinventing the retail banking experience for a digital world. 

Paul's work has received awards from the AIGA, D&AD, and Cannes Lions. He has worked with notable clients at consequential brands including Microsoft, IBM, Citibank, GE, Activision, Belkin, PwC, HP, and O'Reilly. 

At Invencion, Paul focuses on helping leaders discover what is special about their organizations so that together they can design strategies that are unique to them and uniquely meaningful to the people they serve. This work is based on the observation that in a fast-paced world, organizations require the deep anchor of purpose to guide decisions and create sustainable advantages through innovation. 

Prior to founding Invencion, Paul spent ten years at the global consultancy Wolff Olins, joining after being inspired by their work for Orange. Starting as a junior consultant, he eventually ascended to the role of client principal, head of strategy, and member of both the global leadership and US management teams. 

Full show notes: Unicorny.co.uk  

LinkedIn: Paul Worthington | Dom Hawes  

Website: Invencion 

Sponsor: Selbey Anderson  

In this episode of Unicorny, Dom Hawes and guest Paul Worthington discuss whether marketing should be recognised as a formal profession or continue as a trade based on practical experience. They evaluate the potential impacts of standardising marketing practices—could it inhibit creativity and diminish competitive advantage? 

• Weighing the merits of making marketing a formal profession—necessary organisation or a barrier to creativity? 
• The role of data in marketing: valuable tool or potential crutch? 
• Discussing whether marketing is better as a trade or as a profession. 
• Examining the influence of AI on traditional marketing roles: is it progressive or disruptive? 
• Does formal education really boost our marketing effectiveness, or does it limit our flexibility?

Listen to understand how these issues could alter your view of marketing. 

Paul Worthington is an entrepreneurial, creative, and strategic brand leader, coach, and senior adviser to executive leadership teams, with a deep competence in building brands for the digital era. 

He has led combined strategy, design, and experience teams through major brand and innovation engagements, from initial pitches to transformed customer experiences across four continents, has lived on two, and tackled high-impact projects along the way. His accomplishments include helping what was then the world's largest corporation rationalize hundreds of brands into one, codifying the ideals of one of sport's most-watched tournaments, aiding an iconic technology company through two consecutive business transformations, and reinventing the retail banking experience for a digital world. 

Paul's work has received awards from the AIGA, D&AD, and Cannes Lions. He has worked with notable clients at consequential brands including Microsoft, IBM, Citibank, GE, Activision, Belkin, PwC, HP, and O'Reilly. 

At Invencion, Paul focuses on helping leaders discover what is special about their organizations so that together they can design strategies that are unique to them and uniquely meaningful to the people they serve. This work is based on the observation that in a fast-paced world, organizations require the deep anchor of purpose to guide decisions and create sustainable advantages through innovation. 

Prior to founding Invencion, Paul spent ten years at the global consultancy Wolff Olins, joining after being inspired by their work for Orange. Starting as a junior consultant, he eventually ascended to the role of client principal, head of strategy, and member of both the global leadership and US management teams. 

Full show notes: Unicorny.co.uk  

LinkedIn: Paul Worthington | Dom Hawes  

Website: Invencion 

Sponsor: Selbey Anderson  

Other podcasts: Mike Linton's CMO Confidential

In this episode of Unicorny, Dom Hawes continues the conversation with Géraldine Tenten, a seasoned IBM marketer, about uniting a company around the shared goal of creating happy customers.

They tackle the challenges of aligning sales and marketing, the power of cross-functional "diamond teams," and how digital transformation is reshaping B2B marketing. Can your organization truly put customers at the centre of everything it does? 

Listen in as they uncover key lessons such as: 

• Breaking down internal silos to create a unified customer experience 
• Aligning sales and marketing through shared goals and compensation 
• Creating agile, cross-functional teams focused on customer success 
• Using digital tools to enhance customer engagement and business agility 

Discover how aligning your company around customer success can drive sustainable growth. Listen to the episode now for practical strategies and inspiration! 

A high performing executive expert in Digital Transformation, Marketing and Digital Sales with 25+ years of experience designing and implementing strategies in the technology industry, working in Europe, Canada and USA. Proficient in collaborating across the C-suite to drive revenue and business growth.  

Passionate about transforming organizations and partnering with different cultures across roles and skills – bringing diverse teams together through agile methodologies in support of a common vision. Driving engagement and delivering sales results.  

Recognised leadership as B2B Marketing and Communications Jury in the DACH Region and ex-IBM Germany board member 

Full show notes: Unicorny.co.uk  

LinkedIn: Géraldine Tenten | Dom Hawes  

Website: MANN + HUMMEL 

Sponsor: Selbey Anderson  

What’s holding back your business from reaching its full potential?

In this episode of Unicorny, host Dom Hawes and guest Géraldine Tenten discuss how to achieve sustainable growth by focusing on happy customers and avoiding common pitfalls.

With over 20 years of experience in marketing and communications, Geraldine brings a wealth of practical advice on aligning sales and marketing for business success. Can you optimise your conversion rates and create loyal customers at the same time? Let's find out. 

• Understand why happy customers are key to long-term growth. 
• Learn how to align sales and marketing for maximum effectiveness. 
• Discover how to use real-time data for immediate decision-making. 

Get ready to unlock practical strategies and learn how to prioritize what truly matters in your business. 

A high performing executive expert in Digital Transformation, Marketing and Digital Sales with 25+ years of experience designing and implementing strategies in the technology industry, working in Europe, Canada and USA. Proficient in collaborating across the C-suite to drive revenue and business growth.  

Passionate about transforming organizations and partnering with different cultures across roles and skills – bringing diverse teams together through agile methodologies in support of a common vision. Driving engagement and delivering sales results.  

Recognised leadership as B2B Marketing and Communications Jury in the DACH Region and ex-IBM Germany board member 

Full show notes: Unicorny.co.uk  

LinkedIn: Géraldine Tenten | Dom Hawes  

Website: MANN + HUMMEL 

Sponsor: Selbey Anderson  

Have you considered how enhanced leadership techniques can enable more agile market responses? Or how your team could manage uncertainty through innovative management models?

In this episode you'll hear:

• Further exploration of leadership roles in Beyond Budgeting
• Strategies for fostering organizational adaptability
• Techniques for sustaining business performance in unpredictable markets
• Methods to align corporate strategies with real-time market conditions

This session offers practical strategies to help your team stay ahead in today’s dynamic markets. Curious about how to implement these adaptive management techniques? Press play and shift your strategic approach from reactive to proactive!

Steve Morlidge has 30 years of practical experience in designing and running performance management systems in Unilever, including three years as the lead of a global change project. He is a former chairman of the European Beyond Budgeting Round Table and now works as a management thinker, writer and speaker, drawing on his years of experience at the leading edge of performance management thought and practice. 

Steve Morlidge published Future Ready: How to Master Business Forecasting, John Wiley, 2010, ‘The Little Book of Beyond Budgeting’, ‘The Little Book of Operational Forecasting’, ‘Present Sense’ in 2017, 2018 and 2020 respectively. ‘Zen and the Art of Organising Work: The Hidden Anatomy of Effective Organisations…Using Systems Thinking to Unlock Nature’s Secrets’ was published in April 2021 and 2023 saw the publication of ‘Cost Matters’ and most recently he helped author ‘The Viable Map Workbook’ which sets out a practical methodology to help people put the principles of Beyond Budgeting to work in organisations. 

He is on the editorial board of Foresight, a forecasting practitioner’s journal published by the International Institute of Forecasting to which he regularly contributes. He is also a cofounder of CatchBull, a supplier of forecasting performance management software and sits on the advisory board of the Beyond Budgeting Institute. 

Steve completed his BA at Durham University and is a qualified management accountant (CIMA). He has a PhD from Hull Business School studying the application of systems concepts to the design of complex organizations and is a visiting fellow at Cranfield University and visiting Professor at BPP University. 

Outside work Steve has three children and is currently a proud grandfather times three. But he has never been able to sustain interest in anything long enough to call it a hobby which he likes to think is a sign of a restless enquiring mind…although his wife has a different interpretation. 

Full show notes: Unicorny.co.uk  

LinkedIn: Dr Steve Morlidge | Dom Hawes  

Website: Satori Partners

Book: The little Book of Beyond Budgeting by Steve Morlidge, use code UNICORNY25 for 25% off!

Sponsor: Selbey Anderson  

The traditional approach to budgeting is broken. Worse. Budgeting builds dysfunction into business and into your marketing department. There is a better way.

This week, we meet Dr Steve Morlidge, thinker, speaker, author of The Little Book of Beyond Budgeting and chair of the European Beyond Budgeting Round table.

Traditional marketing budgeting limits a marketer’s ability to adapt to rapid market changes. This inflexibility, combined with a focus on short-term targets, can lead to inefficient spending—where budgets are used up to secure future funds rather than drive meaningful growth.

The conventional process also discourages innovation by penalising risk-taking, essential for breaking new ground in marketing strategies.

• Discover Flexible Budgeting Approaches: Learn how to move beyond the traditional, restrictive budgeting models to embrace more dynamic and adaptive financial planning strategies that align with fast-changing market conditions.
• Enhance Innovation and Risk-Taking: Gain insights into how shifting away from a rigid budgetary focus can encourage innovation and risk-taking in marketing strategies, leading to greater creative freedom and potential breakthroughs in the market.
• Optimise Resource Allocation: Understand methods to avoid wasteful spending and optimise marketing budgets, ensuring that resources are used efficiently to maximize impact and ROI in your campaigns.

Steve has many answers... this epsiode might just hold the key to your future success?

Steve Morlidge has 30 years of practical experience in designing and running performance management systems in Unilever, including three years as the lead of a global change project. He is a former chairman of the European Beyond Budgeting Round Table and now works as a management thinker, writer and speaker, drawing on his years of experience at the leading edge of performance management thought and practice. 

Steve Morlidge published Future Ready: How to Master Business Forecasting, John Wiley, 2010, ‘The Little Book of Beyond Budgeting’, ‘The Little Book of Operational Forecasting’, ‘Present Sense’ in 2017, 2018 and 2020 respectively. ‘Zen and the Art of Organising Work: The Hidden Anatomy of Effective Organisations…Using Systems Thinking to Unlock Nature’s Secrets’ was published in April 2021 and 2023 saw the publication of ‘Cost Matters’ and most recently he helped author ‘The Viable Map Workbook’ which sets out a practical methodology to help people put the principles of Beyond Budgeting to work in organisations. 

He is on the editorial board of Foresight, a forecasting practitioner’s journal published by the International Institute of Forecasting to which he regularly contributes. He is also a cofounder of CatchBull, a supplier of forecasting performance management software and sits on the advisory board of the Beyond Budgeting Institute. 

Steve completed his BA at Durham University and is a qualified management accountant (CIMA). He has a PhD from Hull Business School studying the application of systems concepts to the design of complex organizations and is a visiting fellow at Cranfield University and visiting Professor at BPP University. 

Outside work Steve has three children and is currently a proud grandfather times three. But he has never been able to sustain interest in anything long enough to call it a hobby which he likes to think is a sign of a restless enquiring mind…although his wife has a different interpretation. 

Full show notes: Unicorny.co.uk  

LinkedIn: Dr Steve Morlidge | Dom Hawes  

Website: Satori Partners 

Book: The little Book of Beyond Budgeting by Steve Morlidge, use code UNICORNY25 for 25% off!

Sponsor: Selbey Anderson